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Paint inside of kitchen cabinets also?

5K views 15 replies 9 participants last post by  tylernt 
#1 ·
Planning on doing a facelift on existing kitchen cabinets by painting white & installing new hardware. Would you paint the insides white as well? Existing cabinets are fairly beat up so will need a lot of prep work, including the shelving on the inside.

Not looking to be trendy, just want to do the right thing (within a budget of course)
 
#2 ·
What are the existing cabinets made of?

If real wood....I would wipe them on the inside with an oil stain with a neutral color such as Watco's...or a color that is close to what you have....then once it's dry....one or two coats with a water based varnish.
 
#3 ·
Thanks for the quick reply! Unfortunately the cabinet shelving is some sort of particle board. The rest of it is "real" wood.... I put real in quotes because it's not a hardwood throughout but a wood ply in the backs, real on the rest.

Aside from replacing the shelving, is there anything I can do to make it nice? I'm handy so any options are welcome.

Once we figure out the shelving, do you maintain your original answer on a stain + varnish? Would you stain white?

Thanks!
 
#5 ·
I painted the insides of my upper cabinets a complementary color to my walls. The hubz laughed at me, but it makes me happy to open them and see a finished product. We have stained wood cabinets. I may be the only person who notices the color, but people think I'm way more organized than I really am because it looks 'done'.

With white cabinets, you could go with just about any color.
 
#6 ·
You cannot just paint interiors any more than you can exteriors. You must do proper prep. Clean, etch and degloss. Absolutely or paint will not stick.

Then paint them white for more light or purple.

Why would you not paint interiors of kitchen cabinets if you are painting all around them. You painted the interiors of your closets last time?
 
#10 ·
Quick afterthought regarding the particle board shelves: Instead of painting the shelves white, what if I added white formica to the shelving (or completely new melamine shelves), and painted the rest of the wood interior to match? Is this any kind of interior design fo paux?
 
#13 ·
Sticking by my comment. You can apply two coats of Melamine paint in a fraction of the time it takes you to:

- Pull the shelves
- Prep the shelves
- Apply contact adhesive to both sides
- Join the surfaces
- Route the laminate edges.

Melamine paint can be tinted to any color, by the way. You could even paint the total interiors of your cabinets with it.
 
#16 ·
They do make white adhesive shelf liner. Tricky to install without wrinkles, but glasses don't stick and you can always peel it off it gets stained or you change your mind on the color.
 
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