Friday, July 5, 2013

Painting Kitchen Cabinets with Chalk Paint®


Painting kitchen cabinets is a question I am often asked about Chalk Paint®, so here is how to do it:

 As always, make sure the surfaces are clean before painting! A little extra cleaning might be a good idea since the kitchen is where you may see a little extra grease, so you may want to use a "scrubby" brush with your cleaner. Be sure to do a final wipe off with clean water so that there is no residue from your cleaner left on the cabinets. 

Paint the cabinets with at least two coats of Chalk Paint®. Although there is no need to sand or prime the cabinets (I'm assuming you are painting wood cabinets), you may choose to lightly sand the cabinets before painting as this will help the paint to adhere even better.

 Make sure to protect the paint with two or three coats of Soft Clear Wax. Annie's Soft Wax is water repellant and strong enough to stand up to high use. Let the first coat of wax harden for a day before adding the second coat. I don't see the need to use a poly or lacquer if you use Annie Sloan Soft Wax.

 You may need to "refresh" the Soft Wax every now and then if needed, but for the most part, a periodic buffing should keep your cabinets looking good.

 Wipe with a damp cloth to clean or for tougher stains, you can use a stronger cleaner. If the cleaner removes some wax over time, then simply add a little more Soft Wax. I have had good luck with cleaners such as "Method" and "Simple Green".

Painting kitchen cabinets with Chalk Paint® is really no different than painting furniture with it. You can distress, layer color or any of the other methods we've learned about painting with Chalk Paint®. Just remember to protect with two or three coats of Soft Wax.

Although this method works best on wood surfaces, if you have a shiny surface like a laminate, go ahead and paint! You just may want to rough up the surface a bit first to get the best adhesion. 



Remember my shop counter? It's actually an old kitchen cabinet with a laminate top and, yes, I did paint it!



Happy  Painting!  Rachel

Chalk Paint® and supplies are available at my two shops:
4323 Irvington Rd., Irvington, VA and 
19 S. Belmont St. (in the heart of Carytown), Richmond, VA


To see more tips, tutorials and photos: Paintbrush and Pearls