We’re enjoying a white Christmas of sorts—though not from snowfall on the lawn, but from a fresh coat of white paint in the kitchen. Last week we sanded, primed, and painted all of the upper cabinets, and, surprise, we chose white. That’s a departure from our initial plan to paint them a light gray-tan, and somewhat reminiscent of the look we used in our previous kitchen. Only the uppers are white; the lowers will follow a different direction entirely—likely stained wood rather than paint—and we’re also exploring budget-friendly options for refinishing the countertops, either with a paint/refinishing technique or a concrete coating.
We shifted from Revere Pewter to Benjamin Moore’s Simply White for the uppers around the time we installed the range hood and added floating shelves. At first we liked the idea of white shelves and hood contrasting with putty-colored uppers, but we worried that pairing that with darker lower cabinets would make the space feel visually cluttered—three different tones across the kitchen felt like too much.
The crown molding helped make the decision for us. Typically crown matches the cabinet color, and in our case there’s one continuous crown along the wall with no break where the cabinets end. Painting just a section to match colored uppers would have looked awkward, and keeping mismatched crown and cabinets didn’t appeal to us either. Painting the uppers white offered a cleaner, more cohesive solution while still allowing us to pursue a deep-toned “tuxedo” look on the lower cabinetry.
Here’s a concise rundown of how we did it. We followed the same basic technique we used last time, so this is more of a summary than a step-by-step tutorial. First, we removed the cabinet doors and gave every surface a light sanding—150-grit—just to scuff the finish for better paint adhesion. The doors were sanded in the garage with a hand sander and the frames were sanded inside with a sanding block.
After sanding we wiped everything down with a liquid deglosser to remove dust and prepare the surfaces. We used a leftover low-VOC deglosser; it’s optional, but it’s an easy way to ensure a clean surface before priming. Then we taped off walls, the newly installed hood, and other surrounding areas with painter’s tape to protect them and speed up the painting process.
We primed the frames with a brush and a small foam roller, using a stain-blocking, no-VOC Kilz Premium primer. Sherry did the brushwork with a 2″ angled brush while I followed with the foam roller to smooth the brushed edges. We considered spraying the interior frames but ultimately decided it wasn’t worth the extensive taping and protection that spraying would require indoors. Instead, we used a sprayer in the garage for the cabinet doors, which allowed for a very smooth, factory-like finish when sprayed carefully.
Spraying the doors saved time in terms of application—each side got primed and then painted—but the drying time between coats and cleaning the sprayer added to the overall schedule. For the interior frames and areas we painted by hand, we settled on two coats of primer and three coats of Benjamin Moore Advance in Simply White. We chose that paint for its durability, cabinet-grade formulation, low-VOC water-borne alkyd formula, and self-leveling properties. The doors sprayed in the garage only needed one primer coat and one paint coat per side because the spray lays on thicker.
Some cabinetry elements were surprisingly permanent; for example, some shelves didn’t pop out and would have required demolition to remove. For the desk area—which felt like a single unit or hutch—we painted the lowers as well and hand-painted six drawer fronts that couldn’t be detached. We also painted both sides of the doors but left the inside cabinet boxes unpainted to preserve a subtle wood contrast.
We updated hardware and hinges too. The original hinges were worn brass, so we primed them with a clean metal primer and sprayed them oil-rubbed bronze. So far they’ve operated smoothly with no gumming or peeling, and the cost was modest. We’d love hidden hinges someday, but these cabinets are half-sunk and require special hardware, so that’s a Phase 2 upgrade. For knobs we chose simple octagon knobs that are affordable and provide a high-contrast look against the white.
The whole update took about a week: day 1 sanding and first primer coat, day 2 second primer coat, days 3–5 three paint coats, day 6 drying, and day 7 rehanging doors and installing hardware. The result already makes the kitchen feel more like home, despite the faux-brick floor, dated counters, and off-white appliances that we’ll tackle later.
Now that the uppers are finished, we’re leaning more toward staining the lowers than painting them. The wood tone plays nicely with the white uppers, and a stained lower cabinet may give us the warm contrast we want without adding another painted color to the mix. We’ll be taking on that work soon and will update with results and lessons learned.
Did anyone else spend part of the holidays on a project? Or did you relax, eat cookies, and binge holiday movies? Either way, a few affordable updates—stripping wallpaper, removing a few cabinets, adding shelves, and priming and painting—can transform a space more than you might expect.