The BEST Paint for Kitchen Cabinets

We’ve painted a lot of cabinets in our time, and I recently took on painting all of our kitchen cabinets in just a couple of days – I couldn’t have done it without my favorite cabinet paint! Read on to learn more!

This post is sponsored by Rust-Oleum.

I’ve been a homeowner for nearly a decade now, and in that time I have painted a lot of cabinets. In fact, I don’t think there has been a single set of cabinets left untouched in either of our homes! So, suffice it to say I know my way around painting cabinets, and I’m here to tell you that the method I’m going to show you today is by far my favorite. It’s the most durable, it’s quick and easy, and you don’t have to spend a ton of time hunting down the perfect sealer or paint or worrying that you’ve picked the wrong brand. Promise.

OH, and you don’t have to sand either. That’s right – NO SANDING. I’ll pause while you have a dance celebration.

If you’ve followed along on our crazy story over on Instagram the past few weeks, you’ll know that we originally thought we had almost 6 weeks to prepare our house to put it on the market, but we had some crazy things happen behind the scenes and suddenly were left with only SIX DAYS to whip our house into shape. The to do list was long and one of the biggest things on the list was painting our kitchen cabinets.

Or, re-painting, I should say. You see, I painted these when we first moved into this house a mere two years ago. But guess what? I used the wrong sealer. The upper cabinets were yellowed, the bottom cabinets were chipping like crazy, and my fresh(ish) paint job was a hot mess. I wanted everything to look as good as possible for showings, so it was really important to me to give them a refresh before we put our house on the market. I immediately reached out to my friends at Rust-Oleum about using their Cabinet Transformations Kit – we used it for the first time earlier this year in our master bathroom and have been beyond impressed with the beautiful color and how well it holds up, so I knew I wanted to use the kit again in our kitchen.

And, y’all, I am so so glad I did.

Can you even handle that beautiful color? I am OBSESSED and wish I would have painted them like this originally! My kitchen feels so much bigger and more open, and it’s so calming to walk into the kitchen and see this beautiful, perfect neutral.

The color we chose is called Greige, and it really is the perfect chameleon color – when the early morning light hits it or when it’s cloudy outside, it looks more tan and moody, but as soon as the sun hits it full-on, you can really see the gray come out. It’s officially my new favorite cabinet color of all time and I can promise you that if I have any cabinets to paint in our new home, they’ll be painted this exact color. Because, seriously, yum.

I gave a full and detailed tutorial of exactly how to use this product when I painted our bathroom cabinets, so I’ll direct you to that if you want to read about the entire process, but I do want to answer some of the most frequently asked questions about this incredible product in case you’re interested in trying it out!

Painting kitchen cabinets: Cabinet Transformations FAQs

How does it work?

Rust-Oleum’s Cabinet Transformations Kit is a 3 (sometimes 4)-step process that helps you give your cabinets an entirely new look, typically without even needing to sand. The steps are as follows:

1: Degloss your cabinets. If they’ve been previously painted and sealed, you’ll need to sand to remove the sealer. Otherwise, no sanding needed!)

2: Paint using the bond coat. This is the actual paint part. It’s self-leveling, which means you just use a regular old brush to apply it, and you’ll get a beautiful smooth finish.

3: Add decorative glaze (OPTIONAL). Each kit comes with a decorative glaze you can add to change the look of the color a bit. This gives a more antique look and allows the wood grain to shine through a bit. I love just the painted look so I haven’t tried this yet, but I’ve seen photos and it can be so beautiful!

4: Seal with the provided sealer. And finally, you’ll use a brush to seal the paint with their top coat. No wondering if it’ll yellow over time or if the sealer is right for painted finishes – it’s all specially formulated to work together so you can rest easy knowing your finish will last.

Can I roll it on or spray it if I prefer?

Yes – if you aren’t planning on using the decorative glaze, then you can roll the paint or even use it in a sprayer. However, if you’re using the glaze you should always use a paintbrush.

How long does it take?

This largely depends on the size of your kitchen, but you can always expect a cabinet painting job to last multiple days, simply due to all the dry time. After removing all of the doors and drawer fronts, each side of the doors should get two coats of paint, with two hours of dry time in-between each coat.

So, if you start in the morning and are diligent about doing a coat every two hours all day, you could easily get the doors painted on one day and sealed the next. Then, they need 24 hours to dry before being re-attached. The base of your cabinets can usually be painted and sealed in one day, which I love because it gives it a couple of extra days to cure while you finish the doors, so you know it’s fully dry and ready once it’s time to put it all back together!

How do I get it tinted?

The Cabinet Transformations Kits come un-tinted at your local store. Simply bring a kit up to the paint color and show them which color you’d like to use (they’re all on the lid of the box). They’ll tint it for you in the store, and you’re good to go!

Will it work on my laminate cabinets? What about furniture?

Yes, and yes! Cabinet Transformations Kits work on all wood, melamine, and laminate surfaces. So, you could also use this to give a dresser, desk, or bookshelf a makeover if you want!

how hard is it, really?

It’s not. I promise! The most difficult and important part of the process is making sure that you reeeeeally get your cabinets super super clean with the deglosser, and allow them to dry afterwards. Once you’ve got squeaky clean cabinetry, the rest is a breeze as long as you can hold a paintbrush! This is a perfect beginner-level project, and I promise you’ll be absolutely amazed at the incredible transformation.

How do you keep them clean?

Once they’re fully cured (wait at least a week after painting before you clean them), you can clean these with a wet rag and some mild cleaner. You shouldn’t use any harsh cleaners on any painted surface, but I love to use my Mrs. Meyer’s multipurpose spray to keep mine clean. They generally clean up really well, and even with kids we haven’t had an issue keeping them looking nice.

Would you do it again?

Absolutely! I think that latex paint is still a fine option for painting cabinetry, and I never say never when it comes to projects, but I honestly don’t see any reason to use any other paint for cabinetry in the future. The color options are beautiful, and I love an all-in-one kit from a brand I know I can trust. It makes the decision-making process so much easier on me, and I don’t have to stress that my finish might not last.

If you have any other questions about Rust-Oleum’s Cabinet Transformations Kit, please drop them in the comments below and I’ll do my best to help! I’m so, so passionate about helping you feel motivated and excited to try new things in your home, and I think this is such a great, approachable way to give a space a whole new look. I’m honestly feeling a little sad to leave my kitchen now!

You can find more details on the Cabinet Transformations Kits right here, along with all of the color options! The kit we used was the “light” kit, but there is a separate set of darker colors, which you can see here.