Where to Paint When Painting Your Kitchen Cabinets

So many people choose to paint outdated kitchen cabinets to give them an updated look. Inevitably this leads to trying to figure out where you should stop and start painting on your kitchen cabinets.

Here are a few tips and tricks I have learned over the years for understanding where to stop and where to start painting when painting the surface of you kitchen cabinets.

The first thing you need to look at is what color are your existing kitchen cabinets. Are they a super dark outdated brown? If so, you may need to paint the entire exterior and interior surface of your kitchen cabinets to really update them.

It is never a good idea to paint the fronts of old kitchen cabinet doors and surfaces and then leave the old dark brown to be seen the second you open them.

Take the cabinet doors off and be sure to paint them in their entirety. Thes means the front and back. While those are drying you should paint the entire inside fo the kitchen cabinets. This means the front of the built ins as well as the insides. Use an oil based paint when possible. This will last longer and be so much easier to clean.

It goes without stating that you should always prime as well.

Now, if you are painting kitchen cabinets white or a light cream that are already light inside, then here is where you should stop and start painting.

Remove yoru kitchen cabinet doors. Use painter's tape to mask off the very backs of the doors, starting right at the edge. Now, paint the front and the sides of the kitchen cabinet.

You may think this possibility may never occur, but I actually had some white kitchen cabinets from the 1990's. I added molding to the front to give them some interest. Well, the cabinets as well as the insides were white. So, I sanded and painted the fronts and sides white to give them a custom paint finish over the wood trim. I did not paint the inside because they looked fine. If you can avoid painting the inside that is great.

When painting the base of the kitchen cabinets in this situation you should use painter's tape to paint off the inside sides immediately on the edge where they touch the front of the base. Only paint the front of the base.