Our White & Blue Painted Kitchen Cabinets
It’s here! It’s here! I’ve been promising this post about our DIY white and blue painted kitchen cabinets for ages and they’re finally (finally) done.
I promise I wasn’t just holding off on sharing this post. We literally just finished putting the new hardware on the cabinets yesterday. I don’t know why this project took me such a long time. Maybe because in the last couple of years I’ve painted cabinets in our old kitchen, our master bathroom, Jackson’s bathroom and the powder room. And, to be honest, I’m just tired of painting cabinets! But, it’s such a relief to have it completed. Finally.
And man, does it ever look good.
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Choosing Kitchen Cabinet Colors
I get a lot of questions about kitchen cabinet colors – how we choose them, what colors work best for kitchen cabinets, and all of that. The fun thing, to me, about cabinets is that the sky’s the limit when it comes to colors. There is no right or wrong answer! Of course, most people go with white painted kitchen cabinets. If not, it’s common to choose another neutral color (like gray or black). I wanted to do something a little different for the kitchen in this house.
It gets almost zero natural light and feels a bit cave-like at times. So, I wanted to avoid black cabinets (which is what we went with – and loved – in the old house). But I’m also not a huge fan of all-white kitchen cabinets. It’s a beautiful look but it’s just not for me – I need a bit more contrast!
I do know that I love the two-tone cabinet look So, I knew from the beginning I’d be doing white on the uppers and a color on the lower cabinets. I knew the white would bring in some of the brightness that we desperately needed, and doing something a little darker on the bottom would ground things without making it feel too dark. I landed on a pretty blue color and I love how it turned out.
I’ve written a few posts about painting cabinets before (you can see details on how to paint cabinets here and a look at how they hold up over time here). So, I’ve covered a lot of the details already! But I’ll go ahead and cover a few frequently asked questions that tend to come around over and over.
What kind of paint should I use to paint my kitchen cabinets?
There are a lot of different opinions that you’ll hear on this! The bottom line is that most high-quality paints are just fine (meaning, don’t buy the cheapest type). However, I have to say I’ve had fantastic luck with Behr’s Marquee line of paint. I can’t recommend it enough. This is the paint we have used on every cabinet project other than our last kitchen, and we’ve been very pleased with it. So, bottom line is that this paint works well for me, and I’ll keep using it. We typically go with a semi-gloss finish (though a high-gloss is also a great choice for kitchen cabinets – it’s easy to clean!).
What color did you use for your blue painted kitchen cabinets?
We used Polar White by Behr on the upper cabinets and Durango Blue by Behr on the lower cabinets. To seal them, we generally use a polyurethane (like this one).
Our hardware was graciously sent to us from Liberty Hardware – we used these pulls for the cabinet doors and these for the drawers, which are probably my favorite drawer pulls I’ve ever seen in my life. I love how the black plays with the colors of the cabinets and the black countertops. I think it’s a fun choice that you don’t see all that often in kitchens!
What is the best way to paint cabinets – should I roll them or spray them?
I prefer to spray the doors with this paint sprayer and roll the bases. I don’t have the patience to tape off my entire house to spray the bases, so I use a small foam roller instead. The doors, however, do much better when sprayed! I always take them out to the garage and use my paint sprayer. Again, you can check out this post to see all of the details of my process for painting cabinets.
What tools do you use?
You can check out this facebook live video for a look at the tools I typically use, but here’s a quick list:
- Wagner FLEXio 590 Paint Sprayer
- Mini foam roller
- Short-handled, angled paint brush (I like this one)
- HANDy Paint Tray and liners
- HANDy Paint Pail (so helpful for the upper cabinets – don’t forget the liners!)
And that’s it! If you have a question that I missed, be sure to let me know in the comments and I’ll answer it for you.
Oh, and, just to celebrate how far we’ve (already) come, let’s take a peek back at how this kitchen looked when we moved in a mere two months ago:
And now…
Mmm, better right? I love the new white and blue painted kitchen cabinets and it’s got me really excited to make some more changes. Maybe starting with that awful backsplash!
Great! I love these color choices. Keep up the good work.
Great work! You are so talented and I am impressed with your work. I want similar cabinets in my kitchen. Thanks and keep sharing.
Thanks so much, Amanda!
Wow! I love your color choice! If my husband could get on board I would probably choose these same colors. Awesome job and thanks for the post! If you are looking for another linky party we have one on Fridays called Friday Friends Parade and you can link up through Monday night every week. Thanks again!
xoxo Jodie & Julie
Thanks so much!
Oh I love that blue! Your project turned out great! I’d love for you to share over at a new party called Let’s Party https://themarkandjanshow.com/2018/02/07/lets-party-7/ … we look forward to seeing you there!
Thanks so much, Jan!