How to Paint New Unfinished Shaker Cabinet Doors

The Shaker door style provides a great base for any kitchen remodel and painting your new doors your self is a great way to save money. Your can achieve a professional looking finish at home with a minimal amount of equipment and supplies. This article will cover the general finishing process for unfinished solid wood cabinet doors and wood frame/mdf hybrid Shaker cabinet doors.

Sanding Doors Before Applying Primer

All the unfinished doors we offer are sanded and ready for finish. However if the doors have been handled or if they have been hung to verify hinge fit, we recommend a quick finish sand to remove any handling marks that might have occurred.

White you can certainly sand the doors by hand with a sanding block, the most common method is to use a random orbital sander. For most paint grade woods 180 or 220 grit is sufficient. During this time it would also be a great time to “break” the edges of the door with the same grit sandpaper. Breaking the edges simply eases all the sharp corners of the door. This is recommended as it will create a more durable edge as well the slightly rounded edges will prevent the paint from chipping in the future.

Choosing a Primer

For a fine finish you will want to find a primer that can be sanded. Typically shellac or oil based primers work well. There are also many water based primers that can be sanded. You will need to make sure that the primer you choose has the ability to be sanded. Being able to sand the primer with 220 or 320 grit will ensure that the substrate you put your final coat on will be ultra smooth and free from brush marks or “orange peel” if you are spraying.

Applying the Primer

Now that you have chosen a primer that meets the above criteria you can begin to apply it. You can apply primer with a brush or a roller for large areas and a brush to do the edges and inner edges of the cabinet door. You can also spray the primer, which will be the fastest and provide you with the smoothest finish.

Sanding the Primer

As mentioned earlier once your primer is dry you will want to sand the primer. Depending on the primer you can use a 220 or 320 grit sandpaper or a sanding sponge. Some sanding sponges are in block form and some are more flexible. Select the one the best suits your needs. The goal with sanding the primer is to sand it just enough to get it smooth. You do not want to remove the primer back to bare wood as you will have to recoat. Just enough to flatten any minor imperfections in the primer coat and make a smooth surface for the top coat. After the primer is sanded you will want to fully dust off or vacuum all the sanding dust from the cabinet door. Once the dust is removed you can also go over the surface with a tack cloth to ensure there is no dust left on the surface.

Applying paint

We recommend using an enamel paint designed for kitchen applications. This will dry hard and durable. Either spray brush or roll. Follow the manufacturers recommendations on how many coats are required. In most cases it will be 2 coats of final finish. If you have followed all the steps laid out here in this guide applying the final top coat will be the easiest part. Allow the paint to fully cure before handling and installing onto your cabinet boxes. The paint manufacturer will have all the dry times listed in their paint data sheet.