Update Your Kitchen Instantly by Painting Your Cabinets!

Originally published January 2020

Is your kitchen looking a little bit outdated?

If it has been more than a few years since you redecorated your kitchen, your kitchen is probably outdated. Because most of us aren’t trying to sell our houses, it’s not a big deal! However, a bad kitchen can make potential home buyers turn around and go home before they see the rest of the house. Buyers today want a move-in ready house with a kitchen that meets modern standards and looks relevant.

There’s no need to feel bad if you have gone a while without redecorating or renovating the kitchen. After all, we get comfortable living in our home, and sometimes we cease to notice how our space appears to other people. Styles come and go, trends fall out of favor. Does anyone remember dark, shiny wood finishes? Fussy Mediterranean detailing? Pickled wood coastal cabinets? At some point in time, though, these were the latest and greatest.

See my blog post, My Dramatic & Budget-Friendly Kitchen Transformation! for the story of my kitchen makeover

If you are planning to sell your home, the kitchen can be your greatest selling point, or it can sink the value of your home like a hole in the bottom of a boat. You must think like the buyer of today who wants a “model home” kitchen. While I know that many people hate to “ruin” a wood finish by painting over wood cabinets, paint just may help you to sell the house more quickly, and for more money. Don’t fear paint; it is one of the cheapest ways to rehab a dated kitchen into shape for sale.

Best paint for kitchen cabinets

Paint, in a satin or semi-gloss finish, should be brushed or sprayed by paint professionals for the smoothest finish. New paint blends, called alkyds, dry to hardness like oil paints, but handle like latex paints with easy clean-up. Cabinets should be sanded and cleaned before paint is applied. You might find that new cabinet hardware looks spectacular with your painted cabinets—go for it! It’s like getting a new pair of shoes to go with that hot new dress.

Best colors? The trends that I’m seeing most often on Houzz.com are whites, light grays, and black or off-black tones. Still on-trend is to paint the kitchen island or built-in desk of the kitchen a coordinating yet different color, as though it were a piece of furniture rather than part of the cabinetry. I would caution, though, that often buyers like a “clean slate” look, and it’s hard to go wrong using a neutral paint color that coordinates with most decor styles.

Paint is a the quickest, and fastest, way to breathe life into tired kitchen cabinets. Happy painting!