# Forum Home Renovation Kitchens  Kitchen reno using Laminate Paint

## oxblood8

Hi All, 
I have recently reno'd my kitchen using White Knight Laminate Paint.  I have been planning to do this for a number of years and finally took the plunge to give it a go.  I thought I would do a bit of a write up to help other people who may be thinking of going with this route as a cheaper alternative to a full renovation.  I found that there wasnt a great deal of info on the net, so I hope this provides some guidance. 
Ok to begin with, my kitchen was a horrid pinky color, just brutal.  I lived with this for about 8 years and finally got sick of it (well was sick of it after a few days hehe). 
Here are some pics.  Note, these pics were taken on an old camera 8 years ago so i have scanned them in, they look pretty average to be honest.  I should have taken pics before I started.   :Doh:         
To begin with I took all of the cupboards and drawer fronts off.  I made sure to number each of of these so I knew where they went.  Also before removing the hinges from the carcasses I made a pencil outline around each one so I knew where those previously sat 
As I removed the doors I began to notice that a number of these needed to be fixed as there was come chipping on the corners.  To carry out this fix I used the following products.   
The method I used was to square off the chip with a sharp chisel then iron on some of the replacement edging but leaving about a 2mm gap to the existing edging so that I didnt have 2 edges butted together.  I then filled this gap with the above filler.  Waited for a bit then sanded back to a smooth finish.  As you can see in the below image, the darker colour between the white and pink is the filler.   
After I finished fixing up all of the problem areas, it was time to sand.  This took a good while and of course I had dust EVERYWHERE.     
After washing all of the dust off it was time to clean with the White Knight Laminate & Tile cleaner. 
After completing this, it was time for the Primer, I used a foam roller to apply this.  The primer is water based so cleanup was very easy.  The paint went on very easily and covered pretty well.  I did notice though that when it dried the slightest knock would scratch it easily so you have to be careful.     
Now it was time to apply the finishing coats.  The application for this was the same foam roller from the primer coating.  For the doors and draw fronts the painting was carried out in my front lounge room as I dont have a sealed garage.  The lounge room is in an L shape so I just set up a couple of tables and had some long lengths of pine to lay all of the doors on. 
I worked in one door one at a time painting the edges first with a brush then rolling the back of the doors.  I used this method as I wanted the final coat to be the rolling of the front of the doors/drawers.  Once I painted one, I just moved it across to the setup with the long strips of pine and continued. 
I applied 2 final coats on each piece. 
I also decided to paint the tile splash back.  This was not my preferred option as I really wanted to re-tile it but it was going to be a bit of a nightmare as all the cabinets above would have to be removed.  To be totally honest I am not all that rapt with the paint on the tiles.  Yeah it looks ok from afar but once I have the blinds open you can really see the pattern of the old tiles underneath.  Not too fussed though, only cost me $40 for the tin of paint so it was worth a punt. 
Just to note, the finish on the kitchen is a Matt finish, whereas the Tiles is a gloss finish.  However, you can use Tile paint on the Laminate and vice versa so you can get the finish you desire.

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## oxblood8

After re-assembling the kitchen which took a good couple of hours it was  time to upgrade some of the appliances.  Got a new rangehood in and new  hotplates.  Also bought in some timber venetians and a new sink mixer.   I had intended to get new benchtops but once I finished painting they  looked really good. 
 So here are the final results                   
 All in all I am pretty happy with the result, it looks a million times  better than before and really lifts the space from the terrible pink  colour.  The job took me 5 days to complete but I guess in saying that  there is a lot of downtime waiting for paint to dry.  Once you get a  routine going with painting the doors and draw fronts you soon tick  along a bit faster.  Painting the carcasses took no time at all. 
 Its been almost 6 months now since I have completed this and in this  time I have scratched a few of the doors and I must admit, the paint  does come off quite easily.  I probably would not recommend this for  those who have children as any knocks on it will result in scratches and  chipping.   
 For me though I can't really complain.  I reckon the painting cost me  about $400 all up in supplies (and I did buy one tin too many  :Doh: )  which of course was a helluva lot cheaper than the quote I got to put  in a new kitchen.  Yeah its never gonna be as good as a new kitchen, but  for those on a budget it is well worth the punt.

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## steamboatbob

looks a lot better than pink :2thumbsup:  :2thumbsup:

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## Compleat Amateu

Great effort mate, well worth the attempt and a good result for a great deal less than the BIG alternative of taking it all aout .. no halfway really! 
Would deep scuffing (250 dry paper) the lovely old pink surface (LOL) have made a difference to chipping?  ust a thought!

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## SabreOne

Well done Mate, 
A remarkable transformation, and you should be proud. I must say I've used the tile paint in a bathroom makeover a number of years ago, and the best part about it was it seals the grout and in the shower the cleaning was reduced to 10% of normal with no moisture retention for mould to grow into.....

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## oxblood8

Thanks for the comments guys.   

> Would deep scuffing (250 dry paper) the lovely old pink surface (LOL)  have made a difference to chipping?  ust a thought!

  I cant actually remember exactly what grit paper I used, think it might have been 400, but yes a courser paper would probably have done a better job.   

> Well done Mate, 
> A remarkable transformation, and you should be proud. I must say I've used the tile paint in a bathroom makeover a number of years ago, and the best part about it was it seals the grout and in the shower the cleaning was reduced to 10% of normal with no moisture retention for mould to grow into.....

  Just on this one, I was thinking of painting the tiles in the bathroom.  Did you have much mould in the grouting and if so did you make sure this was fully removed before painting?

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## SabreOne

Did all the normal things (Exit Mould, etc.) and the tile cleaner from White Knight. Removed all possible mould and it all turned out good. Be aware they DO NOT recommend painting the floor tiles, but we did purely in the shower recess as the traffic is zero......

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## oxblood8

> Did all the normal things (Exit Mould, etc.) and the tile cleaner from White Knight. Removed all possible mould and it all turned out good. Be aware they DO NOT recommend painting the floor tiles, but we did purely in the shower recess as the traffic is zero......

  Yep would only be painting the tiles in the shower, not the floor.  Thanks for the tip.  :2thumbsup:

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## renomiss

Have just joined  the forum tonight and saw your posting about painting the cupboard doors. That is the venture I am about to set out on after I find some  drawers to replace soem that are broken.  I am also going to paint the benchtop as it is a "tan leather" finish from 1985.   
Thanks for the hints I will be going back to check it constantly.

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## Old DIYer

There are a few Laminate coatings for doors etc available (with primers) but I'm not aware of any for laminate *bench tops* other than a 2 pack clear

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## GraemeCook

> Did all the normal things (Exit Mould, etc.) and the tile cleaner from White Knight. Removed all possible mould and it all turned out good. .

  Swimming pool chlorine is also great for removing mould.  And cheap! 
Cheers 
Graeme

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