For wood, brushing is fine, but you may want to hire a professional for a good finish. Using a roller to paint cabinets is a lot faster than brush painting, however, the fabric on the roller will create a 'bobbly' texture on the surface. The texture a roller puts on cabinets makes it unsuitable for gloss paint.
PAINTING CABINETS – when painting kitchen or bathroom cabinets, we suggest that you use a lint free roller to paint the flat surface areas on the cabinets. This helps to reduce any potential for brush strokes.
Walls, Wood, and Metal - Small 1/4″ nap roller covers or foam rollers will produce the smoothest finish. Light to Medium Textured Surfaces - Microfiber rollers are best.
Ideally, spray painting cabinets is the most sought after method today. The quality of finish you get from using a spray gun is second to none, and it's by far a faster and more efficient method.
Two coats of paint are essential for cabinets—you're building a surface. By the way, to get the nicest finish, use a brush, a 2- to 2 1/2-inch fine bristle brush. Whatever paint you use, ventilate the room—direct a fan out the window—and wear the masks they sell in paint stores.
Sand Lightly Between Coats
Dust can settle in the paint or primer as it dries. For the smoothest final coat, sand between coats of primer or paint with 220-grit sandpaper or an extra-fine sanding sponge. Then vacuum and tack as usual before recoating.
While there are many types of paint to choose from, the best paint for kitchen cabinets is typically semi-gloss, gloss or satin. Matte is not practical in kitchens and baths where you will need durable paint you can easily clean.
If you don't clean before sanding, contaminates (like cooking grease) will be pressed down into the wood. Contaminates will keep the soon be applied paint for sticking. You can remove the doors here in the process or wait until after you wash them down. It is totally up to you and situational dependent.
While satin finishes tend to be fairly durable in high traffic areas, they're not as durable and versatile as semi-gloss against mildew and mold. Kitchen cabinets in high moisture environments can, therefore, do better with semi-gloss paints.
Cabinet Painting with a Roller & a Brush
On the fronts and backs of drawers and doors, you can use a roller. This will apply the paint in a more smooth and even manner and is much faster than only using a paint brush.
Size Up the Job. Wood, wood-laminate and metal cabinets usually can be repainted without difficulty. Plastic laminate cabinets might not accept a topcoat of paint — those that can be refinished often require special paints and techniques, and results can vary.
Using a paint sprayer is one of the easiest ways to get a super smooth finish on your cabinets. By their very nature, paint sprayers eliminate brush strokes and roller marks completely. And painting with a paint sprayer is almost always faster than using a paint roller and paint brush.
You may wish to vacuum the insides of the kitchen cabinets if there's a lot of dust or cobwebs inside. Then, clean the cabinet by moving from top to bottom. For stubborn stains or smells, make a paste of baking soda with some water and pat it into place, leaving it for a few minutes before wiping it off.
My favorite sealer for painted furniture is General Finishes High Performance Top Coat and this would also be my first choice for sealing cabinets. It is water-based, non-yellowing, and extremely easy to work with (unlike many other sealers).
Once your cabinets are clean and dry, use a 100 or 150-grit sandpaper to roughen up the surface of the cabinets. Cabinet paint won't adhere properly to a smooth or shiny surface. You don't need to completely remove the prior finish, just rough up the surface enough to give the primer something to stick to.
Since glossy finishes are the quickest to show scratches and stains, matte finishes are ideal for those who want to hide their furniture's imperfections. On the other hand, cabinets with a matte finish absorb light instead of reflecting it. As a result, this finish will not help your space feel bigger.
If you're looking for a luxurious finish that makes your kitchen feel cozy, then eggshell finish is the best. It is also easier to clean and can better hide scratches and dirt. However, if you want a safe finish which makes the kitchen space seem larger, then semi-gloss is your friend.
Paint finishes come in gloss, semi-gloss, satin, eggshell and matte, any of which can be used on your cabinets. Gloss and semi-gloss - Both create a shiny appearance, making them great for trim. They wipe up quickly and easily, which can make them attractive for some busy kitchens.
If you don't want to sand before you prime, use some mineral spirits and a rough sponge to clean and lightly rough up the cabinet area you're painting. This doesn't open up the wood cabinet material as much as sanding but does get you some additional grippy area for the primer to adhere to.
DecoArt Satin Enamel Cabinet Paint
In the past, if you wanted to paint cabinets or furniture, you had to strip, sand and generally kill yourself getting a good surface ready to paint on. Now, with DecoArt's Satin Enamel paints, you don't need to do any of that.
Note: While you don't have to sand before you prime, you do need to sand lightly after you prime and between each coat of paint. Yeah, it will take a while (probably about an hour and a half for a standard-sized kitchen), but it's necessary to make sure the next coat goes on well.