How to Paint Old Fashioned Countertops
What do you do if y'all desire to paint your kitchen cabinets, but they're not real wood? Using the correct method, you can paint correct over those laminate cabinets, or any other kind of laminate furniture that needs a colour update!
This is a mail that has been nearly three years in the making, and boy is it a relief to finally get it out! When I published my original tutorial on the best manner to paint kitchen cabinets (without sanding!), I got a barrage of questions like "Does this method work on laminate cabinets?" Or "My cabinets are melamine, will this work?"
The brusque answer is aye, with 1 easy modification. I'll show you how, simply first, let'due south talk nearly laminate.
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Yes You Can Paint Laminate!
What is laminate, y'all ask? It can basically exist any type of article of furniture, cabinets, or wood-like product that is made by attaching a thin layer of printed plastic (sometimes called Melamine or Thermofoil) to a substrate of plywood or particle lath. Usually the plastic is printed with a wood pattern to mimic actual wood flooring or cabinetry, but information technology could be any color or pattern.
If you paint a slice of real wood furniture or cabinetry, the wood will blot some of the paint or primer into its pores, which creates a tight bond and helps the paint stick to the forest. Laminate, on the other paw, does non have a porous surface, so it'southward harder to get paint to stick to it.
(The beauty of laminate cabinets or countertops is the ease of make clean-up and resistance to stains. This is the very same property that makes laminate difficult to pigment.)
By the way, "Veneer" is slightly different from laminate. Veneered forest is a similar concept, but instead of a plastic layer on acme of plywood, it has a very sparse layer of actual woods, called a veneer. If you are painting a veneer-wood piece of furniture, I recommend the method outlined in my original chiffonier painting post.
The Correct Way to Pigment Over Laminate
As with any paint job, the secret to success is in the preparation, not the painting. And this projection is no different. So how do y'all prepare laminate correctly, and so the paint can adhere to its slick surface?
Sanding is always a good idea when prepping to paint, only I'll let you in on a little hugger-mugger: I hate sanding. It'southward messy, time consuming, and generally a nuisance that prevents me from jumping into a new project. So if in that location's whatever way around it, I will take it.
Long story short, I contacted my favorite paint people, DecoArt, and asked them if they had a product they recommend for painting laminate cabinets, similar to the Satin Enamel I used on my kitchen cabinets.
To my surprise, they responded by recommending I use Chalky Cease paint as a primer, and Satin Enamels equally a pinnacle glaze. Bright! And and then they sent me some of both to try.
(Thank yous DecoArt for providing the paint for this project! As ever, my opinions on the products are my own.)
So without further ado, I requite yous the answer to…
How to Pigment Laminate Cabinets without Sanding
First, yous'll need to brand sure your laminate is in good condition. Peeling or buckling volition not be fixed by painting! Then clean your cabinets really well. Especially in the kitchen, cabinets can harbor all sorts of greasy grime that will prevent even the best paint from sticking. I dear Krud Kutter for this job. Merely spray it on and wipe it off with a damp rag, taking care to get into all the crevices between surfaces.
The balance is simply a two part process, consisting of a primer coat of Chalky Stop pigment and a top coat or 2 of Satin Enamels paint. Like shooting fish in a barrel peasy! Well, sort of. Hither'due south the breakdown. (Skip to the end if you lot want a concise, printable checklist of the whole process.)
You'll need most a jar of Chalky Cease paint and a jar of Satin Enamels for each 20 sq. ft. of cabinetry you're painting. (I used mostly white, with a little gray mixed in to make my ain custom calorie-free gray chiffonier color.) You'll also need a paint roller and tray, and a soft paint brush.
Exit your cabinet doors attached and roll on your first layer of Chalky Finish paint on the confront of the doors and drawers. (Don't worry yet nigh the edges or the backs of the doors.) Then utilise a soft pigment brush to get into all the areas the roller couldn't attain, like the insets in the doors. If your doors take knobs or pulls, remove them and keep them in a baggie for reattaching later.
Pro Painter Tip: Chalk pigment can be a little thick. Every bit you're rolling or brushing it on, be sure to clean upwardly whatsoever areas where the pigment builds up or pools in corners. And if y'all brush along the length of the surface, equally if post-obit the wood grain, this will give you lot a smoother finish later. If you lot cease upwardly with drips or raised areas, these can be sanded down after the paint dries, before your finishing coats.
This layer of paint won't take long to dry, which is i of the advantages of chalk pigment. While the paint is drying, characterization each door and corresponding cabinet with numbered blue tape. Like this:
I promise you think y'all'll retrieve where each door goes, peculiarly if you're doing a pocket-size kitchen, just take it from me – you will not. Remove the doors, laying them on their backs to allow the paint finish drying.
Now go back and paint the cabinet frames in the aforementioned way: roll the larger flat areas, and use the brush to get into any tight corners or edges.
Tip: you may demand to use blueish painter's tape to mask off any items that come up into contact with your chiffonier frames, such as vent hoods, or wall edges.
Remove the cabinet hinges and utilize a paint brush to finish applying chalk paint to the edges of the doors and drawers. (If you desire to paint the inside of the cabinet doors, flip them over and do that now.)
One time all the pigment is dry out, audit everything for raised drips, unwanted brushstrokes, or other imperfections in the surface of the chalk paint. You can lightly sand these down using a handheld sanding sponge or sandpaper. Or, if you're similar me, you tin can telephone call them "character" and move on to the side by side stride.
Finally, paint over everything the same way with the Satin Enamels paint. Yous may need two coats to become an even, satiny finish. Again, it's important to roll and brush in the direction of the "forest" grain, and avoid pigment build-upwards in the corners and edges.
Let your project dry for at to the lowest degree 24 hours and then reattach the hinges and pulls and friction match up the doors to the proper cabinets. I recommend that when you reattach the chiffonier doors, get out them open for some other day or so, but to let the pigment really end curing. This will prevent them from sticking together when they shut. Or you can attach little bumper pads, which likewise helps go on the doors from banging closed.
No More than Ugly Laminate Cabinets!
In my camper makeover, these cabinets went from two-tone orangey wood color, to a pretty light grey. I couldn't be happier with the transformation!
(Check out the whole camper makeover reveal post to run across the balance of the projects!)
And only to be sure that this paint job would agree up, nosotros took the camper out for the weekend on a muddy, messy camping trip and these cabinets performed amazingly well. The satin finish allows me to easily wipe down whatever drips or splats onto the surface, and they stand upward well to scuffs and bumps.
Chalk pigment is famous for sticking to just almost anything, and in this case information technology makes the perfect primer betwixt the laminate surface and the Satin Enamels paint. It'due south easy to apply and dries quickly. And the Satin Enamels provide the perfect durable terminate over the chalk paint. (All chalk paint needs a peak coat of some kind.) So they brand the perfect pair for a DIY kitchen makeover, or updating an old piece of laminate article of furniture.
Update: I've heard that the DecoArt products can be hard to notice right at present, so be sure to check out this comprehensive chiffonier painting tutorial for my updated product recommendations. The process remains the same.
Here'southward the process in a quick, printable format. And equally always, let me know if you have questions along the way!
Instructions
- Cheque to make sure your laminate is in good condition. If it's peeling or chipped, make those repairs before painting.
- Clean your cabinets thoroughly with Krud Kutter to remove whatsoever kitchen grease or dust. Leave the cabinet doors fastened to the frames for now.
- Use a roller to apply Chalky Finish paint to the chiffonier doors.
- Use a paint brush to chalk-pigment any spots the roller couldn't reach. Be careful of drips or pigment build-up!
- Label your chiffonier doors and remove them and all their hardware.
- Employ the roller and/or brush to apply chalk paint to the cabinet frames.
- Finish applying the chalk paint to the edges (and backs, if desired) of the cabinet doors.
- Echo steps 3, 4, and half-dozen with Satin Enamels pigment. Y'all may need two coats of the Satin Enamels for an even finish.
- Allow plenty of time (at least a day) for the paint to dry.
- Reattach doors to frames and exit open for a few more days while the pigment is fully curing.
Notes
Sanding is not necessary to prepare laminate for paint, but you might want to check between coats to brand certain y'all're getting an fifty-fifty stop. You can lightly sand between coats if you run across raised brush or roller marks.
Near MEREDITH
Creating a color-filled life. Conquering my trivial world one DIY project at a time. With lots of coffee and chocolate. Albuquerque NM. Pinterest ~ Instagram ~ Facebook
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