Question about repainting my kitchen cabinets? 10pts!

Question

I have cherry wood cabinets and I would like to paint them white. How do I remove the old finish and prep the wood for the white paint. And whats the best paint to use? And anything else you could tell me would be greatly appreciated. Thank you! (:

Answer 1

I have done this myself.

First, I sanded everything with a palm sander to remove the old finish.  Use a tack cloth to remove the sanding dust.

Now, the 2 products I used were as follows:

Gripper primer (ICI Paints).  

Devflex HP (Devoe Coatings).

I applied both with a foam roller for the smoothest finish.  It does not apply a lot of paint, but be patient if you want a glass-like appearance.  Lay the doors down as you paint and allow to dry 24 hours between coats.

Devflex HP is an "industrial" latex that is hand oil resistant, which eliminates to "blackening" around handles and k***s.  It is HIGHLY washable and durable.  This method has held up for over 2 years so far!!!

These paints are NOT available at HD or any boxes (well, the Gripper is).  Shop local and support your local paint stores!!  

Do to devoecoatings.com to find a local dealer.  You'll be glad you did!!

Answer 2

Danielle - As someone who has white cabinets (painted), I'd like to give you some insite. It's hard to keep them clean! I feel I am constantly wiping them down, the area near pulls/handles gets especially dirty due to usage and the fingerprints...That being said, if you really want to paint over cherry cabs (I would love your cherry cabs!) get a good stripper, let set, scrape off old finish. Let dry, prime, let dry, paint in a high gloss or semi-gloss finish paint. I always buy Home Depot Behr products - I love to paint and it seems to just have the best coverage, colors, etc. Good luck - LT

Answer 3

DON"T do IT!!!!!!

I have been seeing so many painted cabinets you are all going to be so sorry that you did that.

Are these raised panel cabinets? Please don't paint them!!!

If they are the real old flat birch type why not just buy new door fronts? Door fronts with raised panels aren't that much and you would be so much happier. Paint is had to remove and refinish I know I have done it on an entire kitchen. It is the oak people are thinking is to grainy right now but everyone loves Cherry and maple is hot too right now. Why not if you want to change the color, maybe they have become to orange as cherry does that, well why not use a gel stain or a varnish that has a transparent stain right in the varnish. Do some test spots (if you want to get rid of a red or orange try a greenish tone) and just go a bit darker or try getting a glazed look. But don't take the value out of nice raised panel cherry cabinets by painting them.

The heck with what HGTV does (and they have only painted the oak that I have seen) they are just selling paint. I am telling you that you will be sorry.

Answer 4

All I did when I painted my cabinets white was sand them up enough to get the paint to stick, then slapped on two coats of paint. Then I put on a nice Polyurethane finish. They looked fine to me.

Are you sure you really want to paint cherry wood cabinets? Mine were just particle board with nasty veneer on them. If they were cherry wood, I wouldn't paint them.