Showerthought: I thought painting my own cabinets was a huge mistake until I saw the final cost

I decided to paint my kitchen cabinets myself last fall, and for the first two days I was sure I'd messed up. The paint looked streaky, the doors felt sticky, and I was ready to call a pro. I kept going because I'd already bought a Graco paint sprayer for $300 and didn't want to waste the cash. After three coats and a full week of drying, the finish finally smoothed out and looked perfect. The total project cost me about $400 for paint, supplies, and new hardware, compared to the $4,000 quotes I got from contractors. The key was taking the doors off and doing light sanding between each coat, which I almost skipped. Has anyone else pushed through a messy middle phase on a paint job and been shocked by the result?

3 comments

3 Comments

brian_taylor1518d ago

You spent $300 on a sprayer?

angela_patel7518d ago

Thinning paint more is scary but @brian_taylor15, that sprayer probably needed it too.

the_sean18d agoMost Upvoted

Yeah, that sticky phase is the worst. I used a cheap foam roller on some built-ins once and it looked like a toddler did it until the third coat. The key is thinning the paint just a bit more than the can says, everyone's afraid to do it.