Last year, I painted my bathroom cabinets, and it was a REALLY long process. See how I cut out a lot of time by painting my cabinets with chalk paint.
I did it the “traditional” way, and you can take a look at that post HERE. However, considering my kitchen has (what feels like) a thousand more doors, I knew that process may not be the best solution for my kitchen. Or my sanity. 
So, I decided to give the chalk paint method a try. Chalk paint doesn’t require prep work or sanding. (Although I did clean my doors considering there are 15 years of kitchen grease layered on them.)
Here’s my (I don’t claim to be a chalk paint pro) 9 step chalk paint cabinet tutorial:
1) Remove the cabinet doors and all the hardware.
This is my second to the least favorite part of the process. My least favorite part is putting the hardware back on. There is always a cabinet door that ends up hanging funny.
2) Clean the wood with a cleaner to remove any dirt/grime.
3) Tape off any areas where you don’t want to get paint.
3) Start Painting! Forget about sanding and pull out the paint. I used Annie Sloan’s “Old Ochre.” I did two coats of paint on everything.
4) Wax. Once the two coats of paint are dry, you can begin to wax. Since I was doing kitchen cabinets, I applied three coats of Annie Sloan’s clear wax on everything. It’s much quicker than it sounds.
**March 2015 UPDATE**
Although my wax has held up well, it isn’t the easiest to clean. If you scrub too hard, the wax can be removed. If I were to do this over again, I would use a polycrylic for a finish instead of the wax. The reason I didn’t do this the first time around was because I was afraid of yellowing the paint. However, the more I research, the more I find that there is polycrylic that really is clear and doesn’t yellow!
5) Buff the wax. Use a lint free cloth to rub in the wax and remove any clumps. (I use old t-shirts for this.)
6) Sand. If you want to distress the cabinets some, use sandpaper after you’re done waxing. I lightly sanded the edges of the cabinets and doors.
7) (optional) Buff. 24 hours after the final wax, you can go back and buff the wood if you want more of a sheen.
8) Put back the hardware and cabinet doors.
9) Enjoy your “new” cabinets!
Would you try painting cabinets with chalk paint?
I did my kitchen in stages to preserve my sanity. I did a few groupings a week until I have what you see above.
*Also, I’m keeping the lower cabinets wood – for now. 😉
*UPDATE (2/21/14): The unpainted lower cabinets didn’t last long. They have been painted. Check out how they look HERE.
Also, if you still want to see more about painting cabinets, this tutorial was featured in the DIY section of About.com.
*UPDATE (7/24/16): I ended up repainted my cabinets because I did not love the wax as a sealer. To see why click HERE.
Go create something!
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