How to Spray Paint Kitchen Cabinets

Few homeowners would turn down an offer for new kitchen cabinets. But when you consider the high cost of purchasing cabinets, rehabbing your existing cabinets begins to look enticing. If your kitchen cabinets are in good condition with many years of life left in them, a do-it-yourself paint job could be the ideal way to update them.

Spray painting kitchen cabinets is one way to give them a sparkling, fresh look at a dramatically lower cost than purchasing new ones. There's another perk beyond the savings: rather than be limited to a few stock color choices offered by the cabinet manufacturer, the entire spectrum of color is available to you if you choose to paint the cabinets you already have.

Why Use a Paint Sprayer?

It can be tempting to pick up some spray paint and use that instead of a paint sprayer—without having to purchase a sprayer, you can start painting your cabinets with a tough modified alkyd paint typically found in a range of 75 to 100 color choices. However, canned spray paint is only a viable choice for covering a cabinet or two, as one can of spray paint covers just 20 square feet. To paint an entire set of cabinets this way would result in dramatically higher costs compared to sprayed-on latex paint.

To paint an entire kitchen's worth of cabinets, it would be best to buy, rent, or borrow a paint sprayer. Whether you use the less expensive "cup style" paint sprayer, which holds 1.5 quarts, or the more expensive type that draws directly from the paint can, either will be cheaper and less wasteful than using spray cans.

Preparation

This project requires removing the cabinet doors, as well as the shelves, if possible. The more sections of the cabinet that you remove from the kitchen and paint elsewhere, the better the result. It is difficult to control paint mist, no matter how well you sheet off the kitchen. Plus, it's easier to achieve a smooth, drip-free surface if you paint on horizontal surfaces.

Remove all items from the cabinets, and place them in a separate area, such as a little-used bedroom or basement. Remove contact paper from shelves.

Disassemble the cabinets. Begin by unscrewing cabinet doors and removing drawers from the cabinets. Remove cabinet hardware and hinges on the doors and drawers. Place them in plastic bags. Label the location on each bag with a Sharpie.

If you can remove the cabinet boxes, that's great. But many homeowners will find that the cabinet boxes are firmly in place and can't be removed without tearing apart the kitchen. If that's the case, leave the cabinet boxes alone. You'll paint them right where they sit.

Place the removed items in an area where you can easily use the sprayer without worry about getting paint on other things. This might be a large workshop, a garage, or under a covered patio.

In the kitchen, mask all areas (walls, countertops, flooring, appliances, etc.) that you do not want to paint with sheet plastic and painter's tape. A cloth dropcloth works better for flooring than plastic sheeting because it is not as slippery.