Yes, I think you can get any of the BM paints in the 'bittersweet chocolate' tint (2114-10). I just got a couple gallons in the (oil-based) "IronClad" super satin finish enamel, which the sales clerk said would be the best for kitchen cabinets. I haven't opened it yet.

lmeeker, I don't know if you can order BM paint online or not, I have seen where people have ordered 8 1/2 x 11 size sample sheets of colors online, tho. But if you go here and put in your zip code on the lower left you should find a dealer near you.

Here it is!

Here is a link that might be useful: Bittersweet Chocolate

I used the BM bittersw3eet chocolate based on GWA's kitchen and I love it. The picture of Johnmari's bathroom cabinets( another one of my inspirations) shows just about the true color. It isn't as light brown as the picture from colorcharts is. It really does look like black but then again not really. I used the semi gloss since it is not available in the Impervo. Then I put on 2 coats of Minwax Polycrilic Satin.

We have our oak bathroom cabinets sanded and ready for prime. Do we need to darken the primer before using if we go with Ben. Moore Bittersweet? Do you suggest a satin finish? We don't want a great deal of shine. This bathroom is not used very often. Should we put a coat of poly after painting two coats? Thanks for your help!

Gosh denali, I'm blushing! I always feel sooooo good when I can be an "inspiration" for someone.

teesyl2, we did not use a tinted primer, we used plain old Kilz primer and two coats of paint and coverage was just dandy. I chose BM Regal semigloss because that's what most people seem to like for cabinetry and it wasn't too shiny, but I think satin would be just fine if you like the level of sheen. Polyurethane is unnecessary and can actually lift or bubble the paint. (Remember, when you ask for it at the store, ask for Bittersweet Chocolate or they probably won't know what you're talking about.)

Remember also when painting cabinets, put cabinet door bumpers on the inside of all doors and behind the drawerfronts, because the doors and drawers can stick together until the paint has completely cured which can take a few days to a few weeks depending on the weather, the humidity, thickness of the coats, yadda yadda. With the Bittersweet Chocolate the clear rubbery bumpers were too visible on the doors and too thick behind the drawerfronts, so I picked up some of the plain old-fashioned dark brown felt "dots" at the hardware store. They disappeared right into the paint color and were thin enough that the drawers closed properly but didn't stick together.

Funny, I was wondering about GWA, her darling little dog and her home she loved. Has she posted recently? I felt bad for the sad time she was going through with her divorce.

johnmari - Thanks so much for your help. I think we'll go with the BM Bittersweet Chocolate in the semi-gloss. Even though it's a guest bathroom and rarely used, it's probably more appropriate to use semi-gloss for cabinets. Good to know about the bumpers, too! I asked about the poly as one of the other posters mentioned using it, but now I see they used a stain, not paint. While we've used oil base for cabinets in another house, we're going with the latex based on the recommendation of the guy at the paint store. Hope we like the outcome. I don't want to see any grain from the old oak cabinets. Your cabinet photos are beautiful!

teesly12
I also just used the the Kilz for a primer and it was not tinted. I also used the polycrilic but I don't think you need it. The semi gloss isn't real shiny at all. My oak grain does show through but I like it. Good luck with your project. You will love it.
lmeeker
The bittersweet chocolate is a preview paint. It is on one of the cards with just 3 colors.

denali,
What made you decide to use the Polycrylic top coat? Was it for the shine or the protective quality? Given this bathroom is used maybe once or twice a year when we have company, I'll skip that part. If we ever get rid of this blizzard here in Ohio, I'm heading over to check out the BM Bittersweet Chocolate. :-) Thanks for your help as well.

teesy12

I used the polycrilic based on a paint booklet from Michael in the paint forum. That was an optional step. Like I said I wouldn't do it again. Go to the paint forum and on the second page is a thread called Calling Michael and other paint pros. You can email him and he will send the pdf file. It's great.His on screen name is brushworks

denali, I found Michael's paint booklet to be VERY helpful! Thanks!!

Sylvia

Everyone is different, but my old house had all dark walnut woodwork and doors, and the family room wooden floor was dark for the first few years we lived there. It rains here 9 months out of the year so is grey and gloomy. I found it depressing and was much happier when I lightened it all up to a warm honey color, and later painted a lot of it white. That said, I hope you will be very happy with your choice. I can see doing it to a bathroom, but I wouldn't like it in my kitchen. I need more "sunshine" around me. But that's just me.

I hear that oceanna. I so love looking at all these amazing transformations. But the one missing ingredient for me is natural light. I crave it and need it especially in winter. Sometimes in some rooms I have to trick my mind into a lighter mode. No window in my bathroom, and definitely not enough light in my kitchen (which is why my cabs are white and vanities are white).

But I just drool over these photos. I want to try mari's bathroom, both Bittersweet and wall color. I love that room!! I already have a lot of the same elements (white trim, very similar vanity top). But I'll admit I'm concerned it might be too dark, since I don't have a window in the upstairs bathroom.

Wow, everyone's cabinets look sweeeet! I can only imagine how much work this was! How many days did it take everyone to get them all painted? Uh, can I give you all my address?? LOL

What is the wood filler for mari?

I'm filing this away for future reference...

Re using deck enamel -- I believe I read that one should stay away from using exterior paints indoors due to the VOCs. So ... ??? I'd research a bit.

Re: darker cabinets ... Our house has a lot of windows. Even with the dark winter days here in Ohio, it's fairly bright. The bathroom where I 'may' use the bittersweet chocolate has NO window. When I mentioned my reservations about using the darker color to a color consultant, her comment was, 'then you always turn on a light anyway' ... so using a darker color on the vanity base won't matter. Guess she has a point. BTW: The SW stores in our area offers a 'free color consultant' to give suggestions. She was great and gave us info we had not thought about.

moonshadow, that room got NO natural light and was very dim. Even in daytime we had to turn on the light for anything more than a quick pee. North facing room, in summer the light was blocked by trees and in winter the light was at the wrong angle to come into the room at all. Generous lighting, light/white accents, a midtone floor and shiny metals balanced out the dark cabinets, which provided a pleasant contrast and a little richness.

prairiegirl, the filler is to fill in the grain of the oak. I didn't care enough to do (or pay someone to do) the additional steps needed, but some people find the visible grain really objectionable. You want a product called "grain filler" or "brushing putty" - some conventional wood fillers (the kind you use to fill cracks and nail holes) can be thinned to use as a grain filler, read the label. You'll do best going to a specialty paint store. The filler is usually brushed or spread on, the excess wiped or scraped off (being careful not to pull the filler back out of the grain), and once dried sanded to a smooth surface. There's a good bit of sanding because the filler does not self-level the way most paints do to some extent. Then prime and paint.

Ah, good to know teesyl2 and mari! Thanks! ;D

Thanks mari~ I actually like the woodgrain, I even like oak, but I want to keep my options open to change. I love the spa feeling your bathroom had, the dark cabinets and pale blue walls were dead on!

So you didn't use wood filler after all? That's good, the less steps, the better IMO. :)

Question: I'm looking at either the BM 'Bittersweet' or the next color up on the strip "Mississippi Mud" ... The top color on the strip looks like almost like a plum color. For those of you who used the Bittersweet ... did you find it to have plum overtones?? I'm also looking at Classic Brown but that may be 'too brown' for the cabinets. Thanks!
Sylvia

I do not find that the Bittersweet Chocolate looks plum at all although I agree that the first color on the strip is definitley a plum color. Bittersweet to me is a true brown and can look black at night.

prairie, I did not use grain filler on those cabinets. We had too much else on our plates to do all those extra steps and danged if I was paying the painter to do it. I've done it before and it is kind of a hassle, but for those bent on a perfectly smooth surface it is worthwhile. I like oak just fine too, but those cabs were beat to s*** and refurbishing the rest of that bathroom with fresh paint and new flooring (very necessary) would have left them looking even worse!

I did not find the Bittersweet Chocolate to be plummy either, it was a distinct black-brown that was neither particularly warm nor particularly cool. Sort of like mascara. :-)

I'm happy to hear the Bittersweet is not plum toned. The next color up on the strip "Miss Mud" is a tad more brown which should work better in the bathroom given it's a dark room. If it's not dark enough, I think I can have them darken it down to the Bittersweet.

Another espresso brown that might work is
BM Mustang 2111-30
{{gwi:1582774}}

kmcg85 ... this is a great color, too. I'll check it out tomorrow when we go to the BM store. Thanks.

Those who have undertaken the enormous(by my DIY standards) task of painting cabinets, can you share some secrets? Such as what kind of brushes did you use to do the corners?

I have primed a small table and intend to paint it bittersweet chocolate. I used high density foam rollers to put on the primer but I'd like the final results to be more even.

Any dos and donts? How is this different from painting the walls?

Thanks,
Nami

Nami: If you go back up to denali's post regarding Michael's painting brochure, we found it very helpful! I have only primed the cabinets (using a dark tinted bonding primer). We're waiting for some tile work to be completed before starting to paint the cabinets and walls. We bought 2 brushes ... a 1-inch and 2-inch. Buy THE best quality brushes you can and make sure they stay super clean. We brushed the primer on with the grain. Make sure if there are any paint blotches in the corners to take the 'tip' of the brush to get it out. You don't want buildup. Better to have thin coats rather than heavy. That was a challenge for me as I am the 'more is better' painter. Not a good idea. We will sand 'lightly' in between the two coats of paint using a 'very fine' sandpaper. Vac and tack the piece before painting. We'll be using a satin/BM latex paint ... either Miss. Mud or the Bittersweet Choc. Getting over the 'Nervous Nellies' is the worst part. :-) You're wise to arm yourself with good info. first. Hope this has helped. Good luck. :-)

ok guys, I am new here so hello to all. I am goint to attempt to wood fill and paint my cabnits esspreso color or dark brown-black. Does anyone have any suggestions??? before I begin

We got the Bittersweet Chocolate in BM's Ironclad paint, which is an oil-based formulated specifically for metal substrates. The BM paint guy recommended this for cabinets, but I'm having second thoughts. I'm getting ready to paint a table before I tackle the kitchen cabinets, and wanted to know if anyone has ever used Ironclad on wood. I'm just not sure the paint guy knew what he was talking about.

I also have a quart of Bittersweet Chocolate in BMs Regal line. The color seems a little more vibrant than in the Ironclad line. I'm afraid the Ironclad looks a little too much like 'battleship gray.'

jcla,

I am having issues with the Ironclad latex in the Bittersweet Chocolate. It's too thick and the brush strokes are showing really badly because it's drying too fast. I don't know that you'll have the same issue with the oil based, but I'd try it out on a smaller piece. I'm doing my bathroom cabinets.

I'm off to the BM store to either switch to a regular latex enamel that is more self leveling or maybe switch to the oil based.

As far as the color, it does look odd in the can - sortof chalky! I was convinced they mixed the color wrong, but put a dab on the test strip and when dry it matched perfect. It's sortof nice that the wet color is different, it allows you to see where you've painted and not when you get to that second coat.

Let me know how you like the oil based on your sample project.

Meghane...what color are your walls. They are gorgeous!

Hi there
I have "espresso brown" bathroom cabinets with a white vanity top. The tiles are a marble grey colour. what's the best colour to paint the walls?

Hi All, Thank you for your post! I was getting ready to spend 15K on a new kitchen when I found this posting. I have started preparing my Oak Cabinets for the BM Bittersweet Chocolate and will Post pictures soon. Does anyone know if I can also use this paint on an old oak dinning table and chairs? Will the paint hold up? I will post pictures soon.

Okay so what if I want to paint a 12 year old country kitchen table with light oak on the top and white apron and legs.. along with its hutch,... what primer should I use, what tint and what kind of paint if I want a deep rich coffee color? Also I know that Zinzser has a primer that you dont have to sand anything with.

tomdbaker...

did you ever paint your cabs????????????

Does anyone have any pics of painted cabinets with glass tile backsplash???

Do you think the BM Bittersweet Chocolate would go with my black iron cabinet hardware?

All thank you so much for the information. I have finally completed my kitchen and am truly happy with the results. The Benjamin More Satin Impervo bittersweet chocolate paint worked flawless on the Oak Cabinets. I saved thousands by refurbishing the cabinets.
Tommy

The process to refinish the cabinets was actually quite simple but very labor intensive.

Supplies needed:

Benjamin Moore Satin Impervo Bittersweet Chocolate Oil Based paint or whatever color you like (Gallon Goes a long way)
4 Inch foam rollers
1 inch Purde oil based brush
Rotary sander with 200-220 grit disks.
200 or Extra Fine sanding sponge(s)
Box of TSP
Tack Cloth(s)

Procedure

Remove all doors and drawers from boxes
Put crown molding or whatever detail you like on cabinets.
Refresh the calk around edges with DAP painters calk around the cabs.
Set up a paint station in your garage or basement. Try not use the basement as it is humid and takes the paint longer to dry. I did mine in my garage where it was warmer and dried faster. I used blue tarp and place two 1 X 1 by 8 foot wood slats to set the doors on. The key is to create the cleanest environment as oil based paint attracts dust.

Don't worry about cleaning the doors. What I did is simply hit each one with a rotary sander to knock off the dirt, grime and glaze. Use a sanding sponge to sand the detail. After your done sanding give each door a TSP bath and place on the 1 by's and let dry. Make sure the back of the doors are facing up.

If your cabinets have been previous refinished with stain and glaze, DO NOT Primer. If they are naked like my Island you will need to use primer. I used Benjamin Moore Oil based fresh start. After primer make sure you sand as primer is a rough base and use a tack cloth to get the dust off.

After everything is sanded and cleaned you are ready to roll. This oil based paint takes forever to dry so you will need to be patient because it will take a week or longer for the doors. Make sure you wait. I know everyone thinks waiting is overkill but with this paint you can get things like finger prints and other issues with it if you don't let it cure. With all of the labor it is worth the extra wait. If waiting is driving you that crazy schedule a week vacation lol and you won't have to worry about it. Final point is to wait a week after your done painting. Hey that's R3squared. I learned something in School. lol

Very important this first coat needs to be very thin. This is for three reasons. 1. you actually are using the paint as a primer (but it gives a smoother and darker finish as the fresh start you cannot get any darker then a purple). 2. this paint is very expensive and you don't want to waste. 3 you want to keep the detail of the door including the grain pattern so you dont want to get too thick. No more than two coats.

Painting procedure for inside door detail use 1 inch brush and brush a thin coat on detail. Use foam roller on all of the flat surfaces including the edges. Ensure on the first coat that you use light saturation in the roller to get a thin coat. Same goes for the Boxes. First coat is thin.

After everything has one coat and at least two days of drying time. Take a 220 sanding sponge and lightly sand everything and use a tack cloth to get the dust off. Thin follow the above procedure putting on a slightly thicker or final coat. Use long stokes with the roller from edge to edge. On boxes use 1 inch brush to cut the perimeter.

Let everything dry for two days then flip by this time the face of the doors are facing up. This is important because sometimes the paint will stick to the 1 by's and if it does it will be on the back of the doors. If you have a old fleece blanket you and rip it into shreds and line the 1 by's.

Now on the face same procedure thin coat with 1 inch brush on the detail and foam roll all of the flat surfaces. Let dry for two days sand lightly use tack cloth then apply second coat. When the doors and boxes are done I let them dry for a week to allow the paint to cure (Sound fimilar?).

If you have drips you can sand lightly and use 1 inch brush to touch up. I had maybe one or two this paint is awesome. With this paint less is better because it self levels.

After a week reassemble everything with your favorite hardware. On the Chocolate Brushed nickel looked awesome as it really stands out.

It will take about a month for the shine to subside. At first they will look very glossy. Don't worry this will go away and in the end they will look like chocolate stained cabinets.

Finally keep your 1 inch brush saturated with paint wrapped up in plastic shopping bag and place in freezer. Some spots will dry or absorb unevenly and you will need to touch up a few spots.

Wow! Great job! As one who has painted cabinets many a time, it doesn't get any better than that, truly incredib1e!

The color Expresso Beans by Behr is the perfect color for cabinets. It has the paint and primer in one. I used it on my cabinets and it looks great!

I painted my bathroom vanity with the BM Bittersweet Chocolate following Tom's directions and it turned out great! I am going to do my kitchen cabinets next. Tom (if you still read this), I have a question on your statement about not priming previously stained cabinets. We have original cabinets from 1970's that have some sort of finish/laquer on them. Im pretty sure it is original (cabinets are in great condition). Should I start by using a laquer or varnish remover gel to remove the finish, and then sand, prime and paint? OR do I skip primer bc of the previous finish? Any recommendations would be geatly appreciated.

I am glad to hear the feedback that the procedure worked. It has been over a year and everything is holding up great. I went down to Home depot and bought thin aluminum angle iron and sanded it to make it look like brushed nickel 1 inch X inch � mitered the edges and trimmed the bottom of the cabinets. Ill post pictures � it looks awesome. I even had my house appraised and the appraiser added the value of the cabinets as brand new as all of the other models in the neighborhood have oak cabinets.

Anyways to answer your question, and I am not a wood expert I just posted my procedure because it worked for my application and saved a lot of money and steps that the "pros" would suggest What I found is that the pores in the wood will absorb paint in my naked/unfinished cabinets thus requiring primer. Originally I premiered one of my bathroom cabinets and the primer seemed to create a rough surface and fill in the wood grain. It turned out just okay. I finally took oak door in my kitchen and tested it without the primer but sand down the glaze on the door. I didn�t get crazy with it I just hit it with the rotary sander, sanded the detail with the sanding sponge, cleaned and painted. I then compared the door primed and not primed and found that the not primed looked significant better and more wood like, meaning it was hard to tell it was painted. And a year in a half later the paint has held up to usually kitchen ware and tear. So to answer your question what I would do is take a door and prime the back and not the front then paint both and compare � whichever one turns out better go with it. But in my opinion if you knock off the glaze and paint following my procedure you will find that this will be more wood like with fewer steps involved with great results.

Tom

I mixed 2 cans of pre-coloured waterbase paint ... "Tremclad" Espresso (Satin finish) and Black (flat). I LOVE LOVE LOVE the colour (it's a very very dark brown (almost black). I did about 4 (very thin) coats with a foam roller and then a coat of coat of clear satin varnish.

Old post, but I thought I'd chime in since I am working on this right now. I'll start a new thread (with pics, I hope) when I am done with my project. I've borrowed techniques from a number of other threads and DIY blogs, and I'm very happy with the combination of products and techniques I arrived at.

I'm using Behr Premium Plus Ultra French Roast on my oak builder-grade bathroom vanity. This is a 2-in-1 primer and paint, but I don't trust it as such. After removing doors, drawer fronts, and hardware, I prepped all surfaces with no-rinse TSP substitute and a medium grit sanding block. I then used grey Glidden Gripper primer. Excellent adhesion! I'm thrilled. It even provided a very "grippy" surface on the side of the cabinet which is just a wood-print paper.

French Roast is the darkest brown Behr offers, and the chip is only available in the new "Ultra" display, but supposedly you can have that color mixed into the regular Behr base. Although I didn't trust Ultra for use as a primer, I love it as a paint. It is thick like primer and I think I may only need one foam-rolled coat over the Gripper. (I attribute that fact to both the Behr paint and Gripper, which is an excellent primer when adhesion is more important than stain-blockage.) French Roast over the grey primer offers great depth of color and is looking fantastic. It's almost like a warm black rather than a dark brown. I looked at a bunch of other colors mentioned here and elsewhere before finding this. It's exactly the color I was hoping to find.

Oh to add - Gripper is latex, as is the Behr paint I mentioned. Gripper can go over and under either oil-based or latex finishes, and the Behr paint can go over either oil-based or latex primers. Gripper was recommended to me instead of an oil-based primer since my objective was good adhesion, not stain-blockage. It is specifically for "hard-to-stick" surfaces.

To add one more thing... I disagree with the above capitalized advice not to use primer except over naked surfaces. If you're going to use thinned paint as primer, why not just use primer, which is less expensive than paint, and made for the task? Primer is often very important for adhesion and durability.

Two notes about primer... first, it is true that it can fill in the grain. For many people, this is actually very desirable. It allows for a smooth factory-like finish. But, you can use a lighter touch and avoid it filling in the grain. Second, it does "roughen" the surface - this is part of the reason to use it. Basically it provides a flat and somewhat "chalk-like" surface. This results in a superior base for good adhesion of the paint layer. I do suggest, however, taking a fine grit sanding block and just making a couple passes over VERY dry primer in order to knock down any ripples or brush strokes which may have resulted from application (by roller or brush.)

I also think that if one is planning to use latex paint (unlike the poster above) primer is especially necessary to allow for proper adhesion, particularly in the bathroom environment.

Poster - everyone has a method. It�s been three years without primer and my cabs are still in perfect condition no chips or scratches. I agree with Latex requiring primer as I mentioned but if your cabinets have been sealed then painted with BM paint primer is redundant.

Minwax in the ebony coloured stain is a very dark brown, matches the brown/black that Ikea has alot of their furniture coloured. Like an Expresso, deep dark chocolate. The only colour I could find to match was Ebony by Minwax and it is a stain, so will have to paint a few times to get that deep colour. They also have touch up pens and clays. Excellent! You can get it at Walmart, cheaper.