Posted by Edwin on November 03, 2009 at 22:44:43:
Kristine, I’m no expert, but from what I understand painting over melamine is tricker than over plain wood or even metal. It’s a really slick, smooth surface, and it could be the melamine paint is designed to stick better to these surfaces than ordinary paint. Of course, if you use an oi-based primer first, and that sticks to the melamine, you could use any “regular” paint on top, but it probably won’t be as self-leveling as the melamine paint, so that’s a trade-off to consider. Personally, I think painting cabinet doors is a bad idea. Paint the boxes, but just get new doors. But if you can remove the doors and paint just the fronts, that might be economical enough to justify. I’ve bought melamine doors from a local cabinet shop who orders them for me. I’ve found most of the places on the internet charge a lot.