After trial and error, I have come up with a FAST and EASY way to paint your kitchen cabinets! It requires NO priming and no sanding!!

Use the money you save from making your own DIY chalky paint to invest in a paint sprayer. Guys, this paint sprayer is AMAZING, but if you have the money, get this one. You’ll save time but not having to refill it every couple cabinets. I would probably still be hand painting my cabinets if it weren’t for the sprayer.

Scott and I were both over the outdated oak cabinets. I didn’t take any before pictures because I always get into a hurry and I get so excited about starting a project sometimes I forget ? But you can see a little before in the YouTube video I made

Step 1: Remove the cabinet door (Put your cabinet door screws into a ziploc bag so you don’t lose them)

Step 2: Remove the hardware (Put all your hardware in a seperate ziploc bag so you don’t lose them)

Step 3: Clean your cabinet door (and frame) with a solution made from one part tri-sodium phosphate and four parts water. This is an important step because cabinets can collect grease, steam, food splatters, etc…and you want to get that off prior to painting. So just rinse them, but do not soak them. Allow them to dry thoroughly.

Step 4: I numbered all my cabinet doors in order of placement so I would know exactly which door goes where.

Step 5:  I painted 4 coats of the cabinet frame with DIY Chalk paint allowing it to dry for at least 20 minutes before I put another coat on.

Step 6: I sealed it with water based polyurethane. It’s important to use water-based poly because it won’t turn your cabinets yellow over time like oil-based will. I applied 4 coats of poly and allowed it to dry for 2 hours in between coats.

Step 7: I used my paint sprayer and applied a generous amount of DIY chalk paint onto each cabinet door-making sure not to get any drips on the doors. I continued to do coats until I was happy with the color. Some people like the wood to show more than others.

• After the paint is dry- If you prefer the rustic and weathered look, this is when you should sand some of the paint of.

Step 8: I used my paint sprayer (after cleaning all the paint out of it) to apply 4 coats of polyurethane over the cabinet doors. I had to wait at least 2 hours in between coats to allow time for the poly to harden and dry.

The most time consuming of all of this was waiting for the paints to dry in between coats. It really wasn’t a lot of work, but rather waiting.

• The number 1 tip I can give you is to stay organized to avoid losing your sanity throughout this process! Keep all your hardware and screws together. Make sure you label your cabinet doors so you know what goes where when you’re ready to put them back on.

Paint is the least expensive, easiest, and fastest change you can make within your home. 

I would do this over and over again, because I love the way they turned out! Here’s some more after pictures-not shown on the YouTube tutorial.

The great thing that I love about the DIY chalk paint is that you can paint your cabinets ANY color you want! You don’t have to make them white.

I used the same hardware that was on there. Have you priced out hardware? Wow. I was stunned at the pricing and these cabinets aren’t even worth what it would have cost in hardware. But, just adding paint changed the look of them dramatically!

I tested out quite a few sealants before deciding on this polyurethane. I firmly believe that this polyurethane is the best. It provides excellent protection. You can see how glossy and shiny my cabinets are. That will make it so much easier to remove food splatter, dirt, grease, etc…However, you don’t have to get the glossy sheen. I’m pretty sure they have other finishes in this same brand. I just like the glossy look on the wood.

I made a DIY glitter backsplash on our backsplash area and I personally LOVED IT!!! Before I used peel and stick backsplash which completely transformed our kitchen on a very small budget. We also covered our appliances with faux stainless steel to update them even more!

I was so unsure of what I wanted to put above the cabinets for decor. There’s about 12′ of empty space above the cabinets. I printed out 8×10 photos in black and white photo paper and stuck them above the cabinets with sticky putty. I LOVE it!

Here’s another picture of my DIY glitter backsplash on our backsplash area before I used peel and stick backsplash which completely transformed our kitchen on a very small budget. We also covered our appliances with faux stainless steel to update them even more!

We love our new cabinets! It really brightens up the room. What do you guys think, what color will you paint your cabinets?

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