I live in a century home with kitchen cabinets that have been painted in at least three different colors over the years, and they're now chipping and looking terrible. The last paint job was a real mess—paint got on the hardware and there are drips everywhere. We're not in a position to buy new cabinets anytime soon. I'm considering stripping off all of the paint to see if the wood underneath can be stained instead. However, the interior of the cabinets is also poorly painted, which I imagine would be difficult to fully remove. If you were in my shoes, what would you do? I'm somewhat handy but have a tight budget.
1 Answer
Honestly, the doors look pretty decent from the picture! The frames probably have quite a bit of wear from all the touching and traffic. I’d suggest removing the doors and sanding the frames down to the bare wood before repainting. It’s a big task, but it could really freshen things up!
Thanks for your insight! Is it possible that the wood could be stained after stripping, rather than painted again?
I'm currently doing the same with my cabinets and if time wasn't a factor, I'd definitely strip them back to the original wood—so I get where you're coming from! I tried sanding one door, but with a toddler around, it took too long, so I opted for priming and painting instead. If you have the time, go for stripping and repainting, but if not, don't feel bad about just adding more paint on top!