If you want to spruce up your kitchen but don't have the funds for a remodel, why not consider painting your kitchen cabinets? Replacing kitchen cabinets can be very expensive, but if your cabinets are still decent shape and just look scratched and worn on on the surface, painting them can be the perfect solution. For a few hundred dollars, you can have new looking cabinets, instead of layiing out thousands of dollars for new ones.

Make sure you have to use the right kind of paint if you are going to repaint your kitchen cabinets. The staff at a paint or decorating store will be familiar with the correct products for this kind of a project. They will probably recommend an acrylic latex paint for the job. This kind of paint adheres well to the surface of the cabinets and is very long lasting. This kind of paint is washable, a real value when it comes to keeping your cabinets clean once the project is completed. The best way to get a smooth finish is to use spray equipment. This will eliminate any of the stroke marks you may see if you use the brush technique. You can rent spray equipment cheaply at a rental center, hardware store, home improvement center and sometimes at a paint store. Make sure you prepare the work area properly by covering and taping surfaces you don't want to be painted.

Brushing is one idea for painting the cabinets, but you must make sure you use the very highest quality brushes, Otherwise you will be able to see the brush marks. The specialists at the home center or decorating store will be able to advise you here as well. Using the right brush is important, since some paints will go on better if you use a natural bristled brush, and others will work better with a synthetic bristle brush. Rollers should not be ised for cabinets, since they will leave the marks and the stippling from the roller.

Make sure you properly prepare the cabinet surface before you start painting. Remove all doors and all hardware such as hinges and handles. Make sure you put some kind of mark on each doors so you know which is the bottom and top so it will be easier when you hang them up again. Remove all the paint and varnish from the cabinets down to the plain wood, sand well and then clean thoroughly with mineral spirits. A clean, sanded surface will help the paint adhere better.

After you have removed varnish, sanded the surface and cleaned all of the cabinet pieces, take the time to make repairs to any damage. Spread wood putty onto nicks or gauges and let it dry thoroughly and sand it before painting. A primer that is an acrylic based primer is recommended as a first coat since this will further improve the adherence qualities of the paint.

After a primer coat, two more paint coats should be sufficient to cover. Make sure the first coat is thoroughly dry before you apply the second coat. You should paint all the cabinets first and then paint the doors. You may want to put the doors on sawhorses in order to paint them, since this will allow you to get at all of the edges.

You can reattach the hardware after you have painted the cabinets and put them back together, but how about totally updating the look of your cabinets, by putting in new hinges and handles? New hinges will look cleaner and will also make the doors operate better, adn new handles can completely transform the look of your cabinets.

The one thing you want to make sure of is that the hinges and handles are the same size as the old ones so you can re-use the holes that are already there. When you go shopping for the hinges and handles, bring along the old ones to make sure they have the same spacing and you will not have to drill new holes or have old holes showing through.