This is the fastest moving thread on here. I'm still hoping someone will chime in.

benjamin moore has one on their site. check it out

Are the cabinets oak? If so, you can still see the oak grain after painting. There was a recent thread with picture. I'll see if I can find it for you. There are some recent threads on diy glazing too.

We have been working with our local SW on painting our oak cabinets. We will have to test the back of a door to see if we need to fill and then prime before painting. I want the cabinets to look like wood, but not too much oak grain showing. Either way, you need to clean with TSP first to make sure paint adheres. Sanding first and then between coats is also required. There is also the issue of oil vs. latex. Oil is harder to clean up, but a friend used latex enamel and now wishes he had used oil because of chipping, sticking and general staining from touching, etc.

Here's the thread with pic of painted oak.

Here is a link that might be useful: Painted oak

Mine are a very dark oak 20 something years old, the finish has worn off in places and where the sun hit them gets very dried out, the stain does look very good but the cabinets themself are in good shape.

I can't do the work and DH doesn't have enough time so I'll be hiring someone to do the job. I'm sure the cost isn't cheap but better than the cost of new ones.

We are painting our old oak cabinets right now. My goal was to not have the grain show through, like nodirtthere's kitchen from this forum. Here's what we have been doing:

-We removed an old cabinet when we remodeled our bathroom that was the same finish as our kitchen cabinets and used it as a test panel. Doing this has made us feel much more confident about the process that we are using and allowed me to play around with different finishes, glazes, etc.

-We are using a product called MH Ready Patch to fill the grain. Use multiple thin coats, sanding in between each and you can achieve an amazingly smooth finish. No grain will show through.

-Spray whenever possible! The difference between brushing on and spraying on the primer and paint is unbelievable, from the time/effort involved to the finish you can get. Check the primer that you are using-ours said it could only be used in an airless sprayer, so we had to borrow one. (The one my husband has works off of his air compressor.)

-We sprayed two coats of primer, sanding in between each one, then have sprayed three coats of latex paint and will be topping it off with a satin acrylic poly for durability.

-We are also taking the opportunity to add nice crown molding and light rail to the cabinets, giving them a more custom look, since everything will be painted anyway.

That's where we are in the process...we are thrilled with the results so far-they are light years beyond a finish that we thought could be achieved on our own. Good luck!

I just painted mine and it is an absolute transformation. Sure, if money were no object, I would have gotten new or refaced, but for cheap money, it is amazingly effective!

Mine were 23-year old oak.

Spraying will certainly produce smoothest result, but that was not an option here. I am very satisfied with the results. I TSP'd, sanded, caulked gaps, used 2 coats of high quality primer then 2 coats of Aura paint (Frappe). Aura has some self-leveling qualities to it and is supposed to be very durable (pro's of oil without mess of oil). THere is some grain visible but only close up. It doesn't bother me at all and I'm usually picky.

One cabinet was replaced so I ended up having two extra doors to play around with to try out glazing and sanding off the edges. I decided against it for now as I didn't want to mess it up, because I was very pleased with the painted result.

b4/after Pictures coming after the new floor installed end of the month.

mikeandbarb. I would also cross post this question on the decorating forum. Lots of talented people that have painted their cabs there. Some also used some kind of gel stain. Good luck.

Wendyb and feeding3 - thanks for the tips. We will look at Aura paint and some of the other possibilities listed here while planning.

also, from what I learned, oil primer is recommended mostly for avoiding bleed through if knots, etc. I didn't need it, thankfully.

There's a thread around discussing "Brushing Putty" which is also supposed to be great for grain filling and getting a smooth finish. Looked like too much work to me. This Old House has an article about painting cabs and they recommended it.