How To Prep Cabinets for Paint- ORC Week 2

Painting bathroom cabinets can be tricky! Read on to see my tips for how to prep cabinets for paint to make them look professional and last forever!

Welcome back for Week 2 of the One Room Challenge where I’m going to share with you how I prep cabinets for paint.

Click here if you missed Week 1.

Progress in Week 1

So, this past week I did all the prep work to get the cabinets ready for paint.  My plan is to get all of the painting done before installing the wallpaper.

First, in order to prep the cabinets for paint, I took all of the cabinet doors and working drawer faceplates off the vanity…

Then, I cleaned off the entire surface of the vanity with TSP.  Without this step, the primer would not stick.

 

To purchase this cleaner click here.

*Sidenote- wear gloves while working with TSP.  Also, read the warning labels carefully.

After removing all of the dust and oils from the cabinets with TSP, I lightly scuff sanded the cabinets and base with a 120 grit sanding block.  When using primer, it is not necessary to sand your cabinets all the way down to the bare wood.  Scuff sanding simply takes the sheen off the cabinets so that the primer will have something to grab to.

To purchase this sanding block click here.

After scuff sanding the base of the cabinets and the front and backs of each cabinet door & drawer, I taped off all the necessary areas of the floor with painters tape.  I didn’t feel the need to tape off the walls or mirror because I will be painting the walls a different color so any primer or paint I accidentally paint on the walls from doing the cabinets will just get painted over eventually.  Also, I never tape off mirrors because it’s much easier to just scrape off the paint with a razor blade at the very end!

After taping off all of my necessary areas, I primed the vanity base and drawers with Stix Primer….

 

To purchase this primer click here .T

Tips For Priming Before Painting Cabinet Doors…

1. Use a brand new clean, good quality brush.  Make sure there is no debris or “junk” in your brush or it will show in the primer and transfer to whatever you are painting
2. Do not use near as much primer as you do paint.  Priming should take you less than half the time as painting and be a light, thin coat on whatever it is you are painting, including furniture and walls.
3. Have a wet rag near by to clean up spills and drips quickly.
4. Use a low odor primer for small, non ventilated areas.  (See below)

Why I Love Using Stix Primer to Prep Cabinets for Paint

The thing I love most about using Stix is that is has zero odor!   I’m sure if you stuck your head inside the paint can you could conjure up some kind of smell but seriously while I was priming our bathroom over the weekend, I didn’t smell a single thing!  A low odor primer is pertinent when painting small rooms with very little ventilation, like our powder bath!

I saved the cabinet doors for priming at the end of this week because I’m waiting to add the new trim to them first.

So in summary….

How To Prep Cabinets for Paint

• remove all cabinet doors and hinges
• clean all cabinet surface areas including base and doors with TSP removing any oils and dust
• scuff sand every square inch that will be painted with a sanding block
• wipe off excess sand from sanding block
• tape off all areas with painters tape
• prime all areas that will be painted with Stix

Priming The Walls and Mirror Frame

After finishing all the prep for the cabinets, I moved on to the walls and mirror.  To prime both, I used this primer….

To purchase this Aqua-Lock Primer click here

Stix would have been overkill for priming the walls and a raw wood mirror frame.  Aqua-Lock did have a slight odor but nothing our small bathroom vent couldn’t take care of.  Even so, I didn’t feel the need to open any doors or windows and it dissipated quickly.  I rolled the primer on the walls with a new roller brush.  I always recommend using a new roller brush.  Rollers are inexpensive and a pain to clean so I like to use a new one for each room/project. Primer was necessary for painting our powder bath walls because I plan to go from dark (Kendall Charcoal by BM) to light (Simply White by BM)….

I chose to only prime the lower half of the walls because wallpaper will go on the upper half.

After priming the walls, I moved on to the mirror.

Before priming the mirror frame, I put wood filler in the joints to make the corners look more continuous.

 

And this is a picture of the wood filler in the joint, waiting to dry….

The wood filler I used is considered an “add-on” item on Amazon so here is a similar one that can be purchased via Amazon Prime…

After the wood filler dried, I sanded it down with my same 120 grit sanding block and got busy priming the mirror.  *Sidenote- before priming, make sure to wipe away all sanding dust and excess wood filler so as not to clog up your brush while painting.

To prime the mirror I used the same primer as on the walls.  (Aqua-Lock in white)…

Look how much brighter the room looks already just from priming half the walls and the mirror!?!?!  OMG I cannot wait for reveal day!

My Plan for the Upcoming Week

Speaking of, I better get busy!  This week I will be focusing on the cabinet doors and painting.  I plan to paint the base of the cabinet, the doors, and drawers with a REALLY pretty paint color that I think you are all going to LOVE.  Before painting the cabinet doors though, I have to get the new custom trim put on first.  My husband already started working on them for me so I’ll leave you with a little sneak peak of it before I go….

Thanks for stopping by for my Week 2 check-in of the One Room Challenge.  Make sure you are signed up to receive my updates automatically in your inbox.