A Cabinet-Painting Idea for the Color Wary

Considering bold color in your kitchen? Painting the walls might seem too much of an allover commitment. And all of the cabinets can be just as daunting (especially if you're painting them yourself... painting cabinets is hard!). One idea for the color-wary of you:

Paint just the base cabinets! The uppers are at a height where they're in-your-face and a bold color there might be intimidating. But by keeping the uppers white or neutral and painting just the base cabinets, all of the color is low, making it a bit more "safe". If you end up loving it, you can always forge ahead and paint the uppers in the future. But starting at the base might be just what you need to take the color plunge.

(Images: Life in Grace, Southern Living, GardenWeb)

Categories: Kitchens, Interior Design

Posted by Regina Yunghans

Regina is an architect who lives with her husband and son in Lawrence, KS. As a LEED Accredited Professional and longtime contributor to Apartment Therapy and The Kitchn, her focus is on healthy, sustainable living through design.
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Comments (4)

nice! I also really like how the cabinetry in the last picture combines open and closed shelving in a unique way-- I haven't seen that too often!

Any suggestions for painting plastic cabinets in a rental?

@JThurston, run it by the landlord first but you can do it. Get a high adhesion primer for laminate/melamine surfaces. Wash the surface, sand it a bit to rough it up and take off any sheen, give everything a good coat of primer and leave lots of curing time. Follow it up with several light coats of a durable paint - oil, melamine, etc. A good paint store (not a box store) can make a suggestion. Again, leave lots of curing time between coats. With a task like this it's really important to do all of the prep correctly or the results won't last and you'll leave a mess for the next tenants and the landlord.

I did this once (kitchen) and rushed it - it was terrible, far worse than what I started with. The paint was very susceptible to chipping and peeling and it stuck together where the doors met the frames.

The second time I did it (bathroom vanity), I was very thorough and took my time. Six years later I'm still enjoying the results.

Good luck.

I love the turquoise cabinets! That is one of my possible paint colors for my kitchen cabinets. I would love to know the name and brand of paint used on these cabinets. So gorgeous!