Hello friends!

How many of you are loving the dark paint design trend right now? If you’ve perused Pinterest, you know what I mean as it’s everywhere! I’ve always been kind of a trendy girl - and I don’t know if that’s good or bad - but I do like to hop on trends and try things out - even if it’s for a little while! Ha ha!

I recently got the urge to change things up in our Bungalow Airbnb and thought, “Why not paint my currently white cabinets a dark color?” Sooo….that’s just what I did!

Before:

After:

The color I chose is a Sherwin Williams color called, Sea Serpent and I love how it makes the white quartz and the white walls pop!

I’ve painted many cabinets in the past few years. In fact, if you’re interested in how I usually do it check out my post on How to Paint Kitchen Cabinets. In this post, you will notice that I take off the cabinet doors and lie them on a flat surface to paint them.

However, for this project, I am keeping my cabinet doors ON (since it’s such a small kitchen). Here is the process that I used:

Items that you will need:

You will need: gloves, paintbrushes (one angled and one small artist brush), foam roller, drop cloths, sandpaper (I used 800 grit), a paint tray (lined with aluminum foil for easy clean up) and last but not least….paint!

My “go to” cabinet paint is Sherwin Williams Pro-Classic in satin and I use this for my cabinet/furniture painting projects. This is a self-leveling paint which will give you a professional finish. (There is no need to put a top coat on it as it dries hard.) However, the color I chose needed a deep, deep base and Pro-Classic doesn’t have that so the next best choice was: Sherwin Williams Emerald in a satin finish. It went on smoothly and it dried to a professional looking finish. I’m very impressed with this paint!

Take off hardware, then clean and sand cabinets.

Then, wipe your cabinets with a soft cloth to make sure they are smooth and clean.

Start Painting!

Because these cabinets were already painted, I did not have to prime them. However, if your cabinets are stained wood, they will need to be primed before painting. If you have dark painted cabinets and you’re painting them white, then I would also recommend you prime them.

As I already mentioned, I did not take my cabinets off of the hinges. If you choose to do this method, you will want to purchase a small artist brush to go around the hinges. This is a little more detailed, but it will give your cabinets a professional look!

Start painting around the edges of the cabinets first and then use your foam roller to paint the insides.

NOTE: Keep an eye out for drips! (Especially around the outer edges of the cabinets!)

Keep Painting away!

I painted 3 coats on these cabinets. I waited several hours in between coats and if you want to lightly sand them with a 1500-2000 grit sandpaper in between coats, that is fine. I didn’t do this step because the paint was going on so smoothly. This is a personal preference.

Let your cabinets dry overnight before closing the doors. I would HIGHLY recommend being very gentle on your cabinets for 2-3 weeks while the paint cures. You can close the cabinets - just try not to slam them or push them too hard. :-) Then, put your hardware back on.

Enjoy the look of your Painted Cabinets!

I also added a few more navy touches to this little Airbnb….

Well, friends….thanks for stopping by. Let me know if you have any questions about this last project! I hope you’re savoring every bit of time with family and friends this summer!

Sending hugs from afar -