Painting kitchen cupboards...even melamine!

How to go about painting melamine... I've done plenty of research on this subject and I must say, most of it recommends using a super primer like Zinsser or Blackfriars. I also found a few articles suggesting ESP. Mostly on forums where it was recommended by people who paint kitchens for a living.

I've known about ESP since the mid nineties when they mentioned it daily on ''Change That'' the greatest TV show known to man.
I really thought that this was a lazy persons product. For people who can't be bothered to sand properly or for people who are on telly and have a very short time frame in which to paint furniture. Being a total perfectionist, ESP and I never crossed paths.

Until I started researching painted kitchens. I read the words, ''chemically bonds the paint on to a surface'' and I was intrigued. Because that sounds pretty damn good to me.

And let me tell you, it IS pretty damn good. It's the most peculiar stuff. You wipe it on liberally, wait 10 minutes, wipe off the excess with a clean dry cloth, wait two hours and you can paint.

It really gives the greatest adhesion. There was a small area in my cabinet framework where I noticed a little residue of a sticky dot. I left it unpainted and when the surrounding paint was dry, I decided to sand it off. The surrounding areas were sanded too and that paint didn't shift. This was water based eggshell on plastic! I would have imagined that the paint would have peeled away very easily.

This stuff is amazing. Forget your chalk paints. Ugh, who'd want a chalk painted kitchen anyway? Forget your super primers. Definitely forget your cupboard paints! Have you read their reviews?
They just. Cannot. Compete. with ESP.

 I got mine on ebay for £25 with free postage. It's clear and thin like water so it stretches pretty far. One litre would be enough to do my 22 doors more than three times over.

As you can see I have one door up. I only had one handle, my sample handle but the others are coming tomorrow. I think I looked at every handle in the country.

I'm totally thrilled with my one solitary cupboard door. You know when you have a picture in your head? Often things don't turn out quite the same. Well this one has turned out just like it did in my head.

This post is not sponsored by ESP or Owatrol. I'm just a bit in love with it. If you're thinking of painting your kitchen doors, look no further.

before

after

I'm one step closer to having a nice kitchen for the first time ever.

You can see how I'm getting on HERE

Link