How to Paint Pantry Cabinets Like A Pro

I don’t know if you know this, but next week is reveal week for the Spring One Room Challenge and we are just now painting. Will we get done in time? Who knows, but I’m hoping for success. This week, week 7, we are doing all the prep and painting. So, let’s get to it!

Prep

For me, this is the worst part. I really don’t like the prep work. This includes emptying all cabinets, removing everything from the counters, clearing the room. Then, taping off everything that’s not getting painted. We also added paper to the butcher block counter and paper to the floors. We wanted everything covered because we are spraying the paint on. The only thing we didn’t cover was the ceiling and we probably should have done some prep to that.

Remove Cabinet Drawer/Doors and Hardware

Pantry cabinets installed with doors and drawers removed. Butcher block countertops

This is part of the prep work. Our cabinets are brand new, so the only hardware on them is the hinges. We removed all the hinges from the doors. Then, we covered the drawers in plastic trash bags because the drawer fronts are not removable. If you have drawer fronts that are removable, I’d do that now as it would be easier to paint. I marked all drawers, so I know where they’re supposed to go back. This is helpful especially if you have doors and drawers that are the same size.

Clean all Surfaces

Again, not a step I really enjoy. Everything needs to be wiped down. I cleaned all the trim and woodwork to make sure everything was clear of dust and debris. The walls also will need to be wiped down, but I left that step until we paint the walls. (Which will happen in the next day or so.)

Prep the Boxes

Pantry prepped and primed — In this view, we’ve already done the primer, but you can see how I prepped all the surfaces and cabinets.

I vacuumed all the boxes to get rid of excessive dust or debris. Then, I taped painter’s plastic inside all the cabinet boxes. We decided to leave the drawer boxes open and just tape off the drawer roller. Our reasoning is that you will not be able to see inside those cabinets due to the drawers.

Prime Cabinets

Our cabinets are raw wood. We purchased them from Menards. We went with maple for everything. The shelves are particle board. We reused all our previous shelves from the original pantry. Andy did add vertical Douglas fir planks for the shelving sides/supports. We ended up priming all the wood surfaces, vertical shiplap, and shelves. We used wood primer in our paint sprayer for it all. We did one coat of primer.

Paint

You may need to sand the cabinets in between the prime coat and the paint coat. We used 220 grit sandpaper. We used our electric paint sprayer with semi-gloss paint for all the cabinets, trim, and shelves. We did end up doing two coats of paint, sanding in between coats. Check out this post for the paint color we decided to go with.

Put Back all the Pieces

This is the step that we have not yet completed. We are waiting until the walls are painted. We will be adding all the drawer pulls and handles, as well. I’m so excited to see everything complete!

Conclusion

So, what do we have left to do in a matter of days? We have to paint the walls, poly the butcher block counters, change out the lighting. Then, put all the things back into the pantry. Only time will tell if we’re going to make it! Be sure to check out all the other amazing projects on the One Room Challenge Blog. Stay tuned for the reveal next week! Until then, Treasure Hunters!