[stars75238]

I know the Fagerland doors are solid pine and therefore paintable, but what about Tidaholm doors with the veneer. I figure the oak frame is paintable, bot sure of the veneer panel. Any insights would be greatly appreciated.

[The Kitchen Magician]

Man, this topic seems to be cropping up a lot all of a sudden. Here's the short and skinny on painting IKEA cabinet doors. Don't. Forget what you've head. Pay no attention to the fact it's real wood. To paint a cabinet door takes more time than it's worth and you can't guarantee it will work. The vagrancies in the color make it too unpredictable, as well. Yes Fagerland, Adel, Tidaholm, Ulriksdal, Backebo, Ramdala, and Kalsebo are made of real wood. Regardless of that, they're not designed to be painted.

[pickles_ca]

Well - I'm going to disagree - Who knows at what point it is a waste of time to paint your cabs. I painted my island - and wanted a distressed look - but I'm going to let that happen naturally. Painting brand new cabinets is not that bad - I painted my old ones twice before renovating - now THAT is a major PITA.
Just getting them clean enough to sand and paint - Yuck!!

[The Kitchen Magician]

pickles_ca wrote:

Well - I'm going to disagree - Who knows at what point it is a waste of time to paint your cabs. I painted my island - and wanted a distressed look - but I'm going to let that happen naturally. Painting brand new cabinets is not that bad - I painted my old ones twice before renovating - now THAT is a major PITA.
Just getting them clean enough to sand and paint - Yuck!!

You're more than welcome to disagree, and everyone has their own breaking point when it comes to extra work. I'm just going from experience and from knowing what the product developers were thinking when the doors were designed. IKEA does not really factor in customer alterations when they design products. We engineer our furniture to withstand a great deal of abuse, but not to be repainted or sanded. You're more than welcome to try, and some people have had limited success but should you try it there is no going back. There is no recourse for refund, or assistance from the store in any way. This isn't just the company line, it's what we (as kitchen planners) have learned from years of experience.

[Tigratrus]

::shrug::

I don't think anyone could disagree that painting doors is an "At your own risk" choice to make. That said, as long as the surface is properly prepped (steel/synthetic wool to provide some tooth, then wiped down with mineral spirits or a tack cloth) and then coated first with a good quality primer (test on an inconspicuous area for proper adhesion) I can't see any reason why there would be more problem painting selected IKEA doors than anything else. STAINING, now THAT would be a problem, and I certainly couldn't recommend that, as the result would likely be very uneven and a REAL pain to boot. High quality paint, such as cabinet coat or AwlGrip (a marine paint for boat topsides) should yield a smooth TOUGH surface that will last a loooong time and provide for relatively easy touchup.

James

Edit: Btw pickles, your island looks wonderful! Nice job...

	BTW definintion BTW means By The Way

[The Kitchen Magician]

Tigratrus wrote:

::shrug::

I don't think anyone could disagree that painting doors is an "At your own risk" choice to make. That said, as long as the surface is properly prepped (steel/synthetic wool to provide some tooth, then wiped down with mineral spirits or a tack cloth) and then coated first with a good quality primer (test on an inconspicuous area for proper adhesion) I can't see any reason why there would be more problem painting selected IKEA doors than anything else. STAINING, now THAT would be a problem, and I certainly couldn't recommend that, as the result would likely be very uneven and a REAL pain to boot. High quality paint, such as cabinet coat or AwlGrip (a marine paint for boat topsides) should yield a smooth TOUGH surface that will last a loooong time and provide for relatively easy touchup.

James

Edit: Btw pickles, your island looks wonderful! Nice job...

Yeah, proper work and doing your homework can yield some very positive results. And using marine paint would definitely do the trick. If it can withstand salt water..... I just don't want to see people spend money and then get nothing in the end. I have customers come in all the time wanting to put wall corners on the floor, stack base cabinets in closets, and all kinds of funky stuff with the cabinets. Normally I tell them what the unit it capable of doing, and if they continue on that course we also mention the waranty is void. Now painting doesn't really fall into that category, although the waranty does get voided. It's just that most of my customers are weekend warriors and not carpenters or aware of the work they're getting themselves into. They buy the product, try to alter it, either destroy it or get fed up and then take it out on me and the store. Some poor, unsuspecting customer service rep gets yelled at by a customer, who was told this wouldn't work, and they can do nothing but take it. I just don't want to see this blow up in someone's face. That's why I will always tell a customer the doors are unpaintable.

	BTW definintion BTW means By The Way