Painting the kitchen will give it an updated sparkle. In some ways, painting the kitchen is an easier project than painting bedrooms or living rooms because the amount of wall space tends to be limited. Most of a kitchen’s wall space is dominated by base cabinets, wall cabinets, and backsplashes. On the downside, the small area that remains to be painted usually needs extensive cleaning and prep work.
Preparation
Painting the kitchen begins with choosing the right paint, figuring out how much you need, and masking and covering all surfaces to prepare the room for painting.
Choose a Kitchen Paint Color and Finish
The kitchen gets a lot of attention, so choose your kitchen paint colors wisely. The best kitchen colors tend to have a high visual impact and align with the idea of food and eating.
Think of paint finishes as you might the spectrum of colors on a paint fan. Though in this instance, the spectrum is not colors but gradations of glossiness: matte (flat, non-shiny) at one end and high-gloss (so shiny you can almost see your face) at the other end. Satin and semi-gloss tend to be favorites as the best paint finish for the kitchen, while matte is rarely recommended because it is difficult to clean and beads of moisture will cause streaks.
Determine the Area to Be Painted
Figure out the square footage of your walls so you know how much paint to buy. Usually, in a new-construction kitchen, the room will be devoid of everything but drywall. Calculate the square footage of each wall by multiplying room height (likely 8 feet) by room length (variable). Then add up all walls to get the total.
For a kitchen remodel, the kitchen will be fully stocked with cabinets, appliances, flooring, and more. In this instance, you have far less square footage than in an empty room. Cabinets take up a majority of the wall space. One easy method is to buy enough paint to cover all walls as if it were an empty room. The extra paint can be saved for those inevitable touchups.
Mask and Cover
For the empty room with no finished floor, masking and covering are not needed. Paint drips on the subfloor will be covered by the floor covering. If using a paint sprayer, be sure to drape plastic over doors to adjacent rooms to prevent paint mist from migrating.
For the finished room, apply painter’s tape to the trim before painting the walls. Lay a canvas drop cloth on the floor. Drape large objects such as cabinets, appliances, and tables with plastic sheeting or with masking film.
Source: The Spruce
