Tips on How to Paint Dark Veneer Cabinets White {with Iced White Quartz Counter Tops}

And here is what they looked like with the gray tiles we put in…. awful!

Now let’s get to painting them.  I wanted to let you know that painting cabinets in no easy feat. It takes a LOT of time and patience.  So if you are going to tackle them just be aware that it will take you awhile :).  But the end result is definitely worth it!

The very first thing I did to prepare the cabinets was I cleaned them.

Next I took off the doors and drawers.  As I was taking them off, I labeled everything, the hinges the holes and place in the vanity where they go.  I would definitely do this because chances are you will forget because they look the exact same.

I then cleaned the doors, sanded them, removed the sticks that were on them and then I caulked the inside of the doors because there was a little gap and it can it really dirty in there.

Here is what the door looked like caulked and once it dried, it was ready to paint.

Once I caulked all the doors it was time to prime them.  When I did this I just put them on some plastic on the floor.  Do NOT do that… the plastic sticks to the doors and chances are you will have to sand them and repaint the edges.  So I learned my lesson and I put all the doors on a couple pieces of 2×4 wood (about 3″ wide) to make it elevated off the floor.  I used a roller and a brush as I was painting.

I also sanded and primed the actually vanity.

I let the primer dry for several hours and then I put on another coat of primer. And if you can’t tell, I just taped up the drawers and painted the fronts of them.

Once the primer was completely dry, I did another light sanding to make the surface smooth again and then started with the real paint.  I used Sherwin Williams Pro Classic paint in extra white (I didn’t add any pigment, I just used the base color).  This paint is AMAZING and worth every penny (it’s pretty expensive).  I went with a semi gloss finish to give it a little more shine and be easier to clean.  Also there are two types of the Pro Classic, this one and then a hybrid one.  I picked this one because the worker said it was more user friendly but both are great.  When I painted the doors/drawers I used the roller that is made for this paint (I asked the worker which one to get).  If I were to paint my kitchen cabinets, I would definitely spray the drawers and doors with a paint sprayer.

Here is there difference between one coat of the Pro Classic and just primer, its amazing!  Oh and I may have had a little break down while painting this after the primer because they weren’t turning out great but then when I put on the real paint all my nerves and fears went away.  Seriously, it’s amazing!

Now for the vanity.  We prepared it for the new counter tops, so we took off the counter tops and the back splash.  We just used a crow bar and a rubber mallet.  Once that was off, I painted the vanity with the Pro Classic.

I did two coats of the Pro Classic (so I did two coats of primer and then two coats of the real paint) and I had at least 8 hours between the coats.  Once I had to the two coats on the front of the doors (and they were completely dry) I worked on the back of them.  I put them on the 2x4s but I put a piece of felt onto the wood so it wouldn’t scratch up my freshly painted doors. Then I painted them.  Aren’t they looking so good?!

Now for the counter tops.  You guys I am so excited about these counters.  It was a big ordeal to pick out counters… they are super expensive and it’s a big decision.  I was going to go through a semi custom program at Home Depot but they discontinued the granite that I liked and they replaced it with one that was more cream based then white based.  So after some crazy days of going to several different stores, I found this white quartz that was a reasonable price.  It’s called Iced White Quartz and it’s amazing.  And if you are ever looking to replace counter tops here a little run down of the pricing (well at least where I went). Each sink whole costs $150-200 to cut and then the sinks run $50 each and then you have to add the square footage of your counter.  So if you’re looking at granite/quartz that is $50 a square foot, remember to add $400-500 for your double sinks on top of the cost for the granite/quartz.  To see the whole process that you go through to get new counter tops, check out this post here.

Once the counter tops were in, we then installed the plumbing.  I found these awesome waterfall faucets (we got it in chrome) and I fell in love with them.  Seriously, I love them!

Once the paint was completely dry, I then started putting on the hinges.  I would just do one hinge at a time (and not pull off the tape that has them labeled until you are actually working on the hinge because chances are you might mix them up, like I did).  Once the hinges were on, I put on cabinet bumpers.

Once I got all the hinges on, I put the doors and drawers back onto the vanity.  And then I sat back and admired the brightness :).

For the back splash, we used the same tiles as on the bathtub. To make it go quicker, I set out all the tiles before we put them on so when it was time to cement them in, it went much quicker. We used the  Venatino Linear Mosaic tiles.

Using a premix mortar, we put the back splash on with a 1/8″ tile trowel.

Once they were on, we waited 24 hours and then grouted it.  So we made the mistake of getting premix grout (we used a powder for the bathtub) and even though it said it was the same name of color, it was not the same color.  So we grouted it and then I spent 2 hours with a putty knife de-grouting it.  Then we re-grouted it again using a non-sanded bright white grout from Home Depot.

For a nice clean look, I then caulked the sides and top of the tiles.

And now our vanity is not an eye sore and it is beautiful!  I am in love with it and can’t stop staring at it!

The tiles goes really well with the tub now too :).

and I just love the Iced White quartz.

Here is a little closer view of the counters and back splash.  The specks are a nice warm gray color.

And don’t the cabinets look amazing?!  The hours put on them was definitely worth it!  And if you’re curious the wall color is called Worldly Gray from Sherwin Williams.

And here is the fun water fall faucet, I just love it!  And we got one of those fancy pop up/drown drains to go with it.

And that is my master bathroom, I hope you enjoy it :).  I am loving it!!  And make sure to check out the other parts of it, the tile flooring and the tiled bathtub. And if you want to see the whole thing, check out my master bathroom reveal.

Here are a few more DIY ideas: