How to Paint Kitchen Cabinets | This Old House

This Old House host Kevin O'Connor discovers pro painter Rich O'Neil's secrets for brightening up old doors with a coat of paint. (See below for a shopping list and tools.)
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Kevin and painting expert Rich O'Neil showed a homeowner the proper way to paint her kitchen cabinets. After a trip to the home center to pick up a few supplies, Rich starts on the cabinet doors by showing how to degrease and sand them so that the new paint will adhere well. Next, he removes the sanding dust with a tack cloth and applies an acrylic bonding primer with a brush, being careful to use long brush strokes for a smooth appearance. To paint the backs of the doors, Rich hangs them from hooks screwed into 2x4's set in-between two ladders. This allows one side to dry while the other side is painted. For the remainder of the job, Rich and Kevin instruct the homeowner to apply two coats of latex paint and two coats of water-based polyurethane for added durability.

Shopping List for How to Paint Kitchen Cabinets:
- spray-on degreaser or household cleanser used to clean the doors before applying the primer coat
- clean cotton rags, for wiping doors clean
- 100- and 120-grit sandpaper, for power-sanding and hand-sanding the doors smooth
- tack cloth, for removing sanding dust from doors5. Two stepladders and two 8-foot-long 2x4s, for making a painting/drying station
- screw hooks, used to hang the doors from the painting/drying station
- 1 5/8-inch drywall screws, for attaching to doors to serve as temporary handles

Tools for How to Paint Kitchen Cabinets:
- 2- to 3-inch-wide paintbrushes, used for applying primer, paint and clear polyurethane topcoat
- random orbit sander, used to slightly roughen the doors' surfaces prior to priming

About Ask This Old House TV:
Homeowners have a virtual truckload of questions for us on smaller projects, and we're ready to answer. Ask This Old House solves the steady stream of home improvement problems faced by our viewers—and we make house calls! Ask This Old House features some familiar faces from This Old House, including Kevin O'Connor, general contractor Tom Silva, plumbing and heating expert Richard Trethewey, and landscape contractor Roger Cook.

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How to Paint Kitchen Cabinets | This Old House
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