About Michael Bruns Expertise I can answer all questions related to interior and exterior painting, priming and preperation, as well as interior staining. Also exterior stains and deck staining, including preperation and product selection.
Not very knowlegable with the actual wallpaper hanging process, but I am familiar with wall prep and wallpaper adhesives.
Experience I own/manage a large True Value hardware store and have a large "TrueValue Paint Shop" inside our store. Also a certified Woodsman stain expert as well as a certified Cabot stain dealer.
Education/Credentials I have attended numerous True Value paint seminars, which are held every year to keep us up to date on new products and procedures. Recently became a certified Woodsman stain woodcare expert, which included training on all exterior woodcare. We are also a certified Cabot stain dealer, which also included education on the products for our staff to be able to sell Cabot.
Question We have bought a '70's house and the cabinets are made of some type of laminate in a dark wood finish. I want to brighten them up, but am afraid to tackle them with a stark gloss white color. Is there a fairly simple technique for painting them that will give me a lighter color without running the risk of "streaking" in the paint? I have painted my walls a bright red. Any suggestions on what color to paint the cabinets besides white. Also, is it necessary to use a high gloss? I would like to try ragging or sponging or maybe even dry brushing - do I have to use oil paint for this? I have been told that if I don't use an oil base, that it will be extremely hard to keep clean. I'm a novice, so please keep it simple. Any help you can give me will be very appreciated. Thank you.
Answer Hello
First of all you can paint these cabinets any color you like, without worries of streaking. You first however have to clean them with a TSP and hot water solution. You can find TSP in any hardware store or home center. It comes in a powder form, you mix it with hot water to form a heavy duty cleaning solution. I would use a scuff pad along with the TSP to scrub the cabinets clean, then rinse with clear water. One cleaned, you need to give them a single coat of a primer called BIN. This is a heavy duty primer/sealer so it will seal up that dark laminate, but its also an adhesion promoting primer and will stick to all your hard to paint surfaces such as marble, ceramic tile, LAMINATES, and even glass. It dries in about an hour, and then your ready for paint in any color you like. You mentioned you dont like the stark bright white, so why not go with an off white, or what they sometimes call an antique white? Its a little more creamy than bright white but yet not dark enough to look dingy or too beige. You can also do any type of faux finish on them (rolling, ragging ect), and you dont have to use an oil based paint. Usually you use an acrylic latex semi-gloss paint so the paint does scrub up easily, but another thing you can do is to when your done you can always apply a couple coats of a waterbased polyurethane on the doors afterwards to protect any type of faux finish you try.
Good luck! Let me know how you do or if I can be of any more help to you
with this.
