Yes, oil based paint is ideal for kitchen cabinets. Don't worry about too much sheen, oil paint is not like a glossy latex with polymers. Enjoy your space...

Well the paint I sell the most for kitchen cabinets is the Satin Impervo, But if you want a lower sheen BM makes a Eggshell Oil you could use on them. White Dove is are best selling color. Could use HC-78 litchfield gray Give that kitchen a really nice look.

Oil base enamels have the best performance for cabinets the product you mentioned is Benjamin Moore Satin Impervo here is a page I created for that product:
http://www.shearerpainting.com/satinimpervo.php

There have been great improvement with water based alykd enamels in recent years and here is my review of those products:
http://www.shearerpainting.com/blog/paint/water-reduced-oil-enamel-review-advanced-by-benjamin-moore-paint-vs-proclassic-by-sherwin-williams/

Good Luck

I used water based semi-gloss on my kitchen cabinets. I find semi-gloss much easier to clean than flat, eggshell or satin.

Hi jwkinsley, oil-based is more difficult to work with but flows out beautifully and creates a more durable finish (for interior work) than acrylic or latex paints. As for the sheen - satin is not too shiny, but if you're not sure, have your painter create a sample for you to approve before they paint all the cabinets. Fwiw, I'm impressed that your painter even suggested oil based - most prefer the easier to use latex paint.

Steve

Seriously you guys are awesome!! Trying to remodel this house can be a little overwhelming at times but thanks to houzz and people like you it is making me more confident with the choices I have to make. Thanks again for taking the time to respond!!

Oil based paints are the best Bet and give value for Money .

But they are difficult for the homeowner to touch up.

Hi Carolyn,

On the projects I've done where we've used oil-based paints, we supply the client with two small cans - one with the paint, the other with a thinner and small packet of artists brushes. (The small can helps keep the paint lasting longer as there's less air inside.) More importantly though, touch-ups with oil-based paints are less noticeable than with latex, as it flows out better, in my experience.

I've yet to use the water based alkyd enamels Shearer Painting mentioned above, but I've heard they are great.

Steve

Throw away brushes would certainly be an advantage, as would the small can of paint you provide.

Steve, I will definitely ask for the two small cans etc. that you mentioned providing to your clients. I've actually painted friends kitchen cabinets and they turned out pretty good but since this will hopefully be our forever home I wanted professionals to do the job. :) Thanks again for all the input. I was just afraid the satin would be too shiny and you all answered all my concerns.

You're very welcome, I wish you the very best with your project :)
Steve

Whatever you do DO NOT use a latex water based paint on your cabinets no matter how high the quality/brand. Trust me, I know from 12 years of experience based on my own cabinets and the white paint I used was not a big box store brand it was a $60 gallon paint. I preferred latex d/t ease of clean up etc. They looked great for about a year or 2 and then looked chipped and dingy and no amount of cleaning and touch up could fix it. In fact, if I had to do it over I would not only use and oil based product but would invest in a paint sprayer for a perfectly smooth finish. I may even pay someone else to professionally spray the doors.

I've since repainted them again using another expensive brand of latex with similar results. I'm getting an entirely new kitchen after the first of next year, thank GOD! I can't wait to take a sledge hammer to these horrible 30 yr old cabinets.

Waterbased enamels have come a long way read this product review http://www.shearerpainting.com/blog/paint/water-reduced-oil-enamel-review-advanced-by-benjamin-moore-paint-vs-proclassic-by-sherwin-williams/

Benjamin Moore has a Product Called Insl-x CabinetCoat that you can put over oil base paint with out priming. This Product is a Urethane Acrylic Satin Enamel that I have sold more then a few times and people are loving the product so far.

I am in the process of painting my bathroom cabinets and CabinetCoat is what I am using. The cabinets original color is a medium dark maple and I am going off-white. After one coat of Zinnsser 123 Bullseye primer and 3 coats of CabinetCoat, I can still see through it. This paint is terrible. When I tackle the kitchen cabinets I will use an oil primer and an oil enamel paint, probably B.M.

I used SW ProClassic in semi gloss on my wall cabinets last Summer. I rolled the cabinet boxes sanding between coats and got it as smooth as I could. Did the doors by hand outside. While they turned out good, I still wasn't 100% satisfied with the smoothness of the doors. So I sanded them down until the paint finish was nice and smooth, then bought a Graco TrueCoat II just like this one http://www.graco.com/us/en/products/contractor/truecoat-pro-ii-cordless-sprayer.html Sprayed my doors in 1/4 the time it took me to hand paint them and they came out perfect. I just ordered a few more cabinets yesterday, due to arrive in 10 days, but will be painting them come Spring once the snow is gone.

Thanks for the response diyher. Is this SW ProClassic an oil or a latex? I was quoted a 3 to 4 thousand dollar price tag for this job so the cost of a sprayer seems quite affordable. Might check into that. Thanks Fay

Acrylic Latex Enamel http://www.sherwin-williams.com/homeowners/products/catalog/proclassic_interior_acrylic_latex/ wow $3-4 thousand seems a lot, but I'm sure they do a good job. The thing with the sprayer, with all those door side panels you have on the lower cabinets, you would have to tape and cover all your floors and probably close off the room to other rooms with plastic sheathing. I've done painting before, so for me the learning curve wasn't as high as someone who may have never painted before. Here is the center island I did last Summer. [houzz=] Just got word my cherry cabinets will arrive 2/21 and those I am staining. I have 3 wall cabinets I am painting antique white (additions to what we already have) that will happen in Spring once the snow is gone and temps rise.

The 2nd cabinet are the doors I bought with frame only and ordered glass locally. I still have to spray paint the shelves, but hand painted the front of the shelf just to get a better idea of what it will look like from the outside. We bought a 12" diagonal corner wall cabinet to go to the right of this cabinet since the lowers will go straight to the end of the wall.

[houzz=]

I just installed my new kitchen, but it's white, and with gas stove I feel it's gonna be yellow very soon. So i'm already researching how to fix it later on ... RustOleum cabinet refinishing pains have pretty good ratings on Amazon, and these paints are US made ( i know a rustoleum factory in Attleboro, MA - probably many more scattered around the country)

You don't need to strip / prime the surface with these, and there are many colors

Goo

white cabinets will yellow if you use oil paints. They start to yellow on the inside first...I know. I am looking at brand new $20,000 cabinets that are turning very, very yellow.

Im going to destress my cabinets so should i use satin or semi gloss for painting them first?