How to paint kitchen cabinets

What you need

• Sugar soap or degreaser
• 180 and 240 grit sandpaper
• Adhesion primer suited to laminate or melamine
• Water-based enamel topcoat
• Small foam roller and a quality brush
• Painter's tape, drop sheets
• Screwdriver, labelled bags for hardware

Step by step

1. Take everything off and label it

   Doors, drawer fronts, handles, hinges. Number the back of every door in pencil and bag the hardware by number. Painting doors on the cabinet gives you drips, missed edges and painted hinges.

2. Degrease harder than you think you need to

   Kitchen cabinets carry years of airborne cooking oil, especially above the cooktop. Sugar soap the lot, twice, and rinse. Paint will not stick to grease and this is the most-skipped step in the whole job.

3. Sand to a dull finish

   180 grit until the sheen is gone everywhere. You are not removing the surface, just keying it. Wipe off all the dust with a tack cloth.

4. Prime with the right primer

   Laminate and melamine need a dedicated adhesion primer — standard undercoat will peel. One thin, even coat. Let it cure for the full time on the tin, not just until it feels dry.

5. Two thin topcoats, sanded between

   Water-based enamel, applied with a foam roller for the flats and a brush for the profiles. Two thin coats beat one thick one every time. Light sand with 240 grit between coats and de-dust.

6. Cure before reassembly

   Water-based enamel is touch dry in hours but takes up to a week to fully harden. Rehang the doors after a couple of days, but treat them gently and avoid cleaning them for a week or two.

Common mistakes

• Skipping or rushing the degrease
• Using standard undercoat on laminate
• Painting doors while they are still hanging
• Thick coats to save time — they stay soft and chip at the edges
• Reassembling before the paint has hardened