Short answer
Usually it is optional. Most painted kitchens leave the interiors as they are and paint the face frames, door backs and edges instead. Painting the interiors is worth considering for glass-front cabinets, open shelving, badly stained or worn interiors, or an accent colour you want to see when the doors are open.
What “the inside” means
- The cabinet boxes: the sides, back and top
- The shelves, including their front edges
- The face frames, including the inner lip
- The door backs
- The drawer boxes
Most painted kitchens leave the boxes and shelves alone, and paint the face frames, door backs and edges that show most.
When it is worth doing
- Glass-front cabinets. The interior shows through the glass, so it becomes part of the design.
- Open shelving. Without doors, the inside is on show.
- Worn or stained interiors. Old, dark or damaged interiors can look tired when the doors are open.
- An accent colour. A contrasting colour inside can give a deliberate look.
When to leave it
- Solid-door kitchens. The interior is rarely seen, so the benefit is small.
- Time and cost. Painting interiors takes a lot of labour and can rival the exterior job in time. Professionals often charge extra for it.
- Wear and tear. Painted shelves scuff quickly when plates and cans slide across them. Factory-finished melamine or wood veneer handles that better.
If you do paint them
- Degrease the interiors. See how to clean kitchen cabinets before painting.
- Scuff the surfaces with sandpaper, then remove the dust.
- Use a bonding primer. Many modern frameless cabinet interiors are melamine, which does not take a regular primer reliably. Face-frame cabinets often have plywood or particleboard interiors with a clear finish, which also need scuffing and priming.
- Use a low-odour waterborne product in an enclosed space. Oil-based paint lingers in the odour and is not ideal around food storage.
- Work in this order: the back wall, the sides, the top, the shelves, then the face frame.
- Paint the front edges of the shelves at the very least, since they show when the doors open.
Give it time
- Do not load the shelves until the paint is hard. Wait a few days at minimum, and ideally allow the full cure of about two to four weeks.
- Paint on shelves stays soft at first, and plates and cans can stick to it. Shelf liner helps.
- Restocking the shelves the next day can cause sticking and marks.
For the full timeline, see how long painted kitchen cabinets take to cure.
Ventilation
Leave the doors open and run a fan while the paint dries. If you are using shellac or solvent primers in enclosed boxes, use a small fan and a respirator.
Alternatives
- Shelf liner protects the shelves and adds colour without painting.
- Peel-and-stick vinyl can cover interior surfaces. Test it first, since it can lift the existing finish.
- A deep clean may be enough to refresh an interior that is only grubby.
Safety
- Ventilate the space well, and use a respirator with shellac or solvent primers in enclosed boxes.
- Houses built before 1978 may contain lead-based paint. Test for lead before sanding.