Painting Bedroom Cabinets

[Boto]

i have a couple of bedroom cabinets that I want to move into the spare room and give a bit of a makeover. They are white at the moment but want to change the colour. What undercoat/paint do I need? I presume they are made of coated MDF. Many thanks.

[Old_Geezer]

I think you'll need to key the surface well for plastic coat is rather smooth. Apart from that I'm unsure. Clearly not being wood it doesn't need a primer. I think I'd just try a random undercoat and see how it goes. I'd trust that with sufficient keying you'd not need anything special (such as tile paint). Just grab a decent brand of normal paint and see how it goes.

[The Builder]

I'd go along with OG's ideas Boto.

Possibly, the existing finish is a sprayed-on plastic. If so, then a special plastics primer such as "Zinsser". Other brands are around if you can't find that.

Then, undercoat and ordinary interior gloss of any colour.

Or ......... if not gloss, then perhaps two coats of "Eggshell" or "Satinwood"
No need for undercoat then. Eggshell acts as its own undercoat.

[Boto]

Thanks both of you. Will put throws over them if they look awful!

[theshedman]

Hi, it can be a bit hit and miss doing these but if you follow what the others have said you should be ok. I would give the whole thing a good wash off with sugar soap first in case they have greasy finger marks on them, or the paint will not adhere properly. If you are painting them a colour much darker then I would give them an undercoat first even with eggshell as this will have a lot more covering power. Also for a nice smooth finish use a tack cloth after lightly sanding before applying the final coat this will pick up all the tiny bits of dust that you won't see before painting but will after the paint goes on.

[Boto]

Thanks, Shedman, am going to decorate the room first then have a go at the cabinets.