If you’re sick of your tired old kitchen, but you don’t want to go through the costly process of ripping it all out and starting again, the best way to update your kitchen is by painting the cabinets.

Adding a splash of colour is the quickest way to transform your kitchen, but you’ll need the best kitchen cabinet paint to get the job done right.

Here are the top 3 BEST kitchen paints on the market…

What is Kitchen Cabinet Paint?

The best kitchen cabinet paint is durable, scrubbable and available in a range of finishes and tints to suit any taste.

For a classic kitchen cabinet makeover, you need to look out for hard-wearing paint. Paints that can handle being touched or getting greasy cooking splashes on them are ideal for the hardest-working room in the house.

Although standard emulsion is the paint type of choice for maximum coverage on walls and ceilings, it’s not usually tough enough for your kitchen cabinets.

Look for your favourite paint tint in a durable eggshell or satin finish — it leaves a brilliant non-glossy surface that can be wiped clean with soap and water. There are also lots of specialist protective paints available in a chalky matt finish.

Yellow orange shaker kitchen — Bright kitchen cabinets in reno club member jen’s kitchen

How to Paint Your Kitchen Like a Pro

Once you’ve decided on the right type of kitchen cabinet paint (more on this later), it’s time to get to work. Even though refinishing your cabinets is a shortcut to a full kitchen transformation, it still takes a lot of preparation to get the finish your kitchen deserves.

Take the doors off

You might think that painting your kitchen cabinets in place would be the easiest way to transform them, but you’d be wrong.

You can leave them in place, but it’s more trouble than it’s worth. Paint cures best when it’s laid flat, plus it doesn’t drip like it would on a vertical surface.

Most modern kitchen cabinet doors have their own special type of hinge, and you don’t need a screwdriver to take them off. Cabinet hinges usually have a quick-release clip on the back side. Pull the clip and the hinge comes off easily, no tools required.

Once you’ve removed your doors, you can lay them flat on a workbench, across sawhorses, or directly on the floor for painting (as long as you put drop cloths down first).

2. Protect the surfaces

The last thing you want is to get paint splatters on your natural stone worktop or white window blinds. You need protection.

Get yourself some drop cloths. You could use classic painter and decorator’s cotton twill drop cloths for your kitchen surfaces, or pre-taped painter’s masking film that sticks wherever you need it.

Whatever you use, just remember to protect all your surfaces. Because whatever part of your kitchen you forget to cover WILL get splashed with paint. Remember that.

3. Clean everything

Of course you keep your kitchen clean, but when it comes to painting you need all the surfaces to be really clean.

Even good kitchen cabinet paint needs to be applied onto spotlessly clean and grease-free surfaces. Use a quality degreasing spray like sugar soap and get scrubbing.

Pay attention to the grubbiest parts of your kitchen cabinets, especially the ones around the stovetop and near the extractor.

4. Get the primer and paint on

The easiest way to paint kitchen cabinets is with a roller or paint sprayer. You get the best finish this way, but make sure you prime the doors and cabinets first. Use the same brand of primer as your topcoat, and always read the instructions on the tin.

If you’ve done your prep work correctly, the painting stage should be easy. Unless you use a quality single-coat paint, apply more than one layer of paint for the optimum finish. And don’t forget to let the paint cure between coats.

For hard-to-reach areas that you can’t tackle with a roller or sprayer, make sure to use a quality paintbrush. With a steady hand, you could even try cutting in the edges without tape.

Sage green shaker kitchen — Kitchen paint colours in reno Club member Anna’s kitchen

The Best Kitchen Cabinet Paints

If you’re looking for a selection of the best performing cabinet paints on the market right now, read on.

Benjamin Moore Scuff-X Matt

If you’re looking for a durable paint that can cope with the stresses of a busy family kitchen, then Scuff-X is the high-performance paint you’re looking for. Designed to cope with hard-working areas like school hallways and hospital wards, it’s an ideal kitchen cabinet paint.

A latex-based interior paint, it’s long-lasting and requires little to no maintenance, which makes it perfect for anyone who hasn’t got the time for touch-ups every couple of months. The matt finish version has a great, almost chalky, texture that suits modern kitchens too.

2. Isomat Isolac-Aqua Eco Eggshell

Greek paint kings Isomat have made the impossible possible. Isolac-Aqua is a hard-wearing, vibrant, enamel type paint that’s also water based and contains vanishingly low VOCs. Ideal for all interior as well as exterior surfaces, it’s a great choice for updating your kitchen cabinets.

Designed to be washable and able to cope with greasy handprints and greasy cooking splashes, you can apply it to already painted surfaces, although it works best directly on timber. You’re not stuck with just plain white either — Isomat’s colour system features a huge range of colours to give your kitchen the lift it needs, in a low-gloss eggshell finish.

3. Rust-Oleum Washable Matt Kitchen Cupboard Paint

One of the most recognisable names in paint, US brand Rust-Oleum specialise in protective paints, so it makes sense that they’d produce a quality kitchen cupboard paint. Designed with durability in mind, it leaves a pleasing chalky finish that will upcycle tired old cabinets in no time at all.

You can paint on to pre-painted surfaces, wood, or even melamine counter tops, and you don’t even need a primer. As long as the target surface is clean and sanded, you can choose from any of the 110 available tints including kitchen favourites like steamed milk and tea leaf.

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Our Top 3 BEST Paints for Kitchen Cabinets