Painting cupboards

Willow · Post by **Willow** » 22 Oct 2008, 06:26

Just a quick tip for anyone with tired looking cupboards..
Rather than splashing out on new ones (even 'just' the doors can cost a small fortune) the quickest and cheapest way to totally spruce up a kitchen is to paint the doors..
Unless you're very good with a brush, its extreemly hard to get a good finish.
Try this - clean the surfaces really well (cheap sugar soap is excellent) apply a thin undercoat and invest about Â£2.00 in a small sponge roller set, use this to apply the gloss / matt/ satin paint and you will get a really good streak and run free finish..
By the way - if the surfaces are uneven or have had to be filled etc.. then matt or satin paint will show imperfections off far less than gloss.. )t'

chickentina · Post by **chickentina** » 22 Oct 2008, 20:33

hi tina

i spruced my kitchen cupboards up about three years ago with sticky backed covering..sort of wood effect ..couldn,t paint as the doors had a shiny plastic film on them...they still look good....just the hinges and drawer fronts need sorting now.....been asking hubby for new kitchen for a few months now...might get one ..one day!!!!

tina xx

kate egg · Post by **kate egg** » 22 Oct 2008, 20:46

That's a great way to change your kitchen without costing a fortune. I like painted kitchens, they are very homely. We stayed in a cottage in Cornwall once, it had light green and blue painted cupboards with open shelves on the walls - I loved it.

We have an oak kitchen that was installed 16 years ago - when we had the house valued recently they said it was a bit 'dated', well we still like it, its lived in :-D

Willow · Post by **Willow** » 23 Oct 2008, 13:46

Kateg, our kitchen was left by the previous owner, also oak and pretty dated.. but I like the old fashioned look so I painted it all cream, tiled the splashbacks and it looks pretty good now - well a lot better than it was anyway! I'll see if I can get some picks on here...

Willow · Post by **Willow** » 23 Oct 2008, 14:02

The good thing about painting is that you can then paint stuff like wooden bread bins & stuff to match it..

chickentina · Post by **chickentina** » 23 Oct 2008, 14:08

wow

that does look really good..well done )t'

tina xx

Willow · Post by **Willow** » 23 Oct 2008, 14:17

Thanks Tina.. you mentioned a shiny plastic you couldnt paint on? if you get the right undercoat, you can paint on practically anything..
These cupboards were part varnished, partly bare wood where the varnish had been scrubbed off over time.. they had stains, dents, cracks you name it - just ancient well used and very tired looking.. I wish I had a 'before' picture..
The chap who owned the house before us had lined every wall in the kitchen with plastic cladding which we couldnt get off!! If anyone needs a tip on how to tile over it, give me a shout!!

jo68 · Post by **jo68** » 23 Oct 2008, 15:49

hi tina

lovely big kitchen )t'

good job

jo x

Willow · Post by **Willow** » 23 Oct 2008, 15:55

jo68 wrote:

lovely big kitchen

jo x

Thanks.. good job is it big (though its not as big as it looks on the pic), when the weather was very bad, we had five cats, two dogs, 12 chooks and Tony n' me drying out in it!!

kate egg · Post by **kate egg** » 23 Oct 2008, 16:15

Oh that looks lovely, really country kitchen - I love the tiles too. You have made it so nice. Just shows what can be done without having to spend a fortune replacing all the units )t'

Willow · Post by **Willow** » 23 Oct 2008, 16:25

Thanks, the original plan was to 'distress' it or rub bits of it down to the wood to make it look really old.. but I got out voted

kate egg · Post by **kate egg** » 23 Oct 2008, 16:29

That's a tricky look to get right, I wanted to do it on some cupboards but they just looked messy! I think it looks just right as it it :-D

Babycakes · Post by **Babycakes** » 23 Oct 2008, 18:19

wow thats beautiful!! It looks like a brand new kitchen, well done you!!

Badger_Lady · Post by **Badger_Lady** » 23 Oct 2008, 18:22

I haven't got a kitchen - well, I've got a large room with a sink and a pool table in it! So far I've managed to:

- Find an electric cooker in someone's front garden (and got their permission before taking it!). The bottom's rusted away so it has to be propped up on stones, but works a treat.

- Got some old kitchen carcasses on Freecycle - I made friends with a nice couple on their who are now expecting their first child and need to clear the garage. My neighbour took my round in his van so we could collect.

- Got some smart solid wood doors - shaker style ones, in cream, from another neighbour who was "sprucing up" theirs.

- Talked to a colleague's husband about fitting it. Quite a high estimate, but probably worth it considering the materials have all been free!

- Used a learning fund through work to enrol on a "basic construction" course, which includes plumbing, carpentry, joinery and plastering. Hopefully enough for me to give it a decent finish

I'll post up pics when it's all finally done!

Evie · Post by **Evie** » 23 Oct 2008, 18:46

Lovely kitchen Tina, you have done a good job there.
Given me ideas for mine as its looking very tired and we got a quote for a new one and I needed oxygen to recover from the shock of how much they wanted.

Evie