When we bought our home, we knew that a kitchen renovation would be in our future. I originally had dreams of painting the cabinets, since I knew we wouldn’t be replacing them for a few years. However, they’re metal cabinets with a plastic-y wood veneer on top, so I knew they wouldn’t hold paint well. Instead, we decided to focus on more permanent changes for our “phase one” update.

Since buying our home, we’ve replaced the floors, primed all the walls, opened up the doorway between the kitchen and dining room, built a brand-new pantry (sans doors for now), replaced the light fixture, added new appliances, and – most recently – painted the door. New cabinets and counters are in our future, but we’ve totally transformed the room without even touching them yet!

I couldn’t believe the difference painting the door made. It seemed like overnight, it went from a bad temporary kitchen we just had to live with for a few years to one that feels good! (Dare I say, the kitchen cabinets kind of work now?!) Changing the paint color totally changed the feeling of the room; before you would look from the dining room table to a sad and dirty oak and yellow door that was always a little cringey. Now, the door has presence and feels like a focal point of the room.

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Before and After: Painted Kitchen Door Reveal

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Paint Color, Sources, and DIY

In case you’re wondering, we used Behr Marquee paint in Jungle Camouflage. It went on so smoothly and had minimal dripping. I was especially impressed with how well it went on over the wood trim; it was the easiest trim job I’ve done so far! While we typically use semigloss paint on doors and trim, we used eggshell here because it was leftover from our pantry, and it was definitely easier to apply. (Keep in mind, that semigloss tends to be a little more durable and easy to clean, so there’s a tradeoff.)

I love the color SO much – it’s a great warm green. Depending on the lighting, it can pull blue or green or grey or tan. I love that it adds some color and keeps the kitchen feeling warm. Since we’ll eventually have white cabinets and walls, I knew I didn’t want a white door as well. Painting the trim the same color as the door made it look much larger and more substantial.

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I also got to try out my new short-handled paint brush, and it was PERFECT for a project like this! The shape of the brush gives you a ton of control. As always, FrogTape is our favorite painter’s tape (I did not use it for the window sashes and definitely regretted it when I had to scrape a bunch of paint off the glass areas.)

I posted a tutorial over on Instagram, but there are also a ton of (actually helpful) blog posts on painting doors out there! Here’s one of my favorites from Young House Love.

While we still have a long list of kitchen projects to complete, I’m so happy with the way the kitchen looks and feels! This was such a quick and easy project! It took about 24 hours and minimal supplies, and it’s a very beginner-friendly DIY. If you’re looking for an easy DIY that can make a big impact, give a painted door a try!