Sooner or later, we all look to make a change in our homes. This can come in a number of different ways but one of the most common is to update a room. The kitchen is one of those rooms that most commonly sees this change.
The problem here is that some of us want to perform a total renovation. This can be a very pricey endeavor and not something that is entirely feasible. This is why something such as repainting your cabinets can go a long, long way.
With a fresh coat of paint, the cabinets can make the entire kitchen feel as if they are a new room in your home. The biggest key is to make sure that your cabinets are prepared to be painted. Some people make the mistake of trying to just paint without doing anything. This leads to the paint not adhering or of the job looking less than quality.
So what do you do to prepare your cabinets for painting? Follow these steps to make sure that the process goes as smoothly as possible.
Determine the Condition of Your Cabinets
If your cabinets are in a quality condition, you should be able to just paint over them. But if they aren’t, there is some work to be done. Old paint will need to be stripped away. Once you have removed all of the paint, lightly sand your cabinets in order to ensure that every last bit of paint has been removed.
The key here is to ensure that the cabinet surface is ready to accept the paint. You want the paint to adhere to the surface, not come loose after the initial application. Without proper preparation, the process will take longer than it should.
Additional Sanding
Once you have removed all of the paint from the surface of the cabinets, it is time to prepare the cabinets for the primer stage. First, make certain that you remove all of the dust, grease, and dirt that may be on the cabinets.
Next, repair any damage that you can. This includes dents or holes, which you can fill in with a wood filler and a putty knife. It is important that you not fill hardware holes if you plan to use that hardware again.
Protect Everything Else
When you have properly prepared the cabinets, the final step before painting is to cover the other areas of your kitchen. This includes appliances and countertops. Using painter’s tape or clear plastic tarps should be enough to properly cover them from any paint splash.
You want to make certain that all of these areas are properly covered and secured so that the tarps and covers don’t come loose. This can cause chaos in the middle of the painting process if not done properly.
Painting your cabinets can be a relatively quick, cheap, and effective way to transform your kitchen and make it feel new again. Follow these steps and you can achieve the fresh look that you hoped for.