I'm so excited!

WOW willow 500 your cupboards look amazing, what a difference! Such a good idea ,saving so much money & hassle.

Thanks, Hannah. I will try an unobtrusive patch first, and see how it turns out.

phoenix. my DH would be off like a shot if a friend or neighbour asked for help, but doing jobs at home......"Yes, I'll get around to it!"
I remember, many years ago, that I had finally got him motivated to join me in decorating the hall, stairs and landing. We had just started scraping off wallpaper when there was a knock on the door. "Could he go to camp with the Cubs, as a leader had been taken ill?" I have never, in my life, seen a man pack a bag so fast! "See you in a week," and he was off!
I wasn't prepared to put the job on the back burner, so I completed it all by myself - even the awkward, very high bits over the stairwell! I wish I was as capable now!

Green gran, you don't need to sand down but you will need to give the cupboards a wash with something to get rid of any grease. Sugar Soap does the trick..
Also, I wouldn't recommend chalk paint unless you've used it before. I find it's difficult to get an even finish, it doesn't spread easily and dries too quickly. I'd go for water based eggshell. It gives a good satin finish that's washable.

Charleygirl how wise you are!

Mr P, lovely chap that he is, isn't exactly what might be called "dynamic"!

In all fairness, he does work full time, and has a fairly long drive each day.

If he was doing it, I can imagine that the project would take about 6 weekends whereas Adrian will get it done in 2 days, 3 at most.

So, GN'ers, which would you opt for?

phoenix is Mr P doing the work or are you getting the handyman to do it? At least the handyman would be finished before Christmas 2020! It will make a great difference to your working environment which I think is important.

I've got 2 wooden bedside cupboards, not sure what kind of wood though. Do you have to pre treat them before painting them? I'm not keen on the "distressed" look and want a smooth clean finish.

I paint almost everything I own, eventually.
Cupboards, doors, floors.
It's great when it works out better than expected.

I've painted kitchen cupboards before and they've looked great. Had to have new doors on this one however as the actual doors were falling to pieces. Still MFI after about 15 years I suppose that wasn't too bad.

Look up Frenchic paint it’s a bit dearer but is really hard wearing and has a lovely finish. Look up Frenchic on Facebook to see what others have done.

I bought an electric sander cheaply in one of the supermarkets and it worked a treat.

Gorgeous Willow.
Good luck with transformation OP. I think our environment at home really can influence emotions. I've been feeling a bit flat since before Christmas. The sunshine is helping but generally having brighter or lighter things at home provide a boost too

Wow Willow What a transformation!

I feel a project coming on.....

I have a few buy to let properties and when I buy a new one one of the first things i always do is replace the kitchen but I buy second hand units on ebay and they look fab once fitted. I take old old dark units and replace with white or cream. You can get a whole pre used kitchen and nice cooker for £300 sometimes.

auntiejane, Thank you. Reading the Google remarks it seems that, in most cases, sanding is advisable, unless the wood is clean and very smooth. The sideboard is quite old, and shiny, so I doubt that any paint would stick well to it. I think that my son has a sander, so maybe I can twist his arm into prepping it for me!

I'm sure you'll be delighted, Phoenix.

My dd and SiL painted some really horrible old dark brown melamine kitchen cupboards in their 'new' house - the difference (off white) was amazing.

And I painted a whole wall of perfectly functional but rather nasty melamine fitted wardrobes - and replaced all the equally nasty handles - after we'd been quoted over £4K to replace them
My total cost, paint and handles, was £65!

Greengran ……. I have a feeling that if you use chalk paint you don't need to sand the wood down …….I hate sanding too, and painted wooden bar stools with chalk paint …. reasonably successfully. Good luck!

Our kitchen also had foil covered doors, Mr Pirate looked on YouTube and found that with a heat gun it would peel off easily. It leaves MDF underneath and takes paint beautifully. We now have cream doors and the side panels and kickboards are still wood effect for contrast.

Painting is a good option, I painted mine a couple of years ago. Even better is a stick on vinyl covering, (I won't name it in case it's not allowed, its German and it's available on a popular selling site). The doors are grey wood effect and I did the counter tops as well, in a marble effect and had nothing but compliments. It looks as though I've had new doors and tops. It cost around £40 and is very hardwearing..

It's lovely to have things done, isn't it? A few months ago I got new cupboard fronts for the kitchen and a little row of extra wall units as there wasn't enough storage.
I sound ungrateful but the design the builder chose just wasn't my cup of tea - I didn't have any say in the matter as it's a very small development.
Now I've got what I like - country style wooden-look worktops with Shaker cupboards - very 1970s perhaps but I love it and it wasn't too expensive.

https://www.gransnet.com/uploads/talk/201902/medium-574865-20160602-185423-resized.jpg https://www.gransnet.com/uploads/talk/201902/medium-369609-20190121-155323-resized.jpg

I did this years ago changing a mahogany kitchen to white with shiny hard lacquer paint - I loved it. Good luck!

I've just painted our oak dining room unit with grey chalk paint - we're wishing I'd done the whole suite now instead of giving the table and chairs away.

I am excited for you We had the same problem but with limited£££s to spend , so did the same as you , doors taken away for spraying, new handles, carcasses resprayed in situ , we painted the walls, de cluttered the units and it looks totally new.
We have wooden work surfaces which I rubbed down using a borrowed flat sander,( the internet gives step by step instructions how to do it - and it worked) . We tiled over the tiles. So no plasterer needed.....I wish you could see it ????

I have an old sideboard which is a horrible orangey-brown colour. I have been trying to work up the energy to paint it. It's all the sanding-down which puts me off the idea, but this post may give me the incentive.

My husband did ours a few years ago - medium oak to pale green. New knobs on doors and drawers, new curtains and blinds. Thrilled with result at a fraction of the cost of new cupboards. The paint was especially for wood from National Paints.

A friend of mine did the same Phoenix, painted her beech cupboards grey and installed a new window blind. Looks a completely new kitchen, absolutely fabulous.