Don't spend $30,000 on a kitchen remodel. We modernize dated oak and maple cabinets using advanced spray techniques and highly durable enamels for a flawless, chip-resistant finish.
During the housing booms of the 1980s and 1990s across the Pacific Northwest, builders installed millions of solid "honey oak" and clear-coated maple cabinets. Today, these heavy wood tones can make a home feel dark and severely outdated.
However, the actual wooden "boxes" of these older cabinets are often built much better than modern, cheap particleboard replacements. Ripping them out and sending them to a landfill is incredibly wasteful and expensive. The solution is professional refinishing.
But be warned: painting cabinets is not like painting a wall. Kitchen cabinets are constantly bombarded by cooking grease, steam, wet hands, and fingernail scratches. A standard house painter rolling latex paint onto your cabinets will result in a sticky, brush-stroked mess that chips within a month. At Coles Painting, we use specialized chemistry and fine-finish spray equipment to give you a true factory finish.
Every type of wood requires a different chemical approach to ensure the paint bonds permanently. Here is how we handle common PNW cabinetry:
Oak has heavy tannins that bleed yellow through paint, and deep, porous grain patterns that look like painted wood rather than a smooth modern cabinet.
Our Approach:
First, we apply an aggressive stain-blocking bonding primer (often synthetic shellac) to trap the tannins. Then, if requested, we use specialized high-build wood surfacers and grain fillers, sanding them flat before the topcoat, rendering the deep oak texture completely invisible.
Common in builder-grade 2000s homes. These are essentially plastic coatings glued over MDF. Standard paint will peel off like a sunburn.
Our Approach:
We lightly scuff-sand the slick surface, then apply industrial adhesion-promoting primers designed specifically to cross-link with plastics and PVC. Once the primer bites into the surface, our urethane topcoats provide a permanent, un-peelable shell.
We carefully remove, label, and transport all doors and drawer fronts to be sprayed flat. In your kitchen, we build a plastic "zip-wall" tent around the cabinet boxes to completely isolate dust and overspray from the rest of your home.
This is the most important step. We use powerful degreasers to remove years of invisible cooking oils and hand oils, followed by a liquid deglosser and physical sanding to dull the original factory clear-coat so the new primer can bite.
We spray a heavy coat of specialized adhesion primer. Once dry, we sand it to a powdery smooth finish, ensuring absolute flatness before the topcoat.
We apply 2-3 coats of premium water-based urethane or alkyd enamel using High-Volume Low-Pressure fine-finish sprayers. This creates a buttery smooth, rock-hard finish with absolutely zero brushstrokes.
Not all painters are cabinet finishers. Here is how our specialized process compares to the average "guy with a brush."
| Feature | Coles Painting | Generic Painters / DIY |
|---|---|---|
| Application Method | Fine-Finish Spraying (No Marks) | Brushed or rolled (Ugly texture) |
| Paint Quality | KCMA-Grade Urethane Enamels | Standard latex wall or trim paint |
| Durability | Rock-hard, resists scratching | Soft, peels when scratched by nails |
| Prep Work | Chemical Degreasing & Sanding | Just wipes it with a wet rag |
Yes. Oak has a very deep, open grain. If you just paint over it, the wood texture will still show through. We offer a specialized grain-filling process using high-build primers and wood surfacers. We trowel it in, sand it flat, and repeat until the deep oak texture is completely invisible, leaving a modern, smooth finish.
You do not have to empty the entire cabinet box. Because we remove the doors and drawer faces to spray them elsewhere, and we meticulously tape and mask the interior openings of your cabinet boxes, your dishes and dry goods can stay exactly where they are while we work.
A standard kitchen usually takes about 4 to 5 days. We spend the first two days strictly on prep (removing doors, cleaning, masking, sanding, and priming). The final days involve spraying the topcoats and carefully reinstalling the hardware and doors once cured.
Standard paint will, but our coatings will not. We use advanced waterborne alkyds and urethane enamels that meet or exceed KCMA (Kitchen Cabinet Manufacturers Association) standards. They cure to a hard, plastic-like shell that easily withstands the oils and impacts of daily use.
Send us a photo of your kitchen and secure your free quote today!
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Your kitchen is the heart of your home. Don't trust its transformation to standard wall painters. Coles Painting brings specialized chemistry, advanced spray equipment, and unmatched precision to every cabinet refinishing project across Seattle, Tacoma, and Spokane.