Hand painted kitchen - Professional finish or Do It Yourself?
If you would like quote a for a hand painted kitchen, or for any fitted furniture for that matter like wardrobes or cabinets for example then you have come to the right place! Oisin Butler painting & decorating specialists take great pride in finishing kitchens to the highest standard. Please look at some of our previous work here, You can get in touch with us by phone or e-mail for a quote or to simply find out more.
A hand painted kitchen beats a factory finished kitchen hands down every time, in my opinion. It has a classic look that you just won’t get from a spray finished kitchen.
When it comes to hand painted kitchens it requires a great deal of skill to get the finish just right and it helps if you use only the best paints and materials and preparation is key.
If you are having a new kitchen built and having it finished with paint you will probably be given the option of a hand painted kitchen or spray painted.
Most cabinet makers will suggest hand painted and will also most likely show you some samples so you can make up your own mind, speaking of cabinet makers, if you want a kitchen built by a very skilled cabinet maker then I suggest you get in touch with Shane Du Berry of Du Berry Cabinet works. Shane has created some beautiful kitchens over the years and they are a pleasure to paint.
How we hand paint kitchen cabinets
If you have a kitchen that is looking dated, and you would like to really transform it without having to rip out the whole lot and put a new kitchen in, then think about a hand painted kitchen. You will be surprised by how much of a difference it will make. Painted properly, your old kitchen will be given a new lease of life. I recently finished a lovely hand painted kitchen for a client, the next weekend she had some friends over and one of these friends said “‘I didn’t realise you had new kitchen put in!”.
You have decided on a hand painted kitchen and want to know where to start? One option is to get an experienced painter (like myself!) to take over from here. All you need do is pick the colour and sit back, your painter will take care of the rest.
The other option is to do it yourself. If you plan on doing it yourself make sure you have the time and patience to see it through to the finish!
Heres how to go about creating your very own hand painted kitchen.
Firstly you are going to need these tools:
- Wire wool
- sugar soap/degreaser (Krud cutter will do the job nicely!)
- Sandpaper – Wet & Dry 220
- White spirits
- Methylated spirits
- Clean dry rags
- Some rubber gloves
- Dust brush
- Good quality paint brushes
- A step ladder
- Paint sheets/drop clothes
Want your kitchen painted professionally?
Want to do it yourself?
Whats on the surface of your kitchen cabinets really dictates the type of preparation needed before painting.
For laminate kitchens its best to remove the laminate from the doors first if you can. If the laminate is well fixed then leave it on.
For previously painted or varnished kitchens give the surface a good clean with your degreaser and rub down with the sandpaper (the idea is to key the surface with the sandpaper or break up the gloss/sheen so the first coat of paint will have something to grip onto). Then dust off before wiping down with methylated spirits on a rag.
For wooden kitchens that have been oiled or waxed in the past then you’re going to need to give them a really good scrub using a wax remover. Every square inch will need to be cleaned. You might need to scrub them a couple of times to be sure you have removed the wax or oil.
Once your surface has been prepared, its time to think about paint and painting. Traditionally I would use oil based paint but it has some drawbacks. For start you can only put on one coat a day, it stays wet a lot longer than water based paint and the fumes can really go to your head so for the purpose of this blog I’m recommending you use water based paint. It will be easier for you all round. One tip for using the water based paints, it helps if the room isn’t to warm when you are painting because the warmer it is the faster the paint will dry. If it dries too fast you will get stop/start marks in your finish.
For painting you will need:
- Bin primer – tinted to the same colour as your paint finish 1ltr
- 1-2-3 primer – again, tinted to the same colour as your finish 1ltr
- Water based paint for the finish tinted to the colour of your choice – eggshell, satinwood or gloss.
- High grade sanding sponges
- Some good paint brushes
- 2 pack filler
- A tube of caulk and a caulk gun
Now for the painting process (if you are painting over a previously painted surface then you can jump to step 3):
- Using the bin primer, start painting from the top of the kitchen and working your way down. Bin primer dries very fast so likewise you will need to move as quickly as you can with it. When painting the cabinet doors start with the outside first before painting the inside. Make sure to lay off the paint with brush strokes going from top to bottom, not left to right. If there are panels on the doors then paint these before painting the surrounding door.
- When the bin primer has dried use the sanding sponges to rub the paint smooth, then dust down the whole kitchen with your dust brush and finally wipe it down with spirits on a rag
- Using the tinted 1-2-3 primer paint the kitchen again from top to bottom.
- When the paint has dried use the 2 pack filler to fill up any little holes or dents. Don’t over fill because it dries very hard and can be difficult to sand back. Once it has gone hard, less than half an hour, sand the filler, dust it back then touch it up again with the 1-2-3 primer.
- It’s time now for your finish coat, for best results give the kitchen 2 finish coats. You know the drill now, starting at the top of the kitchen and working your way down..
- When the finish coat has dried give it a really good rub down with the 240 grade sandpaper, then dust off and rub down with a damp rag. No need for spirts on your rag, just use water.
- Next use the caulk to fill any gaps you might find. Using a wet finger run the caulk into the gaps then wipe away any excess with a damp cloth. The caulk will need at least an hour to dry before you can paint over it again (if you were using oil based paint you’d have to leave the caulk to dry for 24 hours).
- The time has arrived now for your finish coat! Once more from the top down.
