Tag: Kitchen
Three Primers for Exterior Projects
August 11, 2020Priming before painting is an important step for nearly every painting project, and we’ve covered quite a few different project types here on The Perfect Finish – including priming when changing wall colors, priming before painting kitchen cabinets, and even priming in moisture prone rooms in your home. Now in the heat of summer, it’s time to talk about an area of the home we haven’t often covered – the outside!
Just as important as proper prep for your indoor painting projects, priming is a critical prep step for outdoor projects. From painting your front door, to the entire exterior of your house, or even a garden fence, KILZ has a primer made for the job. KILZ® Original Primer has been trusted by pros for over 40 years and the KILZ Original lineup includes a primer formulated for outdoor projects. KILZ® Original Interior | Exterior Primer is an all-weather sealer with excellent adhesion to even the toughest to paint surfaces like masonry or bare, porous wood. When using this primer on outdoor brick, stucco or plaster, it’s important to note that the masonry surfaces should be clean, dry and cured for at least 90 days.
KILZ 2® All-Purpose Primer is another product formulated for both interior and exterior use. This water-based sealer and stain blocker would be an excellent choice for painting your front door or garden fence. Just remember this tip from the pros, if the surface you are painting is unpainted, exterior wood that has been exposed to sun and/or moisture longer than 2-4 weeks prior to painting – be sure to clean and sand it before priming. On new masonry surfaces, KILZ 2 All-Purpose can be used once the surfaces has cured for at least 30 days.
Our third pick for exterior projects is KILZ 3® Premium Primer. This fast drying, water-based primer provides excellent adhesion and a mildew resistant coating, making it ideal for exterior surfaces prone to moisture. It can be used for both interior and exterior projects and has a thicker, high-hiding formula great for blocking stains. If you live in a humid environment, KILZ 3 Premium Primer is a great choice for your outdoor painting projects.
What exterior projects will you tackle this summer?
Always remember to refer to our website kilz.com or product back labels for additional information on which primer is right for your project and detailed instructions on how to apply our products.
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Cool & Calming Kitchen Makeover
July 1, 2020A dark and dated kitchen gets a much-needed makeover in this coastal inspired kitchen transformation. In this large and open kitchen, the endless brown cabinets and busy backsplash were an unattractive focal point. To lighten up the space it was clear that the kitchen cabinets needed a refresh.
Repainting your kitchen cabinets is one of the easiest and most cost-effective ways to transform your space, and with a little patience and proper preparation you can DIY your way to a professional looking kitchen makeover. Read on to learn how we took this boring before to a beautiful after in this cool and calming kitchen makeover. 
One thing the professionals know is that priming your cabinets prior to painting can make all the difference in how the final paint job appears – and how long it will last. When choosing the right primer for your kitchen, it’s important to look for a product that offers exceptional durability and mildew resistance. KILZ 3® Premium is a heavy-duty water-based primer that offers excellent adhesion, superior durability and provides a mildew resistant coating – ideal for moisture-prone areas like kitchens. After properly preparing the cabinets, including sanding and priming with KILZ 3 Premium, it was time to paint! To breath some lightness into these dark and heavy cabinets, we chose KILZ® Tribute in Brushed Metal – a cool silver with hints of blue and violet. The new airy and soothing paint color was complemented with brushed gold hardware, new white countertops and an all-white backsplash. For step-by-step kitchen cabinet priming and painting instructions, check out our post on a Colorful Kitchen Cabinet Transformation. 
The large size of this kitchen offered the chance to have a bit more fun with the layout and design elements. We started by grounding the wide-open space with a new island, painted in the same color as the cabinets, and adding new light wood floors. Natural textures and tones in the light fixture, rug and window shade brought a subtle coastal vibe to the space that fit perfectly with the new light bluish-gray cabinets.
Always remember to refer to our website kilz.com or product back labels for additional information on which primer is right for your project and detailed instructions on how to apply our products.
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Tips for Painting Walls and Cabinets
June 1, 2020
Painting your walls or cabinets is an easy and low-cost way to update any room in your house, and most painting projects can be completed in just one weekend. Equally as important as choosing the right paint color is ensuring you prime first with the right primer. Without priming before painting, you risk poor paint adhesion and previous colors or stains seeping through and ruining your new paint color.
Using the right primer ensures that your topcoat color will appear on the walls as you expected it to. If you’re painting over a darker colored wall with a new lighter shade, KILZ 3® Premium Primer works to block previous dark paint colors from seeping through and changing the look of your new paint. When painting over a light color with a new darker hue, it’s still equally important to prime first. KILZ 2® All-Purpose primer is a great choice for light to dark color changes. And if your walls have tough or exceptionally dark stains or damage from smoke or water, KILZ® Original Primer and KILZ Restoration are both formulated to block severe stains.
Priming before painting ensures your paint color pops!
What if you’re painting cabinets, do you need to prime? If you want excellent paint adhesion and for your colors to appear in their truest hue – the answer is yes! Primer also makes your paint job durable, and that is especially important in high-traffic areas like kitchens. You often find cabinets in kitchens, bathrooms and laundry rooms, and these areas of the home are subject to fluctuating temperatures and humidity levels that can make paint peel. For these spaces, a primer like KILZ Mold & Mildew dries with a mildew resistant primer finish that helps protect and extend the life of your paint.
When painting cabinets, priming first ensures excellent adhesion and truer color from your topcoat.
While priming before painting can seem like an extra step, it’s a vital part of the painting process!
Always remember to refer to our website kilz.com or product back labels for additional information on which primer is right for your project and detailed instructions on how to apply our products.
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How Primer Affects Paint Color
April 15, 2020Springtime and DIY projects go hand in hand, and this spring season it feels like that sentiment rings truer than ever before. With all of us staying home to practice safe social distancing we have a lot more time on our hands, making it the perfect time to tackling a DIY painting project. But before you paint, don’t forget to prime!
While the paint’s job is all about color, the primer’s job is to prepare the surface for painting and make that color the best it can be. Even with a simple color change where you’re covering an existing lighter color with another color, it wouldn’t be advisable to paint without priming. If you paint without priming first, the end result could be a color that is a slightly different shade that the color you selected. For a simple color change from walls to furniture re-painting projects, KILZ 2® All-Purpose Primer is right for the job.
There are also certain surface types that are extremely porous, including brick and wood. If you paint on these surfaces without priming, there is a good chance the paint will seep into the surface – and that means your color won’t be as vibrant or true as you were expecting. When you’re looking to seal porous surfaces, KILZ® 1 Standard Primer and KILZ 2 All-Purpose are both great primer choices.
And it goes without saying that when painting over a darker color with a new, fresh-as-spring lighter shade, you definitely want to prime first. Otherwise shades like deep red will show through and change the tone of the new paint color you selected. If you’re going from a darker to a lighter color in your DIY painting project, KILZ® 3 Premium Primer has a thick, high-hide formula that is up to the task.
Prime first for dark to light color changes!
In all of these cases, priming before painting lessens the number of topcoats required – saving you time and ensuring your finished DIY project is the color you desired!
Always remember to refer to our website kilz.com or product back labels for additional information on which primer is right for your project and detailed instructions on how to apply our products.
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These Three Rooms Call for a Primer that provides a Mildew-Resistant Primer Finish
February 12, 2020We believe that every project is worth using KILZ® brand primer. Priming before painting is what the professional painters generally like to do, and we would not recommend any other way.
If you talk to a professional painter about priming, they will tell you that certain rooms in the home call for primers with specific properties. From stain blocking to hiding a previous paint color, the KILZ brand has a primer to solve the most common and the toughest painting problems. In this post, we’re going to look at three rooms that all share one specific use case – the need for primer in a moister prone environment.
Mildew can be a common problem in areas of the home where there may be excess moisture. In these rooms, consider using a primer that will provide a mildew resistant primer finish. The first room in which we would most often recommend using a primer with a mildew resistant finish is the bathroom. From small powder rooms to grand master bathrooms, this area of the home is subject to high levels of moisture and humidity nearly every day.
KILZ® Kitchen & Bath Primer is another great choice, as this product not only offers a mildew-resistant primer finish but also provides excellent adhesion and stain blocking properties. We recently used KILZ Kitchen & Bath in a pretty in pink bathroom renovation, you can check that out here.
That leads us into the next room in the home on our list, the kitchen! We recommend priming both your walls and kitchen cabinets with a mildew-resistant primer like KILZ Kitchen & Bath or KILZ 3® Premium. If you’re interested to see a step by step kitchen renovation using KILZ 3 Premium, check out this recent post on a Colorful Kitchen Cabinet Transformation.
Last but not least, there is one more room found in most homes that calls for the use of primer with a mildew resistant finish. The laundry room! This small space is often overlooked when it comes time to think about repainting, but it is one room in particular where you definitely want to use the right primer.
Similar to kitchens, we recommend priming the walls and any cabinets in the laundry room with KILZ 3 Premium or KILZ Kitchen & Bath. If you’re looking to refresh your laundry room, keep an eye out for a light and airy laundry room makeover coming up on the blog in March!
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Craving a Kitchen Makeover? Start with the Cabinets!
January 9, 2020Does the new year starting have you dreaming of a new kitchen? A complete kitchen overhaul can seem like a daunting task, especially if heavy demolition work is involved. But in many cases, you don’t need to break out the sledge hammer and start from scratch to achieve a fresh new look in your kitchen. Simply repainting your cabinets can have a big impact on the overall look and feel of your kitchen.
For a kitchen cabinet makeover that is both beautiful and durable, start with KILZ 3™ Premium Primer. This superior sealer-stain blocker provides excellent adhesion and a kitchen-essential mildew resistant primer coating. In this kitchen makeover, a celery-green paint color for the cabinets created a space that is cheerful, airy and inviting. The makeover went step further and also added new counter tops, a kitchen island (an addition that luckily didn’t involve tearing down any existing cabinetry!) and new modern gold light fixtures and hardware.
Is a kitchen renovation on your upcoming DIY project menu? The first step to a brand-new kitchen might be as easy as a new hue for your cabinets!
Read on for a step by step recipe for painting your kitchen cabinets:
Step 1: Remove the Hardware
Use a screwdriver to remove all door handles and hardware. It’s always best to put each screw back exactly where it came from to ensure the least amount of stress on the wood. Next, remove the cabinet doors and drawers from the cabinet frame.
Step 2: Prepare the Cabinet Frame and Doors for Priming
Sand the doors, drawer faces and cabinet frame. Do a first pass with 100-150 grit sandpaper then finish with a second pass of 180-220 grit sandpaper, always moving in the direction of the wood grain. After sanding, wipe down the surface with a damp cloth to remove any dust or residue and allow the surface to dry. Next, tape around the cabinet frame to protect the walls and any areas you don’t want to get primer or paint on.
Step 3: Prime the Cabinet Frame and Doors
Apply KILZ 3™ Premium Primer on the doors, drawer faces and cabinet frame using a brush to ensure a mildew resistant finish. Stir thoroughly before and occasionally during use. Allow 1-hour of dry time.
Step 4: Paint the Cabinet Frame and Doors
Apply KILZ® Tribute® paint in Subtle Celery TB-74 with a brush to the cabinet frame and doors, moving in smooth strokes in the same direction as the wood grain. Remove your tape around the cabinet frame before the paint is fully dry. Once dry, reattach hardware to doors and then reattach doors to cabinets. Now it’s time to decide what delicious dish to whip up first in your refreshed kitchen!
Always remember to refer to our website (kilz.com) or product back labels for additional information on how to apply our products.
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Our Favorite 2020 Design Trends
January 7, 2020While the KILZ® brand is known first and foremost for our hardworking primers, color and design are also important to our team! Primer might technically be colorless, but it is a crucial step in adding color to your walls, cabinets and furniture pieces. Primer should often be the first step in achieving a new look for your space, so in a sense you can consider primer a part of the design process just as much as paint.
As we enter a new year, we’re excited to share a few color and design trends to help you along the way to completing your painting and renovation projects. Color and design trends are everywhere, and there is no one size fits all in terms of the hottest hue or best design style – but we’ve rounded up a few of our 2020 favorites to help inspire your project planning process in this new year.
Kitchens Are King:
In 2020, you’re going to see kitchen renovations and remodels popping like corn at the movies! (Translation: they’re everywhere and on everyone’s minds). In 2020, we’ll be exploring more kitchen color trends and design hacks on the blog to help you renovate your kitchen on budgets both big and small. 
Not Over Navy:
Blues and grays have been popular paint colors in recent years and we’re nowhere near done with them. From kitchens to bedrooms and cabinets to walls, navy can often act as a “dark neutral” to give a pop of color to a space while also keeping it classic. And we’re not alone in our love for navy, Pantone named Classic Blue the Color of 2020. Look out for some of our favorite shades of Navy in upcoming How-To posts later this year (spoiler alert – we’re painting everything from living room walls to dining room chairs in this easy to love shade!). 
Fireplaces that Pop:
Who doesn’t love the crackling of a warm fire on a cold winter’s day? And for a fireplace design that pops both inside and out, we’re loving bright white bricks against colored walls and monochrome fireplaces in unexpected shades. 
Full Circle Design:
Patterns and shapes are easy ways to add fun and unexpected touches to any room, and for 2020 we’re loving circles! From painting round pops of color on an accent wall to circular inspired décor items like mirrors, fabric and lighting, curved shapes and lines bring a nice softness to any design style. 
Color Blocking Children’s Spaces:
A little one’s room is the perfect place to play with pops of colors and interesting patterns or color placement. In 2019 we showcased a nursery makeover with a sweet striped wall, and we’re excited to explore more color blocking in 2020 for kid’s rooms.
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Styled by Color – One Kitchen, Three Ways
September 18, 2019One of the most searched for and sought-after room makeovers is the kitchen – and we’re not surprised! The heart of the home and a typical gathering, hosting and everyday living area, the kitchen is a space people typically spend a lot of time. If your kitchen is crying for a makeover, one simple and fairly low cost change you can make in a weekend is painting the cabinets. A fresh coat of primer and paint can completely transform your kitchen, whether you want an airy and light feel or an intimate and stylish look.
The first place to start when refreshing your kitchen cabinets is with proper prep work. Primer is key in a kitchen painting project, and the professionals often use a mildew resistant primer like KILZ® Kitchen & Bath or KILZ® 3 Premium. Once you’ve prepped and primed, it’s time for color! Kitchen cabinets are a great canvas for a wide range of colors, from light to dark neutrals to pops of color like blues and greens. With so many options it was a challenge to narrow down our top picks, but we landed on three different color combinations that are a winning recipe for a beautiful kitchen cabinet makeover.
Our first pick is a timeless neutral, Contemporary White. A white with a hint of gray undertone, Contemporary White can appear as the color of fresh winter snow depending on the light and time of day. It is classic kitchen cabinet color, and makes the space feel bright and open.
On the other end of the color spectrum, we picked an almost-black color that adds sophistication and subtle drama to a kitchen. Behr’s Nocturne Blue is a deep gray with a dark blue undertone and is consistently one of our favorite color picks. In some lighting it will appear as black, but with a softer feel.
If you can’t choose between classic white or another color, why not use both! We chose two colors for our last pick to showcase stylish two-toned kitchen cabinets. For the uppers, Alaskan Mist, a bright white with soft green undertones, brought a perfect airiness to the space. We grounded the kitchen with December Nights, a stormy blue-gray, on the lower cabinets.
Contemporary White
Behr’s Nocturne Blue
Alaskan Mist
December Nights
Whether you prefer kitchen cabinets in crisp white, moody black or something in between, this home renovation project is one that makes a big impact in a short amount of time.
A fresh coat of primer and paint can completely transform your kitchen, whether you want an airy and light feel or an intimate and stylish look.
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Colorful Kitchen Cabinet Transformation
August 1, 2019Have you been cooking up ideas for your dream kitchen but don’t know exactly where to start? While the cabinets might seem like a daunting place to begin, a fresh coat of paint and primer on this area of your kitchen can result in a dramatic transformation. The kitchen cabinets are also an area of the home where you can have fun with color – from bold blues to moody blacks, colorful cabinets can be as on-trend as they are timeless.
This month we’re bringing you a dash of inspiration and a pinch of proper prep work, served up in a stunning kitchen cabinet transformation. To take this sunny space from boring to brilliant, we chose Oceans Deep for the kitchen cabinets. The dark bluish green with gray tones is subdued enough to cover a large area but still results in a space with a ton of personality. Oceans Deep is available in the KILZ® Tribute® paint line, a low VOC paint that offers excellent stain-blocking performance and durability – both necessary qualities for an area where sticky fingers and spills are inevitable!
Equally important as color choice in this kitchen cabinet makeover was the primer selection. Since kitchens are prone to excess moisture and humidity, that also means that mildew can quickly become an issue. To ensure our cabinets would stay fresh for years to come we chose KILZ 3™ Premium primer, a fast drying, low odor and very low VOC primer that provides a mildew resistant coating.
Any professional painter will tell you that proper prep is key to the success of your project, and cabinets are no exception. If you’re ready to get started on your own kitchen transformation, below are instructions detailing how-to prime and paint your kitchen cabinets.
Step 1:
Use a screwdriver to remove the cabinet doors and drawers from the cabinet frame.
Step 2:
Remove all door handles and hardware. It’s always best to put each screw back exactly where it came from to ensure the least amount of stress on the wood.
Pro-tip: Put the screws back into the hardware, then seal the hardware and screws in painter’s tape and label it.
Sand the surfaces of the doors, drawer faces and cabinet frame. Do a first pass with 100-150 grit sandpaper then finish with a second pass of 180-220 grit sandpaper, always moving the sandpaper in the direction of the wood grain. After sanding, wipe down the surface with a damp cloth to remove any dust or residue and allow the surface to dry before moving on to primer.
Step 4:
Apply KILZ 3™ Premium using a brush or roller to ensure a mildew resistant finish. Stir thoroughly before and occasionally during use. Allow 1-hour dry time.
Step 5:
Apply KILZ® Tribute® in Oceans Deep (a satin or semi-gloss finish is recommended) with a brush or roller, moving in smooth strokes in the same direction as the wood grain.
Step 6:
Once paint is dry, reattach hardware to doors and then reattach doors to cabinets.
Oceans Deep
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