It has been almost a year since I painted our kitchen cabinets white. When I was sharing the process of painting and the progress of our kitchen makeover on Instagram, I got a lot of questions about how well the paint kit I used would hold up. I had used the paint kit in our guest bathroom makeover and also in our laundry room. And I have no issue with those rooms. However, I wanted to share the painted kitchen cabinets update and how they are holding up. (post contains affiliate links, see disclosure)
I loved the painted cabinets at first. This paint kit was a great way to update our kitchen and take it from dark brown to bright white. However, a year later I’ve noticed they have started yellowing and chipping. The cabinet with the most wear so far is the pantry. It is in use the most and contains the microwave.
Our laundry room doesn’t get any direct sunlight, so I haven’t noticed yellowing there yet. The cabinets are not used every day, so there is also no chipping. I haven’t noticed any issues in our guest bathroom either and those cabinets are cleaned and wiped down frequently.
The issue with the kitchen cabinets might be my error since it’s the only set of cabinets doing this. Maybe I didn’t prep them enough or follow through with each step. I don’t know. But I do know that I just can’t have my kitchen like this. I’ve seen many DIYers paint cabinets and they look great. I’ve even seen painted cabinets done by “professional painters” and years later they are chipping and paint is coming off.
I mentioned in my kitchen design plans that this was just a phase one makeover. A solution to get what I wanted without spending a ton of my money. I’m working on another kitchen design that still involves some DIY but I will be using pre-painted doors that are better quality.
Overall, I do not regret this painted kitchen cabinets update. It was a temporary solution and I have the white kitchen I wanted without spending a lot of money. But, for me personally, I’m just not a fan of painted cabinets anymore.
RELATED
Pretty Cookbooks for Kitchen Styling