BATHROOM MAKEOVER DIY - PAINTING MELAMINE CABINETS
So I was at my mom’s house the other day and she asked if I could help her with her powder room. Essentially the powder room in her basement is so out of date it’s practically screaming for help. It has had the same melamine counter top and vanity since the house was built over 30 years ago. To make it worse, it also has a super gross drop-in sink and old acrylic faucet knobs that need to go!
In order to update this bathroom I decided to upgrade the counter top and faucet with something nice but keep the melamine vanity as is and just give it a fresh coat of paint.
For the counter top I went with white quarts with an under-mount sink already installed from a local fabricator. The counter top and sink cost me under $400. The faucet I got at Canadian Tire was simple and in chrome. It was on sale and was under $100 so I was really happy about that. I also got my paint brush, a small foam roller, a painter tray, and some painters tape while at Canadian Tire, which was another $30-ish.
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Can You Paint Melamine?
When it comes to the melamine vanity, I had plans to paint it. Painting melamine cabinets is actually super easy it just takes awhile because you have to let the paint dry in between coats. Before you paint any melamine surfaces it is important to roughen up the surface before applying a primer though so that the colour paint adheres properly to the melamine.
Bathroom Vanity Makeover - Before Photos
When you are starting a project like this the first thing to do is prep your space. I like to put some cardboard down to protect the floor and remove any hardware. In this case both the hinges and doors needed to be removed. I tried to remove the fake drawers as well but the sink was in the way and I was unable to get in there to remove the screws, so I just left them attached.
MELAMINE CABINET MAKEOVER
Next I sanded the melamine vanity down using 120 grit sandpaper and my sanding mouse.
NOTE: You want to roughen up the surface so that the primer paint adheres well to it but you don’t want to over sand it to the point you start to dull corners or ruin the surface.
In places that I couldn’t get into with my sanding mouse I went in by hand with some sanding paper.
After you are done sanding take a damp cloth and wipe the whole vanity down.
While the vanity dries, repeat those three steps with the doors making sure to sand down and wipe the sides of the vanity doors.
PAINTING CABINETS
Once everything is dry you can start painting the melamine cabinets with your first coat of primer. I like to paint one side and 3 of the 4 edges of each door first then let it dry for 12 hours before returning and doing the opposite side and final edge.
I used a small foam roller on the doors and a mix of roller and brush on the vanity.
I purchased 1 quart of Benjamin Moore Stix® Waterborne Bonding Primer for this project and it was more than enough.
After both sides have been primed and given time to dry, I then did two coats of Benjamin Moore ADVANCE Interior Paint- Semi Gloss in ‘October Mist’ which is this beautiful sage green colour that is so popular right now and one of my favourites.
I used the Benjamin Moore colour ‘October Mist’ for this bathroom vanity makover
As for the doors I used the same technique of painting one side and 3 of the 4 edges before leaving that to dry for 12 hours and returning to do the other side and last edge.
Once you get two colour coats on both the vanity and doors, and everything has fully dried, you can go ahead and reinstall your doors.
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After I finished painting the vanity, the new quarts countertop with an undermount sink went in along with my new faucet from Canadian Tire and voila, my bathroom makeover is complete!
My Small Bathroom Makeover DIY After Painting Melamine Cabinets
Thank you for joining me today as I shared this bathroom vanity makeover with you. I hope enjoyed this bathroom makeover DIY and found painting melamine cabinets to be easy too. If you have any questions about this bathroom makeover on a budget or have any questions regarding home DIY projects or painting a vanity, feel free to leave them in the comment section below!
Until next time!
-S
