Renovating A Kitchen Has Never Been Easier With This Cabinet Doors Painting Hack

When going the DIY route for painting your kitchen cabinets, it's likely you've come across some hacks, such as a genius clothes hanger hack to paint your cabinets with ease. By screwing some small hooks into your cabinet doors, you can hang them from coat hangers on a clothing rack. Ideally, this helps you achieve a more even coat while painting or staining. Not everyone can afford a professionally done paint job for their kitchen cabinets, which is why this method is favorable for DIYers, but you may need to overcome some challenges to pull off this hack. Most notably, homeowners find that while you can hang the cabinet doors on clothes hangers, they have a tendency to turn or move from the pressure of the paint sprayer, resulting in an uneven paint job. The solution to this is simple: cut a cheap pool noodle into even sections to separate and stabilize the hanging cabinet doors. 

By cutting a pool noodle into smaller pieces, you can create separators along your coat rack that will keep the hangers in place. Unable to slide along the rail, the hanging cabinet doors will remain stationary between the separators, allowing for less turning during painting or drying. Additionally, the spacers could aid in transporting your hanging cabinets by preventing any accidental bumping when placing them on the drying rack. By taking this extra step, you can make painting even easier and keep your freshly-painted cabinet doors free from smudges.

To pull off this DIY, start by removing your cabinet doors and hardware. Next, you may want to set up some tarps or prepare a space outside for spray painting. Ensure that you have proper ventilation and protective gear before beginning the project. Then, drill two small pilot holes in either the top or bottom edge of your cabinets. The goal is to put the holes in a discreet place where they won't be seen. Next, screw two small hooks into the holes; each cabinet door will hang from these. Once complete, hang each cabinet door on a coat hanger and place it on the coat rack. 

To prevent your hangers from sliding, you'll use the pool noodle to create spacers. Lay your pool noodle on a flat surface to cut it into even sections, roughly 5 inches each, for drying or larger sections for painting. One of the best tools to use when cutting a pool noodle is a serrated knife. Once you have your sections, make a slit along the length of each pool noodle piece. This will allow you to easily pop the pool noodle pieces onto the bar of the clothing rack. Next, space your pool noodle pieces out along the rack and hang your cabinet doors in between each one, keeping an extra piece on either end of the rack to prevent bumping.

While the pool noodle pieces are great for keeping your painted doors separate for drying, they do not allow enough space for painting each cabinet door once hung. To remedy this, it might be easier to use two coat racks, one rack for painting each door and another for hanging your doors together to dry. To keep the door from turning while it's sprays, you could use another pool noodle on your painting rack, squeezing the pieces together to keep your hanger steady while you paint.

While this DIY can be a clever hack that makes spray painting cabinets much easier, some professionals point out that hanging cabinets for spray painting can result in more drips and runs, so it's important to use caution to avoid an uneven finish or possibly requiring additional sanding to smooth out the blemishes. Additionally, weather could affect this drying method. Strong wind could still impact your drying setup, knocking the doors into one another and smudging the paint. Furthermore, rain may require you to store your drying rack beneath a tent or tarp or inside the garage while you wait for the doors to dry. This hack may take a little extra time for setup, but it's a budget-friendly solution to help you save space and achieve a more professional finish.