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Hi, I too would love to see the after picture. My husband and I have the same cabinets and were just discussing this.
Hello kristie5286,
Here are a few articles about painting melamine:
http://www.houseandhome.com/design/painting-cabinets-and-countertops
http://www.houseandhome.com/design/freshening-kitchen-finishes
Or if your cabinets are particle board, Michael Penney's tips below may be helpful:
If you're working with a material close to Ikea's Billy bookcases, you can paint, but the results may not be as permanent or hard-waring as real wood.
You'll want to sand the whole piece lightly (just to scuff it up) and then use a good, high-adhesion primer coat. Benjamin Moore has one called Fresh Start, and Home Hardware has one, too. After the primer has dried, you can paint. Plan on two coats of paint applied with a foam roller (for the smoothest finish) and brush (for the details). Make sure you let the piece dry and cure for a while. The can will have directions. If the paint hasn't cured, it will still be soft and scratch more easily.
I hope that helps!
Gwen McAuley (gmcauley at hhmedia.com)
I am in the same boat. I have searched the internet for help as well. Gone to cabinet refacing places, but choose not to pay 5000 for new doors. If anyone has ideas it would be good to see.
Hi everyone, I am looking for any before and after pictures for Melamine cabinets with Oak Trim. I am embarking on this project myself but looking for some inspiration :) Please email leanne.ison@sympatico.ca if you have done this project. Thanks in advance
I just redid my 1980's Europeon kitchen cupboard doors, you know, the ones with the wood trim but in my case, I had metal trim. I read the other posts about cutting the trim off...which I wasn't going to do...too much work! What I did was inside the trim/handle, on each side, was glue (using a strong contact adhesive PL200 or PL300) pieces of wood trim/strips, whatever you have that is hanging around, making sure to leave a 1/2inch or less gap from the edge of the cabinet door. Once that dried, I used plastic wood and puttied up the sides, doing a few coats in between sanding. Then primed the patch job..a lot easier & cheaper to do then ripping that trim off and replacing it .
Cut your trim and then use the PL200 or PL300 adhesive to keep the bond. I pre-drilled and countersinked nails.
One problem I had was that my trim was too high!!! Once I installed my cabinets, I couldn't open the doors!! Grrrrr!!
My husband came up with the idea of doing a 45 degree cut and each side (the left & right sides only)...thank God that worked out!!
I kept the same paint colour as before and with all new hardware, I am happy with the results.
So that is my tips:
#1) Putty the trim/handle on your kitchen cabinet door
#2) Use a thin trim, 1/2" high or lower
With a little work, you have a new kitchen and goodbye 80's cabinet doors!!
It took me about 2 weeks (cause of the screw up) and it cost about $200.00 for all the new hardware, trim, paint and plastic wood.
Sorry but the priginal post is about 6 years old so you might not get the photos...
Can anyone send me photos of their cabinet redo's. I have done this myself with the old melamine wood trim cabinets. Now I would like to redo my parents but needs some ideas for colors. Thanks!!
you might not get any response to your request for pictures since the original post is from 6 years ago
Do you have any pictures? I would love to see it as I am considering doing something similar with my cupboards.
Decoraholic,
Your cabinets look amazing! I have the EXACT same cupboards in my house. Do you think it'd be possible to do the same thing but with a deep honey stain color? Also, how did you paint your countertops?
First off, decoraholic, you did an AMAZING job!
You took the oak trim off, and then did you degrease the cupboards at all? How did you apply the wood on top and the moulding? How did you put the glass in some of the cabinets? And lastly, once you had applied the moulding, did you paint the cabinets with melamine on the facing AND the sides?
Sorry about ALL the questions!! lol
Thanks,
Alycia
We bought our house with the same 80's cupboards...My fiancee and I decided that the look was a little outdated and we did the following to update them.
- Cut off the oak trim (we were unable to pry it off)
- Glued and nailed on pieces of melamine cut to size to replace the wood (we purchased a large sheet for next to nothing)
- Cut 2 inch strips of 1/4 inch MDF and glued them along the edges of the door.
- ironed on the melamine edge strip stuff
- TSP'ed and lightly sanded everything
- primed with 2 coats of oil based primer and painted two coats of white latex.
- bought new hardware and voila!
Total the cost was about $250 dollars...
It took us a little longer than we had anticipated, but I'm pretty happy with the end result. Now we just have to replace the fan and put up a nice backspash, and it's a brand new kitchen!
Ps. My business is 24 hour payday loans so i know it!
I've also heard melamine (aka 'enamel') is ideal as a latex option for molding and trim. Mine are currently painted with oil paint, but I'm considering re-priming and going with melamine for a durable, non-oil choice.
Your kitchen makeover looked fab!!! :clapping:
In my previous home, our kitchen was full of 80's cabinets. We took the oak trim off, added wood to the doors and then molding. We added glass to three doors. I painted the island black, we left the oak trim on since the paint covered it up nicely, and added a new island counter. New hardware, new sinks and faucets were installed. I actually painted everything in here....including the ceramic tile backsplash and counter tops! I used Para Melamine paint. Attached are some before and after pics and one door in progress.
Saracennia
We also have the melamine cabinets with the wood trim on the doors and drawers....did you add hardware to the drawers?
Looking for a way to update for the next couple of years until we are able to replace the cabinets.
Thanks for your reply cory&trevor. Now that I know I can get rid of that awful trim, I am anxious to get it done!
I mentioned fiddling with door h/w to allow additional clearance for trim. I did have to rip an additional 1/4" off about 6 doors to get them to fit on re-install. I didn't bother adding the iron on laminate, I need to finish so just primed & painted. You're right, it creates a 1/4" gap, but because I painted the faces of the cabinets the same colour it isn't noticeable unless you know it's there. I'm fine with it.
Another tip: if installing door handles requiring 2 screws (like mine), pre-drill starter hole with small drill bit to get accurate position. Larger drill bits have a tendency to walk away from exact location.
sorry I don't check this thread that often but when I do I don't mind answering install questions.
Wow! Amazing transformations - truly inspiring.
I too have the '80s cabinets with the wood trim and will try my hand at refacing them this summer. I have them in my bathroom as well as in my kitchen, so I thought I'd start small (in the bathrrom) so if I make a mess of it, it will be cheaper to fix :) .
I have a question: A previous post mentions having to 'fiddle' with the cupboards to adjust for clearance. I presume you mean in order to open them. Did you end up cutting the doors to make room? Does that not widen the gaps between the cabinest doors? The tranformations all look good in the pictures...
Also, for those who have added molding in the center rather than at the edges, is this including the additional mdf or melamine strips? In other words, after adding the molding in the center, do you not see a line where the oak trim was removed?
Thank you so much for posting instructions and pictures!
Finally finished. Was short two door knobs and they came in this week and paint was finally dry enough to hang pictures. Here are two pictures of the final results and you will notice that there is no lustre to the doors.
If I were to do this again I think I would go for a semi-gloss to add a little punch. To me this looks clean and sterile, but because it is a harder finish than most paints, thanks to the polyurothane, I opted to go that route. Durabilty was my top priority.
Why not make the money you spent on your beautiful counter top worth it by spending a few extra dollars and painting the cabinets:) It would just add that much more value to your house when you sell too. Most people looking to buy want a home to be move in ready and they may look at your kitchen and just see a bunch of work! I can totally see you painting your cabinets in a darker colour on the bottom (maybe pull a dark colour from the counter top) and a lighter colour on top, say an nice cream or tan! Best of luck.:p
I would paint out the wood and add some handles.
I am so excited to find this post. I have those 80's cabinets too!!!! We are planning to sell very soon. We are trying to update the kitchen to make the house sellable so we thought adding granite counter tops would be all we needed. I think now it looks like nice granite on 80's cabinets.. My husband thinks its fine. Do you agree with me or my husband? Can someone with some decorating sense offer a suggestion? I thought about 1) removing the stain from the wood and getting a stain as close to the "almond" as possible.2) painting the wood or 3) new doors. The problem is all the cabinets are custom and the cost will be prohibited. Thanks for any reply.
I was hoping to avoid the oil odor, but in the end after seeing and reading the advantages of the melamine paint I thought I would try it and did I mention they look good?
I'm taking my time here doing this but it's a a forced time out because it takes 16 hours before you can repaint! I started this project Friday taking down all of the doors and then cleaning them thouroughly outside and letting them dry overnight.
Saturday morning primer time which requires a six hour wait, so I did the fronts and then the edges in the afternoon. A light sanding was needed to get them smooth for the melamine paint. I'm going to wait a couple of days before putting them back up so they have lots of air time. Still have do some edges when I install them.
I'm happy with the end result and I'll try and do before and after shots later this week. At Rona it was $50 for a gallon, but W-M has it at $37.;) Hope this helps.
I am interested in your post as I hope to paint my kitchen cabinets in May. I, too, bought oil primer and melamine paint (recommended by a pro painter). I can't wait to start the project...
I know the waiting is going to drive me bananas, so I am practising the "patience is a virtue" mantra to get me all set! :p
Anyway, I look forward to seeing your pictures. :)
Sorry to report that there isn't much interest here. I went ahead on my own and painted my doors with the CIL Melamine paint. The second coat is drying as we speak and they do look good.
I was hoping to avoid the oil odor, but in the end after seeing and reading the advantages of the melamine paint I thought I would try it and did I mention they look good?
I'm taking my time here doing this but it's a a forced time out because it takes 16 hours before you can repaint! I started this project Friday taking down all of the doors and then cleaning them thouroughly outside and letting them dry overnight.
Saturday morning primer time which requires a six hour wait, so I did the fronts and then the edges in the afternoon. A light sanding was needed to get them smooth for the melamine paint. I'm going to wait a couple of days before putting them back up so they have lots of air time. Still have do some edges when I install them.
I'm happy with the end result and I'll try and do before and after shots later this week. At Rona it was $50 for a gallon, but W-M has it at $37.;) Hope this helps.
Does anyone have any photos they can email me to show me what melamine paint can
look like. I really want to paint my kitchen cabinets but have no idea how
Okay I have to embark on this journey to paint our cabinets next week and I'm looking for some "support" or a little therapy from other members who have been there and done that!
Yes I'm going to thoroughly clean all 22 big doors and six drawer fronts and do the obligitory oil primer to get them ready (after a cleaning and light sanding of course), but to finish them I would really like to NOT use more oil.
I know, I know, better finish, it's harder and stands up to more day to day abuse if you use oil, but I would really like to keep it easy and latex'em. The fact I can't spell aklyd aside it's all in the air and I don't think I could live through two paintings.
So who among us have been really happy using latex? And what's with those special Melamine paints that cost so much more and do they really work?:D A little help ( ok - support ) here would be appredciated.
it feels good.
Well, this thread inspired me to paint our kitchen cabinets too - due to time (and energy!) restrictions we decided to leave on the oak trim, paint it out, and just install new hardware. When the cabinets are closed, I think the former oak trim just looks like moulding on the frame under the door.
We prepared the cupboards by taking them down and sanding them with a handheld electric sander that we rented from home depot ($10 for 24 hours). After washing and drying I gave them 2 coats of a CIL semi-gloss oil paint (in luminary yellow) using a high density foam roller. I gave the first coat with them lying flat, then put on the second coat once they were back up in the kitchen. I then installed door pulls, purchased at home depot. I also repainted the range hood and the fridge in white CIL semi-gloss oil.
All together I estimate that it took us about 3-4 days of work, about $30 in paint, and $50 of new hardware. We also spent $80 on under-cabinet xenon light pucks, and $60 for new track lighting. I'm pretty happy with what we accomplished for $230!
Here's a before and after:
[IMG]http://i727.photobucket.com/albums/ww278/sarahpea42/House%20renos/Kitchen.jpg[/IMG]