How To Paint Glossy Wood and Paneling

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My parents had a residential/commercial painting company that I worked at for 4 years. Decorating trends were just getting into the white woodwork. At that time, most woodwork was dark '70's or golden oak '80's. Much of our residential work was painting entire houses of trim, cabinets and paneling. I did this for up to 14 hour days 6 days a week when business was booming. I've also rehabbed several old houses since then. The pics below are from our 100 year old farmhouse rehab.

If you do it wrong, the paint will just peel off. You don't want that to happen. Believe me. 

Rule to remember: Water based paints CAN go over oil based paints. Oil based paints can NOT go over water based ones. To keep it simple, just use water based paints unless you are sealing brand new wood, coating masonry or painting outdoor metal.

Remove cabinet doors and hardware. Don't try to paint around knobs, hinges and handles. Just don't. It never looks good.

Degrease. Dawn and a scratcher pad or a commercial degreaser are a must. Grease will mess up your paint job and it will be a nightmare to try to fix it. Don't skip this step. You'd be surprised how greasy even dust is.

Clean thoroughly and let dry. Get all that degreaser off along with any remaining dirt or residue. Use GooGone if there is anything stubborn, like your kid's sticker decorating.

Sand with 150 grit sandpaper if that is what you plan to use. If not, skip down to liquid sander. You MUST do one and/or the other. If your surface is sealed stained trim, semi-gloss or gloss paint, or paneling, glossy surfaces have no "bite" for the paint to hold onto and the paint will peel off. It may not be tomorrow, next week or even next year, but at some point the humidity and wear will cause it to start peeling and there will be no stopping it and it will be nearly impossible to fix to look good again. Stripping off all the paint and starting over, as I saw someone have to do last week on RV cabinets they just slapped some 2-in-1 paint on top of, is a lot more cost, time and effort than just doing it right the first time. 

My oldest son using a palm sander on the cabinet doors.

Tack cloth it. Do you have to? No. But who wants a stray dog hair or dust bunny sneaking into your paint job if you are putting this much time and effort into it?

Liquid Sander over the entire surface to be painted if you haven't sanded with sand paper. Even if you have, you can liquid sander over it, too, or at least use it in any more intricate areas that the sand paper may have not fully scuffed.

PRIME. Kilz, Bullseye, or another STAIN BLOCKING primer. Especially important on paneling. For paneling, the grooves may take 3-4 coats of primer before the color stops leaching through. Do it as necessary. Primer has a specific formulation that unites with the surface and the paint to make a good paint job that lasts.  

Paint. Flat paint is seldom a good idea. It holds dust, won't hold up as well to washing/scrubbing, and will need to be re-done more often than any other type of paint. Satin is a better choice if going in this direction for walls and ceilings. For trim and cabinets, semi-gloss or gloss enamel are preferred. The glossiness retards scuffs and marks better and will hold up to washing/scrubbing beautifully. Add in the hardness of an enamel, and your woodwork will not show dings and scuffs as easily. 

Paint a 2nd coat. This one can be lighter. You want to make sure any light areas are filled in and that you have a good coat of paint over every surface. If you want a nice smooth finish, you can add Floetrol to your paint to get a finish without brush strokes.  

These cabinets have been done for 10 years now and still look beautiful.

My favorite trim and cabinet paint is Beher Interior/Exterior Gloss Enamel that I get at Home Depot. It is a crisp white or black that I use at both houses inside and out.