Painting a kitchen means: the carcasses, drawers, and hinges stay, and only the surface you actually see gets refreshed. If the fronts are technically sound but simply look dated, a coat of paint is the quickest route to a room that feels like you again. This article walks through the process: checking the surface, choosing the right paint, seven working steps, planning the quantity — and the spots where kitchens regularly cause trouble.
Which Kitchen Fronts Can Actually Be Painted
Before you start thinking about shades, take a look at the material. The question isn't whether you like the new colour, but whether the surface can actually hold the paint. Three cases cover almost every kitchen.
Lacquered and Veneered Fronts
This is the simplest case. Old lacquer and veneer are solid, closed surfaces that can be sanded. What the new coat needs is grip — and that comes from breaking down the existing sheen and removing every trace of sanding dust. If the old finish is still firmly attached, it doesn't need to come off completely. Only scrape it back to a solid surface where it's flaking.
Foil-Coated and Melamine-Coated Fronts
The most common kitchen front in German homes is coated, not lacquered. It's smooth, sealed, and doesn't absorb anything on its own. Painting is still possible — but only with a primer as the first coat. Check the edges beforehand with your fingernail: wherever the foil is lifting or coming loose, it'll keep doing so under the paint.
When Painting Won't Save It
Swollen chipboard next to the dishwasher, chipped coating along the handle edge, material that gives way under finger pressure: no coat of paint will fix that. Replace those individual parts and paint the rest. That's not a contradiction but the calmest solution — once it's painted, you won't see the difference anyway.
The Paint That Works in the Kitchen
Kitchen fronts get touched, wiped down, splashed on, and steamed. That's why not every product on the paint shelf is up to the job here.
Why Wall Paint Has No Place on the Front
Wall paint is made for surfaces nobody touches every day. On a cupboard door that's opened twenty times a day with damp fingers, it's simply the wrong choice. Matt wall paint belongs on the wall above the units, not on the door beneath it.
re-box protect as Furniture and Coloured Lacquer
re-box protect is re-box's furniture and coloured lacquer: with a silky sheen, made for furniture, wood, and interior surfaces. It's resistant to mechanical stress, everyday dirt, and outside influences — in other words, exactly the three things a kitchen front deals with every day. The container holds 750 ml, mixed in the shade of your choice.
The Primer Comes First
re-box core is the adhesion primer and the first step before protect. It bonds well to a wide range of surfaces and gives the paint the foundation that a smooth surface doesn't provide on its own. The order isn't negotiable: core first, then protect. Skip a step, and you'll see it at the first fingernail scrape along an edge.
Choose your colour before you unpack the sanding block
The shade decides whether your kitchen ends up looking bigger or cosier afterwards. Two basic directions – and one piece of advice that will save you trouble.
Light shades for narrow kitchens
In a tight galley kitchen with little daylight, light cream tones keep the room feeling open. Neige Douce No. 42 Lack is one such shade: a delicate creamy white that reads soft rather than cold in a satin sheen. A practical side effect: crumbs and water splashes show up less on light fronts than on deep ones.
Dark shades as a statement
If the room gets plenty of daylight, it can take some boldness. Baltic Midnight No. 24 Lack is a deep midnight blue that visually recedes lower cabinets. A tried-and-tested layout: dark below, light above – the eye stays up top and the row feels lighter.
Test a sample, not a screen
Colour on a monitor is a guess. The Farbmusterbox 65 Stk contains every shade as a physical sample, so you can judge it in your own kitchen's light – the same tone looks different by the window in the morning and under the under-cabinet light in the evening. The full range is available under Lackfarben.
Materials list for a kitchen weekend
Get everything ready before the first front comes off its hinges. Nothing stalls a painting project quite as reliably as a hardware store run in the middle of the first coat.
Paint, primer and cleaner
- Adhesion primer for the first coat on smooth fronts
- Furniture paint in your chosen shade, satin finish
- Degreaser or methylated spirits to clean the surfaces
Tools
- Foam or fine-pile roller for the flat surfaces
- Paintbrush for profiles, routed details and edges
- Sanding block for matting the surface
- Stirring stick, paint tray and roller grid
Protection and organisation
- Masking film for the floor and worktop
- Precision masking tape for hinges and transitions
- Nitrile gloves and a microfibre cloth
- Labelled bags for handles, screws and hinges
Preparation in four steps
Most of the working time goes into what happens before the first coat of paint. That sounds unfair, but it's exactly why a paint job lasts.
1. Clear out, unscrew, unhinge
Take the handles off, remove the hinges or mask them off neatly. Take the fronts off and paint them lying flat – that way no drips run down a vertical surface. Number the doors and screws, or you'll be hunting through half the kitchen when it's time to reassemble. Carcasses and shelves stay in place and get taped off.
2. Degrease until the cloth stays clean
This is the step that sets a kitchen apart from every other furniture project. Years of cooking steam settle on the fronts, and this film of grease is the natural enemy of any paint job. Work with degreaser or methylated spirits, change the cloth often, and keep going until a fresh cloth stays clean. Pay particular attention around handles and above the hob.
3. Sand and remove dust
Break the sheen with fine sandpaper – don't sand through. The goal is an evenly matte surface that the primer can grip. Then remove all dust: vacuum first, then go over it with a slightly damp cloth. Any sanding dust left behind will show up later as grit in the paint.
4. Apply the primer
On coated and foil-wrapped fronts, primer is essential; on sanded old paint, it makes the result more even. Apply thinly and evenly, edges first. Then let it dry, and take the instructions on the container seriously – carry on too soon and you'll pull the primer back up with the roller.
Painting in three steps
Now comes the part that's actually enjoyable. Two thin coats beat one thick one – a rule that applies throughout this guide, but especially here.
5. The first coat of paint
Cut in profiles, routed details and edges with the brush first, then roll out the flat surfaces with the roller in calm, overlapping strokes. Work briskly and don't keep going back over strokes that are already starting to dry. Less paint on the roller, but one more pass instead.
6. Sanding between coats and the second layer
Once the first coat is fully dry, go over it very lightly with fine sandpaper, remove the dust, and apply the second coat. This intermediate sanding is what separates painted-it-myself from looks-brand-new: it takes away small fibres and specks of dust and leaves the surface smooth and even.
7. Let it cure and reassemble
Dry doesn't mean durable. Leave the fronts alone until the paint has properly cured, following the guidance on the tin. Only then do handles and hinges go back on. If you like the result, room doors are the logical next step – the process there is similar, and you can read all about it under Tür lackieren ohne Ausbauen.
Quantity and time: what the project really needs
You need two figures beforehand: the area of your fronts and the wall area around them. Both can be measured in ten minutes.
How much surface area a kitchen row has
Measure each front individually – height times width – and count both sides if the back gets painted too. Add on any visible carcass sides, plinth panels and open shelving. The total is your area for two coats, and it's usually bigger than you'd guess.
How much paint to plan for
The paint is mixed in 750 ml tins. How many tins you need depends on your measured front area and how well the old colour covers: a dark base under a light paint needs more material. If you're unsure, Anna, re-box's digital colour advisor, can help with colour choice, finish and quantity. You can also get the project ready-assembled as Küche streichen.
The wall above the row
For wall surfaces, the simple rule of thumb per tin, always calculated for two coats: 2.5 L covers approx. 8–10 m², 5 L approx. 15–20 m², 10 L approx. 30–40 m². The matching shades are under Wandfarben, and how to work out your area cleanly is explained in Wie viel Wandfarbe brauche ich.
The mistakes you notice immediately in the kitchen
Three things go wrong again and again – and all three only show up weeks later, once the kitchen is long since put back together.
Skipping the degreasing
The most common mistake, and the most annoying one. Nothing sticks to grease: the paint beads off during application, or comes away in sheets months later. Fixing it means sanding back and starting over.
Painting on a smooth coating without a primer
Without a primer, the paint sits on top of the foil instead of bonding with it. The first fingernail, the first pot base, the first child's shoe then goes straight through to the surface underneath. A second coat won't change that.
Applying it too thick
If you try to make the base disappear in one go, you'll get drips at the edges and a surface that stays firm on the outside and soft underneath. Two thin coats cover better and last longer than one thick one. Always.
Frequently asked questions about painting your kitchen
Do I have to sand the kitchen fronts down completely?
No, a light sanding is enough in almost every case. The point is just to break the sheen so the primer and paint can grip. Only an old coat that's already flaking needs to come off completely.
Which sheen level suits a kitchen?
Satin is the obvious choice for kitchen fronts. It wipes clean more easily than a matte surface and shows unevenness less than a high-gloss one. re-box protect is set up exactly for this.
Can I paint the worktop too?
We wouldn't recommend it. Worktops face cutting, moisture and heat, and no coat of paint holds up to that in the long run. Fronts, carcasses, plinths and shelves, on the other hand, are good candidates.
How long does delivery of my paint take?
Delivery takes 3–5 working days from receipt of payment. Shipping within Germany is by parcel. Since each colour is only mixed after the order is placed, processing only begins once payment has been received in full.
Can I return a mixed paint?
No, individually mixed paints are excluded from withdrawal and exchange. That's exactly why the sample box is worth the detour: test it on your own cabinet first, then order.
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