Painting kitchen cabinetry

Hi all, I've just bought a fairly old (albeit in very good shape) house and the missus wants to do a few things to make it feel a little bit more like home. One of the main things that bothers her is the fact that the kitchen is very timber-heavy and she wants white/clear cabinetry to make it look and feel a bit lighter. I'm by no means a kitchen cabinet expert but the current ones seem to be good-quality stuff so I'd like to avoid having to tear it down and install new ones. I'm not exactly a handyman myself so painting the cabinets ourselves would be a high-risk endeavor that may end up with us having to replace the entire thing. I've been looking for alternatives and it looks like vinyl wrapping could be an option. My questions are:
1- What are the best options in my case? Are any of the options easier to do myself as opposed to having to hire someone to do it for me?
2- Any referrals in the Brisbane area?

please see a photo of the cabinetry in question below:

 

Find a small joiner who is prepared to remove all doors, sand and apply 2 pack polyurethane.

Wasn't cheap or quick but a better option than getting new doors.

 

I found this thread What can I do to this kitchen?
@gnrcampos

 

Here's a before and after of my kitchen at my place. This is the same original kitchen, the doors have been 2 pac, glass splash back, new bench top. Came up great.

 

There are specific paints you can buy for kitchen cabinets. Go look at Bunnings and ask for cabinet paints. Not cheap being $80 a litre (can be tinted) but works. They have "renovator"paint for floor tiles, wall ties, baths, cabinets the lot. May be wise to engage a expert if you dont have confidence with spray painting but this is also a brush / roller product. Its quite straight fwd. Prep seems very strict.

Dulux

 

How much did that cost, and what trades did you employ to do it? Painters? Carpenter?

 

The place that did it is called pro coat, they took all my cabinetry away and 2 pac painted it with automotive paint and installed a glass splash back, I looked at my receipt it was $3000 for the cabinetry to be painted with soft close added and new handles.

Then they organised a mob to install a glass splash back, this was $2000.

Then we had a stonemason come out and put a new bench top in, this was $3000.

So kitchen cost was roughly $8000 total, keep in mind this was about 5 years ago so prices will certainly have increased since then.

 

Thanks for the replies, everyone!
@wylie I noticed you said you didn't quite like the 2 pack in the long run, is this still the case? Did you figure out if you can touch it up after some time?
I'm currently overseas (Brazilian by birth) and have been talking to people over here about this and they all seem to mention something called "laca" which seems to translate to "lacquer". I tried to look it up but couldn't find much about it in Australia so I was thinking whether this 2 pack thing is actually the same as lacquer but we use a different nomenclature in the land of Oz, do you guys know if that's the case?

 

Basic lacquer inst ideal for kitchens and can even crackle / craze what is there. You want a specific paint and then its clear coated on top (Hence its called tupac - ). Lacquer is clear / light in colour.

There are many on google who offer onsite/offsite kitchen and bathroom , wall tile and floor tile spraying. Its a very affordable alternative.

 

'Tupac' was a rapper who was killed 30 odd years ago.

'Two pack' is a shorter form of two pack polyurethane which is hard wearing paint finish. An alternative is acid catalyst paints which are harder than 2 pack polyurethane but are also more susceptible to chips.

 

We did something similar a couple years ago. We looked at doing it ourselves but ended up engaging a local company to do it. Came up well and couple years on still looks unreal

 

See a lot of it with reno shows on TV.. Even old mate The Block judge Neale Whitikar does it (and he is PICKY!!) and Cherie Barber swears by the savings. Its not same as life on a brand new modern bathroom / kitchen but can save $40K and make it well presented and useful and modern for a fraction. Many people do a reno of these rooms and buyer hates it anyway. And if its a rental who cares. But it isnt a solution for a dump where the kitchen is dead.

 

Hi !
Looking to do this for an IP that we may sell. Anyone have suggestions for a company in Sydney please?

 

Hi Wylie,
Sorry looking at the two pack poly option in Sydney please.