I promised it wouldn’t be long before the tutorial was ready on how to paint your kitchen cabinets. I have worked hard to include all the information that you will need to do a professional job, so beware, this post is going to be LOOOOONG. It’s ok, when it’s time that you need the instructions, you will be glad.
I will first talk about the prep work, the list of supplies you will need, and finally the techniques you will need to complete the task of transforming your kitchen.
All of my information on this project is from Shawn from Aspen Mill. A good friend and an AMAZING cabinet maker. He does amazing work and made me an unbelievable TV frame for Jill’s house. He agreed to teach me the “RIGHT” way so that I didn’t steer anyone in the wrong direction and cause thousands of dollars in damage. This project has been in the works for months and months, and I’m so glad that Shawn was on board. {You can help thank him by checking out his shop}.
First off, the kitchen is the most important room in your home, at least it is in my home. It is the gathering place. It is used every day, all day. You deserve to have your kitchen look like YOU want it to look. One thing I have found about painting kitchen cabinets is that EVERYONE {and their dog} has something to say about this decision. They even think their opinion counts {gotta love ‘em, but it doesn’t.} So, if your dream is to have purple cabinets with a coral glaze, go for it. I might even look at you a little wonky, but who cares. You can have whatever color of cabinets you want. Kapeesh? Don’t let anyone talk you out of it.
But, now that we have established it is YOUR decision, don’t do it without doing it RIGHT. I don’t want you to paint your cabinets unless you commit to doing it correct. I want your kitchen to look like your cabinets were ORIGINALLY that color. I don’t want brush marks, or painted over hinges. I want you to do it professionally so that you aren’t mad at yourself in a year from now. Let’s start learning how.
Step One: Take before pictures and unpack your kitchen, you will need to remove everything from your cabinets too. {Empty those bad boys}.
Step Two: Gather supplies:
Drop cloths {we used canvas inside and plastic out in the garage, a rented paint sprayer {this one looks like the one we had, Tinted pre-catalyzed lacquer, clear Satin pre-catalyzed lacquer, Klean-strip Sander Deglosser {we found it at Home Depot}, 220 grit sand paper, Superfine sanding sponges, lint free cloths, oil based tinted glaze {optional}, a painting mask {absolutely NOT optional}, about three rolls of painter’s tape, One roll of brown paper, 2X4s, a few 5 gallon buckets {or boxes}, wood putty, a screw driver, a cordless drill, and a small compressor. 
I know that I’m going to be flooded with questions about brands…etc. so I have put together a picture gallery to help. I also don’t want you to get held-up on the project if your paint store offers a different kind of lacquer..etc. Ask the professionals. They will know which paint sprayer you need to rent. They will know which lacquer is going to be the best choice. The items in the picture are the products that Shawn from Aspen Mill recommended to me.
Step Three: Begin with the prep work. Start disassembling the cabinets and remove the doors, drawers and hardware. Put all the hardware in a safe place. We used a ziplock baggie for all the screws and hardware.
Step Four: NUMBER EACH CABINET in a way that you will remember where each one goes when you get done. We took apart the hardware and put a small number where the hardware was going to be installed again. We even put a small piece of painter’s tape over the number so that it wouldn’t get painted. 
Step Five: Place your drop cloths on the ground, and the 2x4s on your 5 gallon buckets {or boxes} for the cabinet doors to sit on.
Step six: Tape off the kitchen with your brown paper and painter’s tape. Be picky and make sure that your painter’s tape is perfectly aligned and press hard to make sure it is doesn’t peel up. It helps if you put the painters tape BEHIND the cabinets a little along the edge. If you have the ability to do so, I recommend it. Be careful if you have to climb.
You also need to tape around the floor and the inside of your cabinets. Nicole and Justin {my cousins who own this awesome kitchen} wanted to leave the island wood. I love mismatched looks so I loved the idea.
Step seven: Wipe down all the cabinets with Klean-Strip Sander Deglosser {let dry} and sand lightly with Superfine sanding pads. This step prepares your cabinets for the tinted lacquer {the white}. Shawn says that some cabinets {especially old ones} can have a funky reaction when painted. Cleaning them with the deglosser takes off all the dirt and grime and helps prepare the surface. The sanding pads rough up the surface a bit to help the lacquer adhere.
Step eight: Wipe off the cabinets with a dry cloth, and spray off the dust with a small air compressor. Again, if you try and paint your cabinets with dust on them, it will not adhere. So you need to be careful to get all the dust off prior to painting.
Step nine: Paint a light coat of tinted lacquer on your cabinets. Go slow and be careful to not put too heavy of coats on. Lacquer is as thin as water and it comes out perfectly smooth, if you put on too heavy of a coat it will drip. Don’t worry if this happens, I will show you how to fix it, but if you take it slow you will prevent a lot of these mistakes. 
Your lacquer will dry in about 20 minutes. It goes FAST when you get to this point, but beware, you absolutely need to wear a mask. The fumes are insane. In fact, if you are living in your home while you are painting your cabinets, you should consider going to a hotel for a day or two. 
Step ten: After you have painted a light coat of color on your cabinets and it is dry, you will see every imperfection perfectly. You will see nail holes that you didn’t know existed. You will see knots in your wood. You can now decide if you want to fill them with putty or not. We filled all the nail holes but we liked the knots. So, we filled the nail holes and left the knots. Let the putty dry completely before moving on to step eleven.
Step eleven: Sand lightly again with superfine sanding pads. Then wipe down again with lint free cloths. Spray them with the air compressor to make sure all the sanding dust is off.
Step twelve: Turn into a robot and repeat. Yep. paint. another. coat. {said in a robotic voice}
Don’t forget to do both the front and the back of your cabinet doors.
{P.S. Be extra careful to let the doors dry COMPLETELY before you turn them over…they will stick if they are not and you will be super upset because you will have to sand and re-paint…yep speaking from experience here.}
Step thirteen: Sand, wipe off, and spray off the dust with the air compressor {yes in between every coat}. After the cabinets are completely painted, do a quick check to see if any touch ups need to be done. We marked the spots with painter’s tape and did one last touch up coat.
Step fourteen: Sand, wipe off, spray off. Dude, you are going to know how to do these next couple steps with your eyes closed because you guessed it…IT’S the SAME!
Step fifteen: Now’s the time to change out the tinted lacquer for the clear lacquer. Make sure you get instructions on how to do this because you will need to rinse out your sprayer {hose and all} with lacquer thinner. Then, you will put in the clear lacquer and start spraying coats of clear coat.
Step sixteen: Spray a light coat of clear lacquer on your cabinets. Be careful not to create drips and smudges. But if you do, it’s ok. I’ll teach you how to fix them.
Shawn said, “You can go a little heavier with the clear coat than with the white.” So, I took that to heart and made a HUGE mess. It was a disaster.
To fix drips and smudges, let the paint/or clear coat dry completely, sand with 220 softly until the smudge cannot be seen. Be careful not to push too hard because if you take off the paint you will have to put more white on {and THAT is no fun because you have to change out the clear coat in your sprayer for white and then change it back to the clear coat when you are done…yes I’m speaking form experience here}. After you can no longer see the smudge or drip, sand with the superfine sanding pad to make it soft again.
Voila! Your smudge is gone and you can move on. PHEW. I wanted to cry when this happened, but don’t panic.
Or if you are like me, you will have a BAD mistake to fix. {Don’t tell Justin and Nicole, they weren’t here for this part}…oh wait. I think I just let the cat out of the bag.
Yeah, it was terrible. Tears almost came at this point. My excuse? I couldn’t see very well because I didn’t have a light on that side….it dried, and I had to sand off the entire disaster. Again, I used 220 grit sand paper and pressed softly. Don’t push too hard or you will take off the white. 
Then use a superfine sanding pad to soften it up again. 
Voila, don’t panic it will all be ok in the end. 
Step seventeen: Glaze your cabinets {if you choose}. We did a light gray glaze on the cabinets to add a subtle charm and they turned out amazing. If you need instructions on how to glaze it is SUPER easy. You use a clean, lint free cloth and wipe on the glaze and wipe it off. That’s it. It isn’t hard. I have a glazing 101 post that shows instructions, but you need to use OIL based glaze for this project, not water based glaze. To glaze cabinets with oil based glaze you need to use a DRY cloth not a wet one. 
Step eighteen. Spray on your LAST coat of clear coat {you will need to do two coats total}. Don’t forget to sand, wipe off, and blow off with the air compressor in between each coat. You will get really good at it, I promise. After your last coat of clear coat you do not need to sand! YAHOOOO.
After you have done two coats of clear coat, you. are. done! And you want to cry because you are soooo happy.
Step nineteen: Now all you have to do is reassemble, and since you numbered them perfectly and covered it with painter’s tape, all you need to do it take off the tape to reveal the numbers.
They look like they were painted in a cabinet shop. I feel like a proud mother showing off her child.
I am in love.
EXCELLENT….I LOVE IT.
What a transformation! Night & Day!I would have wanted the island painted too, but I'm a matchy-matchy type of person
Thanks for posting this with all the pictures and detail, I'm going to have to pin this for future reference!
Gorgeous and you guys are perfectionists! I think this post may have actually talked me OUT of painting my cabinets… sigh. What a job!
Wow, that's a lot of work! Good for you for sticking with it. Such a beautiful, professional result!
Wowza girl! You rock my world so hard!
~Beth @ Sawdust
Good job!
Those really turned out great! I want to do that so bad but I just don't have the nerve!!!
It looks amazing and it makes me never want to paint my kitchen cabinets EVER! lol. My attention span and patience are not suited for that endeavor. It definitely looks wonderful! Our old apartment had painted cabinets, but the people used a roller brush and regular latex paint. I cannot tell you how many times our pots and pans stuck to the paint because of humidity.
WOW what a project! I feel like a slacker that you did your WHOLE kitchen and I can't seem to get a lil dresser done. LOL! AMAZED!
Rachel
http://www.hardinghappenings.com
Thank you for sharing every detail! It is GREAT information!
I found you via Vintage Revivals. Love your work! I totally just pinned like your whole blog LOL! I'm a fellow DIY blogger @ http://www.cherryblossomsandchickens.com.blogspot
The kitchen looks great. However, it should be mentioned that you need to use a mask-style respirator that's rated for paint and organic vapors if you are spraying lacquer (the one in your picture looks correct).
Additionally, lacquer fumes are explosively combustible if not vented correctly (i.e., you could blow up yourself and your garage if you don't know what you are doing).
wow! awesome job! we are going to paint our cabinets very soon. Thanks so much (I think!) for the tutorial… just thinking about it is exciting and tiring all at the same time! ha!
wow what a great job your right they look absolutely professional
looks great. the only thing that got me is the wiping with a dry cloth and blowing with compressed air. why not use a tack cloth? its like cheese cloth with wax on it. picks up all the dust and doesn't leave residue (as long as you wipe and not SCRUB). Its what I use when painting.
Your cabinets look so good, I had to share your post on FB and Twitter!
WOW!!!! You Did an amazing JOB. I Love It. Your hard work really paid off. Now if I can only get my husband to do this. I can't even get him to take my front door down for me. LOL…..
That was amazing! I have repainted my kitchen cabinets before…yours look better
What an awesome transformation!! You did an awesome job! I painted my cabinets with a paint brush and roller. Mine don't look know where's near as nice as yours. Thanks for the tutorial.
sandraallen260@centurytel.net
Wow, those turned out beautiful! Great job…..one I would never tackle! Maybe I shouldn't say never:/
I saw this on pinterest. Amazing! thanks so much for sharing all this great info!
This post is A-MAZ-ING!!!! Thank you so much for taking the time and effort to share it eith the world!! I am helping a friend in the bear future paint her kitchen cabinets, and was wondering if this technique will work for laminate wood cabinets as well or do they have to be "real" wood? In your photos your cabinets appear to be real wood. Thank you so much again for this! You ROCK and the cabinets are perfection!
Great job, looks beautiful.
Wow, I'm speechless after going through your site, which I happened to stumble upon through Pinterest. My husband and I just bought our first (and hopefully last!) new house 6 months ago. Since I am a stay at home mom for our active 13 month old son, we are still WAYS away from making the house "ours". Not to mention I don't have the time to research a hundred different sites for the "right way" to re-stain, re-paint, etc all the projects we would like to undertake. Your site has been a 1 stop shop for me and the best part is that you break everything down into simple step WITH pictures!! Phew, now I don't feel the need to stress over the "Honey-Do" List and neither does my husband! Yay! Thank you for your creativity, your inspiration and motivation!
Thank you Thank you THANK YOU!!
Great post, we are in the midst of a complete kitchen gut, this really helped!
Thank you for this wonderful tutorial! We will study it thoroughly.
I have a question…were these cabinets already white on the inside? In the beginning pics they looked like the were and then you covered and taped them up. We're they previously like that or did you do the inside first and then the outside? Very curious because my cabinets as wood inside and out and I would want the insides to match the out.
Thanks for this great info. Really loved that you showed pics of the products used. Especially loved that ou showed your mistakes. Now I know that if I screw up, not to panic, it can be fixed!!!
The cabinets were white on the inside on SOME of the cabinets, but they were also wood on the outside cabinets. So, we painted the ones that were wood so that they would match. It would have been easier to just paint all of the insides, but we didn't want to waste white paint painting what was already white!
Hi! Cabinets look great! Wondering if you have a total cost figured out? I would love to know so I could compare it with paying a professional.
Thanks!
Oh my goodness! This is THE BEST tutorial I have EVER read! Seriously the results are amazing. My husband and I recently bought a house with real oak cabinets. We would like to have the same look. My only concern is that the wood grain is going to show through. Did the cabinets you painted have a wood grain before??? Would you sugguest using a grain filler, or will the paint fill the grain enough???
We are preparing for the closing and painting the cabinets is #1 on the to-do list. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated! Bravo for the beautiful kitchen!!!
apfister711@Hotmail.com
You did a great job on both the cabinets and the post, but for the life of me, I can't understand why anyone would cover up such beautiful wood with white paint.
What a transformation! You really put a lot of effort into this and it turned out amazing!
Wow, what a lot of work, now I know why they charge so much money!!!
Great Job!
So amazing! I'm also wondering if this would work on laminate counters?
Have you considered making this into an e-book? I am definitely going to be printing it out and using it. Thanks so much for putting it all together!!!
The finished product looks very professionally done. I just tried two coats of primer after using the deglosser on my wooden cabinets. But I noticed that the wood grain still shows through the primer. I'm wondering if the lacquer you described would take care of that? Also, am wondering whether it's impossible to get a very smooth coat without using a compressor?
Any advice thoughts from Ms. ThrifyHome or others would be appreciated!
how long did you end up waiting between coats on the doors?
There is special paint you need to paint laminate countertops, but it can be done. Google…
yep! I want to paint my kitchen because the cabinets are FIFTY years old and wow do they need help. I'd LOVE to have a kitchen that looked as good as these people's before photo!
I cannot tell you how thrilled I am to have found this! I have the same exact cabinets as the before photos and I have been wanting to paint them white for a while now, but I've been hesitant because I didn't think I could do a good job filling the knots. I've probably googled "painting knotty alder cabinets" a hundred times and never found anyone who hadn't hired out for the job. My husband has been very skeptical about painting them at all, but I think this post may have won him over!! I can't wait for summer to get here so I can start! Thank you so much for all the details you shared, it looks incredible and I can't wait my twinner "before" cabinets to match the "after" photos!
Great detailed tutorial! Great job!
I painted my kitchen cabinets with a brush and did not use a top coat but I am putting on a final coat of paint and a wax they will be done but since I only have 2 big cabinets and 1 small cabinet I did not need a sprayer. hopefully they will look a lot better with the wax over them thank you for the know how
another great tutorial! I wanted to let you know that I featured this today in my "What I Bookmarked This Week" post – stop by and see.
Thanks for the step by step & pics my cabinets are in bad shape & overdue for a change. White would make my galley kitchen feel bigger.
Hi! I was wondering how long this whole process took? And how many were working on the project?
It is absolutely amazing and I cannot wait to get started in my new kitchen!
Thanks for sharing this informative post, my sister was looking for a tutorial like this to paint her kitchen cabinets, will surely share with her.
Hi! The kitchen looks amazing! I was just wondering how long you waited between coats of primer, paint, laquer, etc. and also how long the entire process took you?
Basically, I started at one end and worked my way down and by the time I got done with that specific step, it was dry. So, it does dry fairly fast. Because it is oil base, it is thin and dries quickly. If you are unsure, just give it a little touch and if it still feels tacky or sticky, you know it needs a little more drying time. I hope this helps somewhat.
Love this tutorial! Will this work on Laminated Cabinets?
Yes, you can paint laminated cabinets with lacquer. Good luck!
I cannot believe how amazing these cabinets look!I am considering doing this with our cabinets. Is this a two person job? How long did it take you from start to finish to complete the job? Thank you for posting how you did everything step by step. It is very helpful to know what the project entails.
It definitely helps to have more than one person {especially with the prepping part.} It took us about a week from start to finish.
Amazing job, but I’m like others do not have the patience to do this so precise. I think I’d take the money from staying in a hotel and pay someone to do it.
WHERE DID YOU BUY THE LACQUER?! I can’t find them anywhere from the big box stores to anywhere online
Also, how long did you wait before each coat, lacquer & clear coat?
I bought the lacquer at Jones Paint and Glass locally. I waited until it was dry to the touch between coats. Since the lacquer goes on really thin, it was dry within 10-15 minutes {but it will depend on your climate how fast it will dry for you.
I love it. I’m going to try this.
Hello Brooke:
I want to include your white painted kitchen cabinets in an article I am creating for Houselogic.com. I sent you an email last week. Can you shoot me an email ?
Deirdre
Check your email.
Hi Brooke! Great tutorial on this!!! I am wanting to paint my cabinets as well and was quoted $1,850.00 to do it. Can you please tell me roughly how much it cost to DIY. Your kitchen looks beautiful!
It was right around $450 to buy all the supplies.
Hi Brooke….I can’t find a brand of lacquer in colors to paint furniture….any suggestions ?
Catherine, this is what I would do…call a cabinet painting company in your area and ask where they get their lacquer. Every area is going to have a different supply store, but cabinet companies would know where to buy it.
Hello Brooke!
I just emailed you about the article we are writing that will include your white kitchen cabinet project (which will link back to your site). I need to make sure I am captioning and linking the images correctly. Can you please respond to my email as soon as possible? Thanks so much! I hope you had a great weekend!!!
deirdre
Hi, I have bookmarked this post in your blog because we are about to paint our cabinets and we want to do that as correctly as possible. I have checked out your list of things to buy and I have some questions. I know that Valspar is a Lowe’s brand, but I can’t find the pre-catalyzed lacquer, clear Satin pre-catalyzed lacquer in their store or on-line. Where did you buy it? I’m going to call Sherwin Williams to see if they have anything, but I just wanted to make sure I was getting the right stuff.
Need this stuff soon. We have about a week or so and we should begin the painting. ugh.
Yvonne
http://www.valsparwood.com/distribFinder/findDistributor.jsp Check out this site to find a distributor. I hope this helps!
Hi Brooke,
I found the white lacquer on-line at only one store…in Texas (I’m in Michigan). I’m just reading your answer to my initial question right now (I thought I’d get a notification in my email if you had commented, but I was wrong).
I purchased 4 gallons because we are planning on doing a dark color (like espresso) on the bottom and an off white (probably like what you have) on the top and I wasn’t sure how much we’d end up using.
Now I hope that Lowe’s will tint. Otherwise, maybe I can go to the one store (that is near me) that shows up from the Valsparwood link you gave me and they can tint it.
We hope to start spraying this weekend (fingers crossed!).
Hello again,
Just talked to Sherwin Williams and they tell me that you don’t tint lacquer. First you stain and then you spray the “clear” lacquer.
Can you help me with how to explain this to the Sherwin Williams guy?
Hi again Yvonne,
Sherwin Williams will tell you to use completely different products. Although I’m sure there are great projects, they are not the same type of product that I used for this project. I haven’t used their products enough to give a recommendation, so I can only give you information about the products I know. Good luck and I hope you find the Valspar lacquer!
Oh believe me, this has been a task that I wasn’t really expecting to be such a task. I thought since it was Valspar, no problem, Lowe’s would have it. Boy, was I wrong.
Anyway, I’ll let you know how it turns out. If worse comes to worst, we will use a latex paint in our sprayer and spray it that way (and clear coat it).
Not many people take the time to add a coat of clear lacquer after they’ve finished painting the cabinets. You definitely did it like pros – well done!
I’d love to do this to our kitchen, can you give me the lacquer color and codes for the white that you used for your cabinets? Thank you….the look great!!
We had the lacquer tinted a Sherwin Williams color called “creamy” but the products themselves did not come from Sherwin Williams. Good luck! I hope this helps!
My cabinets are already painted and badly in need of repainting. How do I prep already painted cabinets? It can’t be the same as for bare wood. Any ideas or links to articles for re-painting kitchen cabinets?
TIA!!!
That’s a GREAT question! I’m surprised I’ve never been asked it! And the truth is I don’t know! Let me ask my cabinet guy and get back to ya!
If you’re going to use lacquer, you’ll probably need to strip down to bare wood. Lacquer will show every bump and imperfection of the paint job. We’re experimenting right now with striping our cabinets and it’s going well. There’s a product called CitriStrip which is low on VOC and works pretty well.
Can you use a difference color paint then white?
Yes, you can tint the lacquer whatever color you want.
The possibilities are endless!
I have tried hi and low to find an oil based glaze for the kitchen cabinets and cannot find one. Would you kindly recommend?
I would contact a local cabinet shop and see if you can buy a tiny bit from them. You will not even need a pint to do the entire job. I live in Utah, and they carry the oil based glaze at Jones Paint and Glass. I hope this helps!
This is interesting…the end project turned out wonderful. One question, though, was the sanding between each layer really necessary, especially considering you were using a sprayer? Did professional cabinet makers/furniture finishers give you that advice?? We’re considering lacquer, not only because of it’s durability, but also because each lacquer layer “melts” into another. After 20 minutes, in theory, the next step is to just lacquer again. Poly absolutely requires sanding between coats because it has nothing to “stick” to. In theory, all the sanding is doing after the first layer is creating dust and taking off what you just put on.
I can see it taking out the tiniest of bubbles and imperfections but we’re not that fussy. It’s good to know there’s tintable lacquer out there, though. It may just solve many of our problems.
Yes, the professionals advised us to sand between coats of lacquer. I wouldn’t omit the step personally. I just know how well ours turned out and I would hate for you to do all the work and not have it turn out as well.
Hi, Brooke.
Amazing job on the cabinets. I’ve read a million How-Tos and this is by far the best. I didn’t see anywhere how many gallons of each paint you used. My kitchen is similarly sized and since I’ll likely have to special order this paint, I don’t want to short-change myself. Thanks again!
Thanks Kim! We used three gallons of creamy white lacquer and two gallons of clear pre-catalyzed lacquer. Good luck! Take before and after photos for me! I want to see your transformation!