5 More Kitchen Painting Mistakes

Tags: kitchen cabinet painting, Kitchen Painting, kitchen painting mistakes

In our last blog we introduced you to the five major mistakes when painting the kitchen cabinets: These are the 5 major mistakes when painting kitchen cabinets: painting kitchen cabinets yourself, paint cabinets in their original location, skipping labelling and sanding and forgetting to de-dust before painting.  As you can see these problems are all about preparing cabinets for painting.  In this blog we look into the next step – the actual painting process and the most common mistakes and how to avoid them. Read on to learn more about the 5 more kitchen painting mistakes.

5 more kitchen painting mistakes

If you look back at part 1 of our mistakes when painting kitchen cabinets series – you  will find three skipping mistakes; skipping to sand the cabinets, skipping to de-dust the cabinets, skipping to label the cabinets. It is tempting to skip steps in a long-winded process like a kitchen renovation, but they all show up later and you’ll be fuming if you spend hours and days to revive your kitchen just to find peeling paint, amateur brushstrokes telling the tale once the paint has dried. So even if you have already gone through five steps before even starting to paint, don’t even consider skipping this step.

1. Skipping the primer

You need to prime your surface to ensure an amazing finish. A water-based primer is a very convenient choice. For one it is designed to stick to non-sticky surfaces, which means you can skip the step of sanding back your walls or cupboards. A water-based undercoat bonds naturally well to smooth materials like treated wood and plasterboard, tiles and melamine. Water-based primers also dry very quickly, so you can already apply the first coat of paint after an hour.

2. Choosing the wrong paint

The right paint obviously is the key to a successful kitchen renovation. Just it is a hard one for us, which paint to recommend. The premium choice for a kitchen is 2-pac paint. It is water, heat, and scratch resistant and doesn’t change colour over time – however it cannot be successfully applied in a DIY setting. Alternatively you may choose oil based as they tolerate moisture well and can be applied to all kind of substrates. Beware though that oil-based paints require a long drying time and radiate lots of fumes – so a well ventilated area is important to minimise exposure to the toxic fumes.

3. Using a brush or foam roller

Of course you want a smooth finish. Nothing is worse than a freshly painted kitchen that’s shows brush marks throughout. Some bloggers recommend to use a foam roller instead of a brush or to follow the brush strokes with a roller. We strongly advice against it if your kitchen is exposed to bright light or has lots of window space – as the brush strokes or foam patches will show if the area is bright and lit enough. A common way around it is to aim for the upcycled, white washed look. If this is your style you are safe. If not, you are better off using a spray gun to get a smooth and even finish. It might be a bit adventurous if you haven’t done so before though.

4. You don’t elevate cabinets before painting.

Most DIY’ler don’t have enough props to elevate all their kitchen cabinets, doors and drawer-fronts. Therefore it seems most convenient to prepare the cabinets on the garage or kitchen floor. Elevation, however, is the key to ensure you can reach all edges and corners without moving the doors while the paint is still wet.

5. Underestimating the time required

Re-painting your kitchen is not a weekend project. People often underestimate the steps involved and consequently they don’t allow enough time. Consider the major steps of planning, dismantling, preparation, and painting, drying and re-assembling.  We recommend allowing at least a week better ten days for the entire project.

6. What to do!

At Dianella Polishing we do have a dedicated spray booth. We store a multitude of painters pyramids to elevate the doors and drawer fronts. At Dianella Polishing we have stacking shelves for prolonged drying and decades of experience in spray painting 2-pac paint. We usually estimate two weeks from pick-up to drop off. This is why we strongly recommend leaving renovating your kitchen to the professionals. Add up all the steps, time and materials needed.  You will find the cost difference between the DIY project and a professional paint job is way worth it. Why not give us a call on (08) 9303 2176 or click here to request an obligation-free quote. Want to get the best quote ever? The more you do yourself, the cheaper it gets, just ask for our list of jobs that you can do yourself. Want to know, how to do it right? Click here to learn how to paint a kitchen professionally.