Why replace when you can paint?

Are you tired of the look of your cabinets, but you don’t want to go to the expense of replacing them? Don’t worry, you still have good options. We recently completed a project in San Francisco, refinishing old existing cabinets to have a beautiful and modern aesthetic.

Instead of applying oil-based paint — which is traditionally used on painted cabinets, but is being phased out to comply with California air quality standards — we usedBenjamin Moore’s ADVANCE Waterborne Alkyd in a semigloss finish. Painting the cabinets gave the room a more spacious and cohesive feel while beautifully complementing the view of San Francisco Bay.

Repainting existing cabinets is an affordable way to get a great new look in your kitchen. However, keep in mind that painting requires a bit more maintenance over time compared with stained or paint factory-finished cabinets.

After carefully removing all the cabinet doors and drawers, every surface was thoroughly sanded and cosmetic repairs were made to the underlying wood. We used a stain-blocking primer to prevent the color of the original wood from bleeding through the layers of new paint.

Our client’s color choice was 50% of the formula of Benjamin Moore’s HC-95 – Sag Harbor Gray. The resulting neutral color was a perfect compliment to the overall color palette of the space and a great way to refresh and update the kitchen.

Many thanks to Sally Powers Interiors for referring us this project.