Can You Paint Stained Kitchen Cabinets

Wood cabinets are ideal for painting but any surface that can be scuffed with sandpaper can be painted.

Can you paint stained kitchen cabinets.

And while this isn t the holy grail for deciding what to do you get the final decision it will help you understand why stain or paint could be the best finish for your cabinets and your home. Laminate cabinets require a special bonding primer. If your cabinets are damaged or have peeling paint or really shiny surfaces either from the material or a shiny coating you ll probably need to lightly sand to help the new paint bond better. But if the doors are smooth not slick to the touch you can likely skip the sanding step as long as you do a few bits of prep first.

If you don t clean it off the paint can t stick well. Choose a high quality paint. First you ll need to strip the stain off of your cabinet surfaces before applying primer and paint. Cracks gouges and other issues on the wood will show through the painted finish if you don t fix them first.

You don t need to strip off the old finish completely with a smelly chemical stripper before painting stained cabinets. Stain and varnish are different products though there are combination products like minwax s polyshades. Painting your cabinets can give them a fresh look but if the cabinets have already been stained you ll have to do a little prep to get the paint to adhere. Is stain and finish varnish the same thing.

Use latex primer and paint when painting over a water based wood stain. Paint adheres well over water based stain so after completing the prep steps outlined above apply a water based latex. Applicator options for repainting include spraying rolling or brushing with either a natural or synthetic bristle brush or a foam brush. The laminate must be in good condition for best results.

Painting also allows you an almost infinite color pallet. Check the paint label on the can for specific instructions. If the woodwork is warped badly worn or damaged or coming apart at the glued joints you can opt to buy new unfinished doors and drawers and paint them along with your existing cabinets. It is a lot of work to strip and sand the surface but it will be worth it if you want a natural wood look.

Deciding whether to leave your cabinets stained or to paint them is a huge decision.