Does your kitchen need a new look? Then consider painting it for an update and a refresh.
If you’re wondering how to paint a kitchen, the good news is that remodeling the kitchen can be much easier than painting other spaces like stairwells or living rooms with high ceilings.
This is because the amount of wall space is limited. Many kitchens are full of cupboards, wall cabinets, and backsplashes.
This means that the small area that needs painting usually requires extensive cleaning and prep work. That’s because kitchens are unlike any other rooms in the house because they’re exposed to elements like grease, grime, food, water, and smoke.
Ready to learn how to transform your kitchen walls? Here are our 8 tips on how to paint a kitchen.
1. Choose a Paint Color That Works With Other Colors in Your Kitchen
Choosing the paint color for your kitchen can be a difficult process.
When you paint a kitchen, it’s, of course, important to choose a hue that you and everyone else you live with appreciates.
Prior to choosing of a paint color palette – start to look around at the color of your cabinets, counter, appliances and flooring so you can match these components with a paint color that blends together.
If you can figure out how to make all of those aspects work together with color, your kitchen will look amazing!
2. Select the Best Paint Sheen for Your Kitchen
What paint sheen should you use in the kitchen?
Choosing the right paint finish for your kitchen is incredibly important when considering the use of your kitchen.
Your kitchen walls tend to take a lot of abuse.
Between all of the grease, smoke and grim – that kitchens tend to build up, you want to use a sheen that cleans well and helps prevents stains.
With that in mind, a semi-gloss paint sheen is the best option well it comes to ease of cleaning and durability, however; semi-gloss paint can be a bit glossy and reflective which some people aren’t to fond of.
If you want to choose a sheen that still clean pretty well (but not as well as semi-gloss), then we would recommend going with an eggshell or a satin paint. These sheens of paint have a slight gloss and is a lot less noticeable than semi-gloss paint.
The sheen that is the hardest to clean and stains the easiest is flat.
With all that in mind, we would recommend using a semi-gloss, satin or eggshell paint and advise you to not use a flat paint for your kitchen.
3. Calculate the Number of Gallons of Paint You Will Need
Before you rush out to buy your paint, you will need to know the total amount of wall square footage to calculate the how many gallons you need to buy.
Here is how we calculate how much paint we need for different situaions:
- Fresh Drywall w/ texture Calculation – 1 gallon of primer every 300 square feet + 1 gallon of paint for 250 square feet
- Repaint – similar shade of color – 1 gallon paint for every 350 square feet
- Repaint – dark color to light color: 1 gallon paint for ever 250 square feet
Remember that a kitchen is usually stocked with cabinets, cupboards, appliances, flooring, and more. That means you’re working with far less square footage than in an empty room.
To work out the square footage of the surface area, multiply each wall’s height (which is usually eight feet) by room length. Then, add up all the walls and subtract any space that is taking the wall to reach the total.
Wall Square Footage Formula: (Leghth X Width X Height) – (Dimensions of objects taking walls space) = Total Wall Square Footage
An easy method is to just calculate the square footage as if you were painting all the areas and purchase enough paint for an unoccupied space.
Then, the extra paint can come in useful for touchups in the future.
4. Properly Clean All Surfaces
Before you paint a kitchen, unless you’re working with an empty room with fresh drywall, it’s crucial to thoroughly clean the walls.
Over time, kitchen walls can grow a layer of grease produced from everyday cooking, especially in smaller rooms.
Spots above and around the stove, oven, and counters must be washed with warm water and tri-sodium phosphate to prep the kitchen for painting. This ensures that the paint will be able to bind to the drywall.
Door trim can also usually benefit from the same cleaning method too.
Be sure to remove dust, cobwebs, and debris from the tops of cabinets and other trim with a vacuum and a damp cloth.
5. Cover the Room With Plastic
If the kitchen is empty with no finished floor, then there’s no need to mask and cover the area.
Paint drips that fall onto the floor can be covered up later once the flooring is installed.
If you’re using a paint sprayer to decorate your kitchen walls, drape plastic over doors to adjacent rooms to stop paint mist from spreading.
For the finished room, be sure to place masking tape to trims before starting the paint job.
Cover the floor with a canvas drop cloth to avoid damage.
Drape big objects like cabinets, appliances, and tables with plastic sheets or masking film to protect them.
If there’s something to cover, cover it. Never leave anything to chance, you’ll be surprised how paint can find its way to open areas that are left exposed.
6. Should you use primer?
Another of our kitchen painting tips is to apply primer when necessary.
If a surface has already been painted and it’s in decent and clean condition, then it’s unlikely it will need priming.
But if you’re painting drywall, bare wood, and painted walls in poor condition, priming is important.
Apply the primer using a roller on large surfaces. For smaller spots that can’t accommodate the width of the roller, use a brush.
7. Brush and Roll like a Pro
When you’re ready to paint, use a brush to “cut in” along the edges of the cabinets, ceiling and around door frames.
Avoid drips by minimally brushing the paint and then re-brushing rather than applying a lot at one time.
Remember that spots that were painted more than a few minutes ago will likely film over quickly. So, keep your re-brushing to spots that were recently painted.
8. Apply Additional Coats
Paint colors deepen when they’re applied in two or three coats. While it may seem tedious, always paint your walls a minimum of two coats.
Let your paint dry for a couple of hours after the first roll, then apply once again.
Now You Know How to Paint a Kitchen
With our tips and advice, now you know how to paint a kitchen. Congratulations!
Remember, kitchens are one of the hardest rooms in the house to paint, so follow the tips carefully and practice patience.
If you’d prefer to leave it to the pros, we can help. Here at Homestar Painting, we offer interior and exterior painting services across Colorado. Check out our services here.
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