• Painted cabinets change the look of the kitchen.kitchen image by Rich Johnson from Fotolia.com
  
  Painting cabinets in your kitchen or bathroom is not just a matter of brushing paint on the wood. Cabinets get a lot more wear and tear than do walls or other painted surfaces, so you have to make sure to apply the paint in a way that's going to stay put. Also, the surfaces of cabinets are more complicated to paint because of the angles and corners involved, and the hardware. A little preparation and planning ahead of time will make the project easier and make the final result more successful.
  
  

Preparing the Project

• If you try to paint your cabinets while they are fully assembled in place to save time, you will find it actually takes longer. Proper preparation requires that you completely disassemble the cabinets, taking off the hinges and hardware and setting the doors and drawer fronts outside on spread out newspapers. Put painter's tape on the walls and floors around the edges of the main body of cabinets that are permanently installed on the walls. Whatever finish is on the cabinets now needs to be buffed with sandpaper so the paint will stick.
  
  

Painting Options

• Regardless of what kind of paint job you're planning, it's important to lay a layer of primer over the cabinets before you paint. This will ensure the paint will stick to the surface. Always paint from the top of the cabinets, working your way downward, brushing with the direction of the structure of the cabinet. Multiple thin layers of paint are always preferable to one or two thick layers because thickly layered paint will drip.
  
  

Finishing Considerations

• You can use an enamel paint on your cabinets, which will provide that slick, shiny shell that you want for easy cleanup, but that's not always the best way to do it. By using flat paint and then topping it with several layers of clear polyurethane, you will reach the same result but with a more durable finish. Lightly buff the top layer of paint and then each layer of gloss or polyurethane until the final layer. This will allow each subsequent layer to adhere properly.