How to Reface Your Kitchen Cabinets

Hi everyone! If you have been following along with me on instagram, you probably have seen some before and afters of our kitchen renovation. I wanted to take a more in depth look at our renovation here on the blog so that you can see a little more about what we did and how we did it. In case you missed it, here is a quick snapshot of the before. I will do a full reveal blog post in the upcoming weeks, but just so you can get a glimpse of what we started with.

Before

We got a few quotes on our kitchen that were just way out of our budget, so we decided to save some money and reface our cabinets. That just means we kept the overall footprint of the kitchen and used all of the cabinet bases, and then just ordered new doors to give it a little face lift. (We ordered our doors through Cabinet Door World). It may sound like a lot of work but it so worth it!

Step 1: Measure

The first major decision we had to make was what type of overlay we wanted. Full overlay is when the cabinet doors cover the entire face frame of the base cabinets. Partial overlay is when the doors cover most of the face frame of the base cabinets but leave space between the doors and drawers. You can refer to the picture below to get a better idea. In the end, we went with a hybrid style, combining a little bit of both. We used this video to help us measure.

Step 2: Prep

The first thing we had to do was sand the cabinets in order to remove any dirt and grime and strip it of any existing finish. Next we removed any remaining dust using a tack cloth which is basically a sticky rag that collects any debris that was left from sanding. Once that was completed, we cleaned them with TSP which is a heavy duty cleaning product.

Shop the Materials

Step 3: Prime

Once the cabinets were clean and dry, we were able to start the priming process. This included two coats with a light sanding in between using 220 grit sandpaper. If you want a smoother finish, you can also use 320 grit at this point to reach a more glass-like, polished finish. The brand of primer we used was called Zinssers BIN Primer. When painting the base cabinets, we used 4 inch mohair rollers to give it an extra smooth finish. We decided to spray the cabinet doors with a HVLP sprayer, but you can definitely roll them if you aren’t able to use one. TIP: Do a finishing stroke to assure there is a smooth finish. You can do this by taking the roller without adding more paint and do a gentle stroke in one direction to leave a nice finish.

Shop the Materials

Step 4: Paint

After we were satisfied with two coats of primer, we painted with the color of our choice which was Sherwin Williams Alabaster using their Emerald Urethane line. It’s expensive paint but I highly recommend since it will allow your cabinets to endure the wear and tear of everyday life. As a cheaper alternative, you can also use the Pro Classics line, which is still highly durable and easy to clean. We picked SW Alabaster because it is not a stark, cool white, but more of a cozy, warm white with a hint of yellow without being too stuffy. We followed the same rules as above when painting and made sure to sand in between coats.

Once all that is done, you are ready to put the doors back on and enjoy your new kitchen! I hope this gave you a better idea of how we refaced our cabinets. If you are on a budget and looking for ways to save, this is a great way to do so! If you have any questions or comments, feel free to leave a comment below.