We’ve painted kitchen cabinets before and installed Ikea kitchens before, but painting Ikea cabinets was a new challenge. Despite the worry—can you paint laminate or a slick factory finish and expect it to hold up?—the result exceeded our expectations. It wasn’t complicated and didn’t require a paint sprayer or specialized equipment.
A month into daily use, the painted fronts have held up beautifully. They’ve been scratched, scrubbed, kicked, and well-used by two kids with no visible scrapes, dings, or dents. The finish is as smooth and even as factory paint, and below we’ll explain the steps we followed to achieve that coverage.
Before the step-by-step guide, here’s some context about why we chose Ikea cabinets for this renovation.
Why Did We Redo Our Kitchen With Ikea Cabinets?
We wanted to improve storage along the back wall of a small kitchen. Although we had organized the old layout to function reasonably well, the previous cabinets had thick framing that wasted space. Narrow drawers left little usable area—one drawer was only wide enough for a single olive oil bottle. Replacing these with Ikea cabinets gave us noticeably more usable space and smarter drawer configurations.
By switching to Ikea fronts and shifting the stove slightly, a once-awkward drawer became deeper and wider, allowing the same bottle to stand upright and enabling far more useful storage. Ikea’s systems also offer useful internal options—nested drawers, fitted caddies, and more—which helped us increase our kitchen’s efficiency significantly.
We’ll share organization details in a future post. For now, here’s why we chose to paint Ikea doors instead of buying prefinished or custom options.
Why Paint The Ikea Cabinets?
We loved the mauve color we used on our previous cabinets (Artsy Pink by Sherwin-Williams) and wanted a similar custom tone. Ikea doesn’t offer that color, and ordering paintable custom doors was substantially more expensive. Flat slab DIY fronts from a third party would have cost far more than Ikea’s white VEDDIGNE doors. Since we’re comfortable painting, and modern primers and paints bond well to lacquered surfaces, we decided to paint the Ikea fronts ourselves.
We used current paint and primer products designed to adhere to slick surfaces, so we didn’t need oil-based products to get a durable result. Below is a concise list of tools and materials we used, plus the step-by-step process.
Tools & Materials For Painting Ikea Cabinets
We used a low-tech, low-mess approach—no sprayer—because it let us be methodical and careful. For a larger job you might choose a sprayer, but for this project the hand-rolled approach worked well.
In addition to the Ikea VEDDIGNE doors, we used:
- Sandpaper or sanding blocks (120–220 grit)
- Tack cloths to remove dust
- Sherwin-Williams Emerald Urethane Trim Enamel in satin (our paint)
- Zinsser Bulls Eye 1-2-3 primer for all surfaces
- 4″ or 6″ foam rollers, a roller tray, and a small angled brush
- Painter stands or tripods to prop doors up
- Drop cloth
- Optional: painter’s tape and liquid deglosser
Tip: an electric sander speeds the work, but use it carefully to avoid sanding through the factory finish, especially on edges and corners.
Step 1: Prepare Your Cabinets
If you’re painting before assembly (like we did), lay out doors on a dropcloth. If you’re repainting an assembled kitchen, remove all doors and drawer fronts first. Clean surfaces to remove grease and oils—using a liquid deglosser helps if needed.
Step 2: Rough Them Up With Sandpaper
Lightly scuff the surface to help primer and paint adhere. The aim is not to remove the white factory finish entirely—just to abrade it enough for a strong bond. We started with 220 grit by hand, then used 120 grit with a palm sander for efficiency, taking care near edges and corners.
Step 3: Fully Remove Your Sanding Dust
Remove dust with a damp paper towel, then a tack cloth. The tacky cloth picks up fine particles and ensures the primer bonds to the door itself, not dust.
Step 4: Prime the BACKS
We propped doors up on painter stands and primed the backs first to avoid resting painted fronts on the lifters. Apply a thin, even coat of primer with a small foam roller and allow it to dry—about four hours for the primer we used.
Step 5: Paint The Backs
After primer cured, apply two thin, even coats of paint with a fresh foam roller. We used parallel overlapping strokes and lightly rolled the vertical sides to smooth drips. Two thin coats will give you a more consistent, durable finish than one thick coat.
Step 6: Apply A Second Coat
Let the first coat dry fully—overnight in our case—then add a second coat. If edges look spotty at this stage, that’s fine; we finished the edges when painting the fronts to avoid buildup on thin edges that could show as a ridge when flipped.
Step 7: Flip Over & Repeat
After the backs cured, flip the doors and repeat priming and two coats of paint on the fronts. Be patient—allow 24 hours between coats and consider letting the final coat cure for 24–48 hours before reinstalling to prevent dings and scratches while the paint is still soft.
Step 8: Paint the Cabinet Boxes
Paint any visible cabinet box parts—filler pieces, toe kicks, and the frame front—using the same sand/prime/paint routine. Use a small foam roller for broad areas and a short-handled brush for edges. We left inner cabinet interiors white.
TIP: Consider Drilling Hardware Holes Mid-Process
We temporarily installed doors for countertop templating and took the opportunity to mark and drill hardware holes after the first coat. That allowed the final coat to cure without heavy handling. It’s not required, but it worked well for us and gave us a stress-free final install.
Step 9: Install Everything & Enjoy
After a careful cure period, we installed the doors and have been using the kitchen daily. So far the finish has been resilient to bangs, spills, scrubbing, and kid traffic. The keys to a lasting result are proper prep and allowing full curing time. Taking a week rather than rushing for a couple of days paid off.
Final Thoughts
We’re so pleased with the result that we’re adding upper cabinets next and will follow the same painting process. Painting Ikea doors allowed us to get the color we wanted at a fraction of the cost of custom fronts, while keeping the efficiency benefits of Ikea’s cabinet system. Over time we’ll update this post with how the finish holds up, but early signs are promising. If minor wear appears later, touch-ups are simple with a fresh coat of paint.
If you want more painting project inspiration, consider posts on painting doors, trim, ceilings, or fireplaces—all projects where careful prep, primer, and the right paint make a big difference.
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