Best Steps for Painting Cabinets During a Busy Back to School Season
Much like the beginning of a new year, summer’s end causes many of us to take stock of our situations and start fresh. Not only do children prepare to go back to school around this time, but you might also look at your home and decide it’s time to go back to the drawing board. Kitchens are often the primary target in this regard, and your cabinets might be the first thing you plan on updating. However, finding time to repair, replace, paint, or stain your kitchen cabinets can be difficult as you juggle everything else that’s happening this time of year. If your kitchen cabinet project simply can’t wait, though, you have to find a way to make it work. With that in mind, here are some of the best steps you can take to paint your kitchen cabinets during a busy back to school season.
How to Paint Kitchen Cabinets
Plan Your Project Well in Advance
Kitchen cabinet painting is often a costly, time-consuming, delicate process. If you simply wing it, you’re bound to end up with a bad cabinet paint job, which is usually fixable but an even bigger blow to your wallet (and sanity). Thus, it’s crucial to get it right the first time, and this requires careful planning. First and foremost, you’ll want to establish a budget. The cost to strip and paint kitchen cabinets can vary wildly depending on the size and number of cabinets in question, your location, the products you use, and so on. Once you’ve got a general idea of what the project might cost and whether or not you can swing it, figure out the color and finish you want to apply to your cabinets. There’s no objective best paint finish for cabinets, but some are certainly more durable than others. Now that you have a general budget and vision, it’s time to establish a schedule, which is partially dependent on whether you’re going to do it yourself or hire professionals.
Wait for a Long Weekend
If you’re DIY-minded and work normal hours (i.e., weekdays, 9-5), you’ll have no choice but to tackle this project over the weekend. However, two full days may not be enough to complete the job properly, and waiting a whole week between cabinet painting tasks is anything but ideal. Three days, on the other hand, might provide the time you need to get it done from start to finish. If you’re able and willing to use a personal/vacation day on this project, it might be worth it. Otherwise, you’ll have to wait for a three-day weekend around this time, such as Labor Day or Columbus/Indigenous People’s Day, assuming you get these days off. Whatever the case, allotting yourself more time to tackle DIY kitchen cabinet painting is always a smart move.
Break Up Your Kitchen Cabinet Paint Job
Of course, you might not have the luxury of receiving three days off in a row. In this case, you might have no choice but to break up your project into sections. The problem with this piecemeal approach is that it can render portions of your kitchen out of commission for weeks (if not months) on end. There are, after all, many steps to paint kitchen cabinets properly. In most cases, you’ll need to remove the doors from their boxes, clean every surface, make repairs, sand everything down, prime your cabinets, and more -- all of this before the painting part itself. If you don’t mind dealing with a kitchen that’s in partial disarray for a while, you might spend one weekend removing the doors and cleaning them, another weekend sanding them down and making repairs, the following weekend priming and painting, and yet another weekend re-attaching the painted and dried cabinets to their boxes (depending on how much time you have during a given weekend).
Take Advantage of an Empty Home
If you’re wondering, “how long does it take to paint kitchen cabinets?” the answer varies from a day or two to about a week, as mentioned earlier. There’s no question, though, that the project will take longer under certain circumstances. More people inside your home, for instance (namely kids), means more distractions and less space to maneuver. So, while the start of a new school year can be hectic in its own right, it can also offer the perfect opportunity for kitchen cabinet painting, at least during typical school hours. Whether you plan on tackling this project yourself, hiring pros, or a bit of both, take advantage of a less occupied home while the kids are away at school. Doing so can significantly streamline the process so it’s done in no time.
Hire Professionals You Can Count On
In the end, hiring professional cabinet painters is the most efficient way to get the job done during the busy back to school season. The added convenience and assurance of hiring local painters does come at a cost, so it’s worth double checking your budget and receiving multiple estimates before committing to anything. Moreover, you only want to hire a painting contractor you can trust, not only to deliver great results but also to respect your property and everyone in it. After all, if you’re hiring painters to paint your cabinets during the busy school season, chances are you won’t be around during the majority of the work. Always do your due diligence before hiring a painting service. Read online reviews and testimonials, seek examples of previous work, and ask plenty of questions beforehand.
Get Schooled on Kitchen Cabinet Painting
At first glance, painting your kitchen cabinets might not seem like that big of a task. In reality, though, this project can take a lot out of you, even if you’re revved up with DIY energy. With only so much time in the day, there’s no shame in seeking help from experienced professionals. At Nash Painting, we’ve transformed numerous kitchens in Nashville, Brentwood, and Franklin, TN via our cabinet refinishing processes (and more). Let us help you reimagine and restore your kitchen during this busy back to school season. To learn more about us, our services, and our values, call us at 615-829-6858 today!