Painting Kitchen Cabinets Without Sanding

Do you have outdated, old kitchen cabinets that need an upgrade? I definitely did! There was nothing wrong with the orangey brown cabinets, I just wanted something a little different. Painting kitchen cabinets can seem like a daunting task. However, I figured out a simple way to paint the cabinets without sanding that saved me a bunch of money!

Supplies

Krud Kutter
DecoArt Stain Blocker/Sealer
DecoArt Satin Enamels Paint in the color Pure White
- Since the paint comes in 8 ounce bottles, you may need quite a few. I waited until Hobby Lobby had a sale and saved a ton!
Paint Brushes
Painters Tape

Prep The Cabinets For Painting

The first thing I did was take all the handles off the doors and drawers and put them into small plastic bags.

The next step is really important, you need to clean the cabinets super well. There can be so much grease and grime buildup, especially on the cabinets around the stove. I used Krud Kutter to clean all of my cabinets, however any multipurpose cleaner should get the job done.

Next, it was time to apply the Stain Blocker/Sealer. I did not remove the cabinet doors yet because this product is supposed to take about a week to set. So I applied a thin layer of this on each cabinet, a little bit of this product went a long way. I was able to cover my whole kitchen with only two bottles. Then it was time to wait. I waited 7 days, until the next weekend to start painting.

Next I took the cabinet doors and drawer faces off, labeling each one with painters tape so I could remember where to put them back.

I covered my dining table and island with a liner and took cans and boxes out of my pantry to place the cabinets on top of. This made the painting process way easier since I could paint the sides at the same time without it getting stuck to the lining. I also placed painters tape around the cabinets on the walls and floor.

Painting the Kitchen Cabinets!

Now it was time for the fun part, painting the kitchen cabinets! Through some research I found the brand of paint called Deco Art Satin Enamels. The good thing about this paint is that it is created specifically to be painted on wooden surfaces. Which was perfect, because no sanding was awesome! I used a small brush to paint inside the crevices of the cabinet doors and on the sides. I used a larger brush for the rest of the door and the drawer faces. Using a roller didn’t really work for me, I felt I had more control using a brush.

While painting, I would start on one side of the room and work my way to the other. After painting all the drawers and doors and I then moved on to painting the cabinets on the walls.

After one coat of paint, there was still quite a bit of brown shining through. I then went on to do two more coats of paint to get the perfect result. I would wait about two hours before painting the next coat to allow the first one to dry first. In total I used about 9 ¼ bottles of the paint.

Once the final coat had dried, it was time to put everything back together. I put all the drawer faces back on the doors on their hinges. The final touch was putting the handles back onto the cabinets.

Final Product

All in all, I think that painting these kitchen cabinets turned out really well! I am happy with the final product! As of right now, the cabinets have been done for about a little over a year. The only things that needed some updates was some dings on the cabinet doors. It was the cabinets we use the most that showed a little bit of wear and tear. This was super easy to update and fix though with a little touch up of paint!