Do you have Melamine cabinets in your home? Not only do I have them in my kitchen, I have them in my master bathroom too! Talk about double whammy!
I thought I was stuck with these for a long long while but as you saw in my earlier post, I transformed these bad boys with a fresh coat of paint. It took me ten years because I didnt think the paint would stick to the melamine surface. But with the following process, it worked! Read on and you will find yourself with newly transformed cabinets faster than you can say D-I-Y!
It’s all in the Primer
When I arrived at the paint store, first thing I told the employee was that I was working with Melamine. I thought they would cringe and send me out the door. To my surprise, the nice gal directed me to this product.
I probably asked her 10x making sure she knew what I was dealing with.
After so many years of DIY fails, I knew by experience painting over something on paper sounds easy. But it depends what you are painting over with.
Supplies
What you need for this DIY are:
- roller paint brushes
- Sherwin Williams Extreme Bond Primer
- Your choice of Paint. My choice was Sherwin Williams 7076 Cyberspace
- Sand paper
- Sander (optional but recommended)
A few tips
- Label which side the door hinges are before you start painting on the inside of each door with a sharpie. This way when you go back to hang the doors, they will be a breeze. Believe it or not, the height of each door can be off. And when you hang another door to a different location, sometimes it’s not level anymore. Talk about frustrating!
2. I borrowed this handy dandy electrical Black and Decker sander called The Mouse and it was so helpful! The narrow shape in the front like a iron really got the inner edges of the cabinetry. I definitely would purchase this.
If you are working with darker paint, be patient! I painted 4-5 coats to really cover the cabinets well. And I let each coat dry thoroughly.
Another Pro tip: See the kitchen grocery bag over the paint tray? I like lining the tray with that directly with a bag so that I can easily cover it and put it in the fridge for breaks. No paint will cake or dry onto the brush.
Once I am ready to paint again, I carefully unwrap it and start painting again! Genius right?
DIY Cabinets
So, what do you think? Going to try this soon? I think you should! I mean, c’mon look at the transformation.
Really it would be a shame if you didn’t. *wink* wink*
Or you can always give me a ring or message and I can help you with your space too! That is the beauty of this blog isn’t it? I am always here to help!
Happy day!
Hi, I just wanted to let you know, if you didn’t know already. The melamine kitchen bathroom doors/drawers have a shell that comes off in one piece! I was so happy when I found that out. Then I sanded, primed, sanded, painted each piece with two additional satin coats. They came out great!
That is great! When it gets old, they peel so it doesn’t always come off in one piece. I am glad it did for you! xo