Alkyd paints are your go-to product if you want to paint kitchen cabinets like a professional. Alkyd paint is not typically used on walls but is commonly used on metal or wood and cabinets.
Professional painters often use high-quality lacquer for cabinet painting to ensure a smooth and durable finish. This process involves removing all hardware from the cabinets, masking off areas not intended for painting, and scuffing every surface with sandpaper or a foam sanding block.
Recommendation: For most kitchens, a semi-gloss finish is the best choice. It strikes the perfect balance between durability, ease of cleaning, and aesthetic appeal. Satin finishes are also a good choice if you prefer less shine, while gloss finishes are great for a more modern, high-impact look.
MAGNOLIA HOME BY JOANNA GAINES® TRIM, DOOR + CABINETRY INTERIOR SEMI-GLOSS PAINT 4.5 out of 5 stars, average rating value.
In addition, cabinet painters choose paints with the optimal shine. High-gloss and semi-gloss paints work best on cabinets because they have a stronger finish when compared to other sheens. They are also easier to clean and maintain than a matte finish.
Semi-Gloss Finish
As the most popular sheen, semi-gloss provides your kitchen cabinets with a nice shine that is not overbearing. Semi-gloss finishes like polyurethane are known for their easy application and high durability.
With proper care of professionally painted kitchen cabinets, you can expect your newly painted cabinets to last 8-10 years! While new cabinets will last you much longer, they will also cost thousands more, which can be an unnecessary expense in some cases.
Tip: Emerald® Urethane Trim Enamel in Gloss, Semi-Gloss or Satin sheen is among the best paint for kitchen cabinets because it has excellent flow and leveling characteristics, resulting in a smooth and durable finish.
Benjamin Moore recommends using Advance® Interior Paint on cabinets. It can be applied between 50°F and 90°F.
The Paint: Roycroft Mist Gray, Sherwin-Willaims
She selected Roycroft Mist Gray for the base cabinets and paired it with neutral Whitetail on the uppers — both Sherwin-Willaims. To complete the trio of shades, she accented the space in matte black.
For those looking for paint rollers for a smooth finish, high-density foam rollers should be your first stop. While high-density foam rollers are great, they are not the only option. Lint-free short nap rollers are another excellent choice for achieving a smooth finish.
Satin finishes have a lower shine and more of a matte finish, which makes them less prone to showing scratches and wear but may be a bit harder to clean. For high-traffic areas like the kitchen or bathroom, a satin finish may be a better choice as it's more durable and easy to clean.
Semi-gloss paint: A popular pick for kitchen cabinets, semi-gloss is a very durable finish with high stain-resistance. These paints reflect more light and have a brighter, cleaner appearance.
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.
Skilled pros will be able to complete this job in a couple of days, including prep work, priming, painting, and cleanup. Typically, professional painters will charge about $6 to $14 per square foot, so you can expect to pay between $400 and $1,300 in total for the cost of painting kitchen cabinets.
We usually use professional-grade lacquer because it has a lovely, silky-smooth feel to it, and is what cabinet manufacturers use. We think it's the best paint for cabinets, hands-down (although there are some great pro-level water-based options as well).
LIGHT HUES
White will always be a number one kitchen cabinet color however, white has taken many iterations over the years.
Kitchen cabinets are painted in industrial settings with industrial-grade paints and equipment that sprays the paint onto the wood surface with high velocity. It is usually lacquer or enamel-type oil-based paint and it might have undergone an additional curing process.
Benjamin Moore's Advance® Interior provides a hard, furniture-quality finish making it the gold standard for painting or repainting kitchen cabinets.
Melamine finishes are some of the most durable and versatile cabinet finishes out there! Cabinets with a melamine finish are made by heat-sealing thermally fused melamine resin (TFM) to a hard wood substrate such as pressed wood, medium-density fiberboard, or plywood.
Although painted kitchen cabinets can offer a fresh new look, they may not stand the test of time as well as other finishes. The surfaces of painted cabinets in high-traffic areas, like the kitchen island or near the sink, can be prone to chips, scratches, and general wear over time.
Semi-gloss finishes like polyurethane are known for their easy application and high durability. A good quality semi-gloss finish should be resistant to a wide variety of things, including heat, chemicals, scratches, water, fungus, and mildew.
Note, however, that just because you found the best paint finish for cabinets doesn't mean multiple coats won't be necessary. On the contrary, most cabinets require at least two coats of paint, even if you're using the best stuff available (though you may need more coats than this if you're using lesser products).