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We’ve painted kitchen cupboards earlier than. We’ve performed Ikea kitchen cupboards earlier than. However portray Ikea kitchen cupboards was a brand new combo transfer for us. And regardless of a nagging voice in our heads that requested if it was a foul concept (paint laminate? or slick manufacturing unit completed cupboards?! can that even be sturdy?! ), we’re extraordinarily proud of the ultimate end result. Plus, it was fairly simple to do – no paint sprayer or fancy tools essential!
We’re a few month into utilizing them every single day and up to now they’re holding up splendidly. They’ve been scratched, scrubbed, kicked, and real-life examined by two youngsters and up to now no scrapes, dings, or dents to report. They give the impression of being nearly as good because the day we freshly painted them, and as clean as factory-made Ikea cupboards – so we’ll share how we received such even protection.
Earlier than I present you the step-by-step directions, let me offer you some context for the undertaking.
Why Did We Redo Our Kitchen With Ikea Cupboards?
As we mentioned in our final podcast, we needed to exchange our outdated kitchen cupboards to raised maximize the storage alongside that again wall. It’s a small kitchen and, though we’d organized it rigorously sufficient to make it work for the previous two years, we knew there was room for enchancment.
The thin drawer pictured beneath is a superb instance of how inefficient the outdated thickly-framed cupboards had been. There was a lot wooden framing across the drawers & doorways that every little thing was extra cramped than it wanted to be. What do you even put in a drawer that’s one olive oil bottle huge?
Sure, that’s the identical sized olive oil bottle within the photograph beneath, besides now it could actually arise as a result of the drawer is a lot deeper together with being considerably wider, so we are able to retailer much more. We knew from our earlier expertise with Ikea kitchens (like at our seashore home) that we might get large useful beneficial properties by changing the cupboards. For one, there’s a lot much less thick framing across the sides of Ikea cabinets- as you may see beneath – plus we shifted the range over a bit, so this drawer ended up being far more helpful for us.
To not point out that Ikea cupboards have so many customizable programs you may add (secret drawers that nest inside different drawers, caddies that match completely to corral issues, and so on). I’d say we upped our small kitchen’s effectivity by no less than 50% by upgrading the cupboards. We’ll present you extra about how we organized them in a future submit. For now, again to the topic at hand: how we went from “Ikea white” to a customized paint colour of our selecting.
Why Paint The Ikea Cupboards?
We REALLY cherished the mauve colour we painted the outdated cupboards (Artsy Pink by Sherwin-Williams). These are the outdated cupboards beneath:
The mauve seems like a enjoyable homage to the unique laminate counters and even the partitions, which we found had been as soon as that colour throughout our first section of renovations earlier than we moved in.
Ikea doesn’t promote any doorways that colour and ordering paintable Semihandmade doorways is considerably costlier. Their DIY flat slab fronts would’ve price us about $600 vs the $185 we’d pay for white flat fronts from Ikea. And we aren’t any strangers to portray one thing, so it felt value making an attempt this, although laminate surfaces or slick pre-painted finishes (Ikea calls these “lacquered”) is usually a little tough. Fortunately, paint and primer “expertise” is continually bettering and now you can get sturdy bonds, even with out turning to oil-based merchandise. So right here’s precisely what we used:
Instruments & Supplies For Portray Ikea Cupboards
We took a low-tech, low-mess strategy to this undertaking (aka: no paint sprayer) so the fabric checklist is fairly easy. Had we been portray a bigger kitchen, we would’ve opted for a sooner paint sprayer strategy, however I personally discover that we may be extra methodical and cautious once we hand paint a undertaking like this.
Along with your cupboards (we ordered Ikea’s VEDDIGNE door and drawer fronts) you’ll want the next:
- Sandpaper or sanding block in a 120 to 220 grit*
- Tack cloths
- Paint (we used Sherwin-Williams Emerald Urethane Trim Enamel in a satin end)
- Primer (we used Zinsser Bulls Eye 1-2-3 Primer for All Surfaces – a quart was greater than sufficient for us)
- Small 4″ or 6″ foam rollers, curler tray, and a small angled paintbrush
- Painter stands or tripods
- Dropcloth or related
- Your cupboard fronts, we had ordered Ikea VEDDIGNE doorways
- Non-obligatory: Painter’s tape
- Non-obligatory: Liquid deglosser
*You can even use an electrical sander for a sooner end result, however it takes some additional care that we’ll speak about in a second
How To Paint Ikea Cupboards: A Fast Video!
If you’d like the short & soiled model of this course of, I had enjoyable with this two-minute video that covers every step in a Gen Z-friendly, transition-tastic means. You received’t catch me on TikTok or making IG Reels, however I like an modifying undertaking (I used to be the child in center faculty making all types of movies with star wipes and different “fancy” results). For the extra detailed scoop, we’ve received a full written tutorial AND A MORE DETAILED VIDEO in a while within the submit that features extra particular suggestions. That one’s for all of my fellow Millennials that prefer to see somebody speak by way of a undertaking with out sparing a single element (as I’m recognized to do).
Word: You can even watch this video on YouTube
Step 1: Put together Your Cupboards
Since we had been portray our cupboards BEFORE assembling our kitchen, we simply unboxed the doorways and laid every little thing out on a dropcloth to get began. However should you’re portray an current kitchen you’ll need to take away your whole doorways and drawer fronts first. You’ll additionally most likely need to take the additional step of cleansing them with a liquid deglosser to take away any cooking grease or oils that will have constructed up in your doorways and drawers.
Step 2: Tough Them Up With Sandpaper
Even should you’ve used a deglosser or liquid sandpaper, it’s nonetheless a good suggestion to tough up the floor with precise sandpaper to create a greater floor for primer and paint adherence. Prep is actually the distinction between painted cupboards that final and ones that look crappy inside a month. So don’t skimp on the prep, my mates. Belief me.
The aim was NOT to totally take away any of the white floor because it provides moisture safety to the MDF beneath. So we began rigorously with a fine-grit 220 sanding block and ultimately labored as much as 120-grit sandpaper on our battery palm sander. I filmed the how-to movies earlier than testing out my energy sander as a result of it ought to be used with cautio. You’ll be able to simply sand off an excessive amount of should you’re not careful- particularly on the perimeters and corners – so I didn’t belief myself to concurrently movie and sand with it. However it could actually pace up this step a bit.
Step 3: Totally Take away Your Sanding Mud
You need your primer to stick to the door itself, not a layer of sanding mud, proper? So we went over every door with a moist paper towel first, then a tack material. The marginally cheesy floor of the fabric is nice for grabbing tremendous particles earlier than you paint or stain any floor. You’ll want to get all sides.
Step 4: Prime the BACKS
Earlier than we began priming and portray, we propped every little thing up off our dropcloth with these paint undertaking lifters. It was my first time utilizing them, so I used to be somewhat paranoid that they could scratch or depart marks as I flipped the doorways over to work on all sides. So to be completely protected I made a decision to FULLY PRIME & PAINT THE BACKS earlier than doing something to the fronts. This manner I’d by no means must relaxation the painted fronts on the lifters. That means, if the lifters did depart tiny marks someplace, it might be on the less-important bottom of the drawers (thankfully they didn’t!).
Oh and as for the precise priming, we simply used a small foam curler to use a skinny and even coat of Zinsser Bulls Eye 1-2-3 and let it totally dry for 4 hours earlier than continuing. Retailer your moist rollers in a Ziploc bag for later use.
Step 5: Paint The Backs
As soon as our primer was totally cured, we used a recent curler to use two skinny and even coats of paint. Once more, we used Sherwin-Williams Emerald Urethane Trim Enamel primarily based on the advice from the paint professional on the retailer. We selected a Satin end as a result of we like that low-sheen look. If you happen to select a glossier end, simply bear in mind that curler and brush strokes may be simpler to see, so chances are you’ll need to use a paint sprayer as a substitute.
Our common order for portray every door again was:
- Apply paint throughout the entire flat floor
- Gently roll alongside all 4 vertical sides to clean out any drips (extra on this within the subsequent step)
- Roll calmly over the flat floor once more, utilizing parallel overlapping strokes in the identical course
Step 6: Repeat! Apply A Second Coat of Paint.
Don’t panic in case your first coat seems to be imperfect like ours did beneath. I at all times advocate two coats for any undertaking as a result of it’ll offer you a extra constant trying and stronger/extra sturdy end (and two skinny and even coats are WAY higher than one thick and gloppy one). So as soon as your first coat has totally dried (we let ours dry in a single day), roll on a second coat.
You can even see above that our protection is spotty on the perimeters. That was intentional. Since we had been focusing solely on the BACKS, we simply gently rolled the perimeters to clean out any drips in the event that they occurred. Therefore that bizarre half-painted impact on the perimeters above.
Why not paint the perimeters fully but? Nicely, should you press a curler too firmly or apply an excessive amount of paint towards a skinny edge like this, it could actually trigger paint to gather alongside the underside. That’s one thing you won’t discover till you flip issues over and, on this case, that may imply a ridge or bead of paint on the entrance of your cupboard. So we determined to completely paint the perimeters whereas portray the fronts, that means any errant paint build-up can be on the less-important again aspect (spoiler alert: we didn’t have any anyway, however higher to be protected than sorry!).
Step 7: Flip Over & Repeat Steps 4, 5 + 6
We gave the cupboard backs a full 24 hours to dry and harden, after which rigorously flipped every little thing over to start the method once more on the fronts. I do know this appears tedious, however we figured it was higher to be gradual and methodical for the perfect end result. Keep in mind, we actually didn’t need any dings from the paint lifters on the fronts, which we frightened may occur if we had been flipped them backwards and forwards all through the method.
So we proceed with a coat of primer on the fronts…
After which, as soon as the primer totally dried, we painted them (you guessed it, two coats).
This time round we made certain to get the perimeters good and coated. Once more, not utilizing an excessive amount of paint or an excessive amount of stress, however being cautious to get every little thing nicely coated.
As soon as the second coat was performed on the fronts and sides, we let issues dry and treatment for one more full 24 hours earlier than putting in them. It truthfully doesn’t harm to attend 48 hours. Most cupboard jobs get ruined by two issues: insufficient prep, or not sufficient curing time (actually something can get dings or scrapes if the paint isn’t totally dry).
Step 8: Don’t Neglect To Paint The Cupboard Containers
We used the identical method to color any seen elements of the cupboard packing containers themselves because the one I detailed above. We sanded/primed/painted the filler items on the perimeters, the toe kicks, and the entrance of the frames (however not the insides – these we left white). Use a small foam curler for as a lot as you may and be happy to make use of painter’s tape as wanted. You’ll probably want a short-handled paintbrush to edge some elements.
You’ll be able to see that we additionally painted barely across the aspect fringe of this cupboard subsequent to the dishwasher so we wouldn’t see any random flashes of white when the dishwasher door was open.
TIP: Perhaps Make Your {Hardware} Holes Earlier?
Confession: the images above had been really taken BEFORE we completed portray the drawer fronts. In reality should you examine the perimeters of the drawer fronts you may see that they’re not totally coated but.
Our counters had been being templated that day and we actually needed the entire doorways and drawers in place, simply to make sure the templater took them into consideration when measuring for the countertop. However the climate had delayed our portray schedule, so we made the choice to put in every little thing with just one coat of paint on the fronts (although we’d must uninstall the door and drawers to complete up later).
We determined to take advantage of this curveball and go forward with making our {hardware} holes whereas we had them hung for countertop templating (you may watch our cupboard {hardware} set up tutorial right here). Seems, we had been decidedly much less nervous about marking, taping, and drilling into the drawers figuring out we wouldn’t be messing up the *last* paint coat on every door. If our drill slipped or plastic template scuffed one thing, we might cowl it with our final coat.
Plus, with our holes already made, we might actually let that second coat treatment and harden with none heavy manhandling instantly afterward, which may occur whenever you set up the {hardware}.
So whereas it’s definitely not essential to drill your {hardware} holes between your first and second coat of paint on the fronts, we discovered it to be a contented accident that we appreciated.
Step 9: Set up Every thing & Get pleasure from!
As delicately as we handled these painted cupboards the entire time we labored on them, they in a short time proved that they didn’t have to be dealt with with any particular care in any respect. I don’t need to be too cocky since we’re solely a month into utilizing them, however up to now they’ve stood as much as bangs, kicks, spills, scrubbing, and many use. Zero points. Once more, I repeat: don’t skim in your prep and let every little thing not solely dry however totally treatment earlier than you beat it up. That’s actually the important thing to a great lasting end. It meant this kitchen took a few full week to come back collectively as a substitute of only a day or two of quick-and-dirty portray, however it’s so value it in the long run.
Step-By-Step Video
However earlier than I’m going, as promised, here’s a far more detailed and fewer Gen-Z-transition-heavy video that particulars the method of portray these cupboards. I’m glad we filmed this alongside the way in which, as a result of generally a video is value a thousand images, and whereas a fast TikTok like mashup of footage makes every little thing seem like it takes 5 minutes, you may actually see how doable this course of is on this video. It’s not quick however it’s very beginner-friendly.
Word: You’ll be able to watch this video on YouTube
We’ll preserve everybody posted (and can replace this submit) as time goes on to see how they maintain up over months and years of every day use. I doubt it will likely be good, however no painted cupboards ever are anyway. The premium manufacturing unit painted white cupboards in our final home had dings and scratches throughout the pullout trash drawer a few yr into proudly owning them. No less than with these we are able to repair the end ourselves with only a recent coat of paint!
Oh and we felt so good about how this course of went that we determined to put in extra cupboards (whats up uppers! Goodbye open cabinets alongside that again wall! And it additionally means we are able to add a hidden vent hood over the range!). We’re nonetheless followers of open shelving (we’ve got that white shiny shelving system subsequent to our kitchen desk simply steps away) however we expect it’ll be the perfect of each worlds to have some higher cupboards too. And as for the method of portray them, we plan to do the very same factor that we detailed right here on this submit. Keep tuned for a submit stuffed with images once they’re performed!
And should you’re desirous about another portray initiatives, listed here are just a few oldies-but-goodies:
*This submit comprises affiliate hyperlinks, so we might earn a small fee whenever you make a purchase order by way of hyperlinks on our website at no extra price to you.
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