![](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/1052203954415182612.jpg\")
<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
Cathy and Garrett Poshusta live in a farmhouse in Ellensburg, Washington, and, since 2014, have been chronicling their renovations on their own home and rental properties in their blog, The Grit and Polish. While juggling parenting three young kids, Cathy and Garrett do things like paint their pantry cabinets in a weekend. Their can-do comes from hands-on experience: \u201cthe farmhouse is the ninth kitchen with cabinets that we\u2019ve painted,\u201d says Cathy, \u201cand with each, we\u2019ve learned a lot.\u201d They kindly agreed to share some of their tips with us. And for more details, go to their own tutorial.<\/p>\n
Photography courtesy of The Grit and The Polish.<\/p>\n
![](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/7954639571843003889.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Remove the cabinet doors and drawer fronts\u2014and free them of any hardware. If painting already painted or wood-finish cabinets, clean them well and then sand them: \u201cwe usually take the door and drawer fronts outside, put on a mask, and lightly sand them with a palm sander [a hand-sized cordless sander],\u201d explains Cathy. \u201cWe lightly sand the cabinet boxes in place. The goal is to scuff the existing surface, NOT remove it. This will allow the primer to adhere better.\u201d<\/p>\n
![](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/3955287375255433473.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
,<\/p>\n
In this case, the couple were starting from scratch: Garret built their kitchen and pantry cabinet boxes and used Shaker fronts, shown here, from Fast Cabinet Doors.<\/p>\n
![](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/9062443933435997293.jpg\")
Above: After removing every speck of dust, apply primer: Cathy primarily used a roller but kept a brush and rag on hand. \u201cI prefer the look of hand brushed but it\u2019s a lot slower so pick your poison.\u201d If painting cabinets a dark color, she recommends tinting the primer\u2014\u201din case of scratches down the line, you won\u2019t see that coat below it.\u201d <\/p>\n
After priming the cabinet fronts, prime the cabinet boxes (knee pads may come in handy). When the primer is dry, go over any drips, such as along the edges, with sandpaper and then prime the flip side. The Poshustas say you can usually get away with just one coat of primer, but two coats is a good idea on the cabinet fronts. For more on the topic, see one of our most popular posts: How to Paint Kitchen Cabinets: 5 Tips from a Master Painter. <\/p>\n
![](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/501506418872221878.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
![](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/7400344490775171044.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Note that the couple used a paint sprayer on their kitchen cabinets shown here in the background\u2014\u201dwhen done properly, spraying gives a next-level finish.\u201d But for the adjoining pantry, they went with paint brushes and rollers for a more textured and handmade look. \u201cSpraying cabinets is great when you have the time, energy, and space to set up for spraying,\u201d says Cathy. \u201cBut many times we\u2019ve found it\u2019s a lot easier to hand paint them.\u201d<\/p>\n
![](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/7886064445408334639.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
![](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/5823916935511032424.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
More painting advice:<\/p>\n
Cathy and Garrett Poshusta live in a farmhouse in Ellensburg, Washington, and, since 2014, have been chronicling their renovations on their own home and rental properties in their blog, The Grit and Polish. While juggling parenting three young kids, Cathy and Garrett do things like paint their pantry cabinets in a weekend. Their can-do comes […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2541,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2540","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-home-renovation"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/homeofmaterials.com\/th\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2540","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/homeofmaterials.com\/th\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/homeofmaterials.com\/th\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/homeofmaterials.com\/th\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/homeofmaterials.com\/th\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2540"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/homeofmaterials.com\/th\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2540\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/homeofmaterials.com\/th\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2541"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/homeofmaterials.com\/th\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2540"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/homeofmaterials.com\/th\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2540"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/homeofmaterials.com\/th\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2540"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}