If you’re getting ready for a cabinet painting project, it’s important that you choose the right type of paint.

Pick a low-quality style or brand, and you’ll struggle to achieve the results you have in mind. Worse yet, the paint will be liable to start fading, chipping, and peeling within just a few years.

On the other hand, the right type of paint will not only deliver attractive results. It will also deliver long-lasting results, standing up to heat, grease, and heavy-duty usage.

N-Hance Custom Painted Finishes

If you’re thinking about painting your kitchen cabinets, you’ll need consistent, vivid, and highly durable results. And that’s precisely what you’ll get with a custom color finish from N-Hance®.

N-Hance custom color finishes have been specially designed for kitchen cabinets. We use a special primer to ensure strong adhesion — an issue in kitchens with lots of oil and grease spatter — and our finishes use a special acrylic formulation to deliver a smooth and ultra-durable finish.

Our custom finishes are available in a full spectrum of colors and include options for specialty finishes. They also contain minimal VOCs, which means you don’t need to worry about toxic fumes or noxious odors. And thanks to our Lightspeed® Nano instant-cure system, you don’t need to wait several days for the paint to dry! 

Other Options for Cabinet Painting

If you decide to tackle a DIY cabinet painting project, you’ll need to choose a different type of cabinet paint. Typically, that means choosing from oil-based, alkyd, and latex paints.

Here’s a quick look at the pros and cons of each:

  • Oil-Based Paints. Oil-based paints deliver vibrant colors and a smooth finish, plus they’re highly durable. But they can be difficult (and messy) to work with, produce strong odors, and contain harmful VOCs.
  • Alkyd Paints. Alkyd paints tend to be less smelly and messy than oil-based paints, while delivering similar levels of quality and durability. But they still produce strong odors and contain high levels of VOCs.
  • Latex Paints. Latex paints are generally the most affordable option for cabinet painting, and they produce few odors or fumes. But unlike oil-based and alkyd paints, latex paints are easily damaged.

Paint Considerations for Cabinet Painting

When you’re choosing a type of paint or brand of paint for cabinets, there are several factors you’ll need to consider. Below, we’ve listed the seven most important considerations to keep in mind.

Durability

Cabinets need a highly durable type of paint to withstand the wear and tear of kitchen environments. Between bumps and scrapes from pots and pans, spills from food and drinks, spatter from frying and simmering, and everything else that happens in the kitchen, low-durability products — like latex paints — will wear down in a hurry.

Coverage

Some types of paint require several different coats to achieve consistent coloration. Choosing a thin, inconsistent paint can result in streaky areas where the underlying color shows through. It also increases the number of hours and amount of money you’ll need to spend on your project since each new coat will take additional paint and additional time to apply and for drying.

Smoothness

When a coat of paint dries, the finish should be smooth and even. While some paints have great reputations for smoothness, others are prone to drips, bumps, ripples, and visible brushstrokes.

Vibrancy

High-quality paints produce rich and vivid tones, which require high-quality pigments. On the other hand, cheaper paints will generally contain low-quality pigments, which may result in inconsistent coloration or a generally dull appearance.

Ease of Use

One reason to shy away from oil-based paints is the mess they create and how difficult they are to clean. But there are other ease-of-use factors to consider when purchasing paint for cabinet painting, such as whether you’ll need to use a special type of primer, if a topcoat application may be necessary, or their risk of flammability.

Odors & VOCs

Oil-based paints and alkyd paints are made using chemical solvents, which means they contain high levels of Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs). That’s another way of saying that when you use these paints, they produce toxic fumes. These fumes have been linked to a number of health problems, including respiratory illness. They also smell unpleasant and can linger for days or weeks after painting.

Cost

Paint costs can vary widely on cabinet painting projects. Usually, high-end paints will cost 2x or 3x as much money as discount brands. But when it comes to cabinet painting, the added cost of quality paints is well worth the investment. What’s more, if you choose a low-quality, easily damaged style of paint, you’ll end up having to repaint your cabinets much sooner.

(This — along with the time and effort you’ll save — is also a good reason to hire professionals.)

What’s the Right Choice for You?

Choosing the right type of paint will ultimately come down to your personal preferences. Some homeowners are willing to accept the fumes and odors of oil-based paints for high-quality results. Others would prefer to roll the dice with latex paints in favor of saving a few dollars on their project.

If you’re unsure about which type of paint to choose — or if you’re looking to avoid a DIY cabinet painting project — we suggest contacting your local N-Hance for a free consultation. We can walk you through the pros and cons of a custom color finish, discuss alternative types of paints (and why we tend to not recommend them), and provide a free estimate for your project.

Call N-Hance today at (855) 642-6230 to learn more about our custom color finishes and get a FREE estimate on cabinet painting.