I was recently looking into paint options for a bathroom vanity cabinet and unearth a wealth of information I didn’t know previously. My research revealed the types of paints available for vanity cabinets and what kind of effect they have on the surface and beneath it and also on the overall vanity. Let me share them with you so you can get the best paint for your vanity.
What is the best paint for bathroom vanity cabinets? The best type of paint to use on bathroom vanity cabinets is semi-gloss paint. Semi-gloss paint comes in both oil-based and water-based acrylic options. While water-based acrylic option is fast drying, oil-based paint tends to be long-lasting.
Before you rush to buy semi-gloss paint tin for your nearest store, it’s better to know a little about vanity paint types, brands, color selection and steps to paint a vanity so you can paint your vanity in the best possible way. I have covered them all below. Let’s dive in…
2 Types of Paint for Bathroom Vanity Cabinets
Getting your bathroom shining brand as new all the time would be a part of your goal in maintaining a home in the best manner. This would make you think of many factors which affect making it a reality.
Bathroom vanity cabinets do have a lot of options to be painted with and it would all start from the best choice of getting semi-gloss paint as opposed to high-gloss paint. A bathroom tends to have more humidity, moisture, and staining and hence the type of paint does matter a lot under such circumstances.
Acrylic paint
Acrylic paints are mainly water-based and hence the reason why they are being used in places such as bathrooms. These are easy to be painted and tend to be less harmful in toxicity levels in comparison with oil-based paints.
These type of paints dry up pretty fast and is extremely convenient from that point of view. However, it does have less durability and needs to be re-touched more frequently than its competitors in the market.
A fast-drying acrylic paint would be the best choice for bathroom cabinets and it will give you the sheen which you have always wanted with the finish being excellent in many ways.
Oil- based paint
As the name goes this type of paints are based on oil and are being used in quite a few bathroom vanity cabinets of this day. It has its own set of advantages to being used over water-based paints, in the long run.
Oil-based paints tend to last longer than acrylic options and hence need very minimal re-touching. You can go with the same paint for years and not lose the look of your vanity cabinets in any way. This is one of the greatest results of using oil-based paints on bathroom vanity cabinets.
However, oil-based paints tend to take a long time to dry and is not as easy going to use as acrylic paints. It also tends to contain more damaging chemicals than its water-based counterparts.
The choice of which paint to use greatly depends on you. If you are alright with replacing the paint of your bathroom vanity cabinets every year or two, then you can select the water-based acrylic paints, whereas you want it to last more than that and you have to use the oil-based option.
3 Best Paint Brands for Bathroom Vanity Cabinets
Many paint brands are available in the market and it would be quite a task to select just one out of the lot. Here I want to give you an insight into some of the best brands for vanities along with their unique features. It is up to you to decide which one suits your vanity cabinets, the most.
I think durability is of utmost importance when selecting a particular brand of paint. Other things I would consider in the paint I choose for my vanity would be things like quality, available colors and the price of course. The overall effect each paint brand gives varies from one to another.
Farrow & Ball Gloss Paint
This paint brand is available in many innovative colors and has very high durability. It can be found in premium paint stores as well as online. It has over a hundred different colors available in gloss. According to experts, it gives your cabinets the desired effect.
However, it comes at a higher price than many other paint brands available in the market. But, I think the additional cost is totally worth the overall outcome it can give your bathroom vanity cabinets. You can find more details about their paints on their website www.farrow-ball.com
Fine Paints of Europe Eurolox Acrylic Paint
This is a Vermont-based family paint maker. They are experts in providing professional, specialized paints for all kinds of doors and cabinets. They are well-known for being one of the best brands of paint when it comes to preventing white colors yellowing over time. This quality in their paint has made it a very high standard paint and one of the more expensive ones.
Benjamin Moore Advance Interior Satin Paint
This special kind of paint behaves like oil-based paint while in reality, it is a water-based paint. So it gives the rare advantages of using both kinds of paints, which is a rare thing in paints. Benjamin Moore paints are available in semi-gloss and full gloss options and provide a palette of over 3500 colors.
I find painting each area of a house and each piece of furniture within it is different from one to another. So, it’s important to select the best fit for the job, to get it done to perfection. That’s why the brand of paint matters a lot when it comes to painting a vanity cabinet. You can’t get the desired effect these top brands can give you from a cheaper paint brand.
Popular Bathroom Vanity Colors
With the available paint color options in the market, selecting the best color for your vanity cabinet can be quite a daunting task. But you can make it a pretty easy by narrowing down the options you have got by following popular bathroom vanity color trends and ideas.
Professional hues always go best with vanity cabinets. So I think it is best to stick with these instead of going for unorthodox color from the huge range of colors available in the market.
White Color
White is a color which goes with pretty much any other color in contrast and is universally accepted to be so. So it’s a wise choice to paint your vanity in white. Whether the bathroom wall is painted in, be it beige, pink, blue or green, white color bathroom vanity cabinets will look trendy in any of these settings. And you need not have any fear of jumping over the borders and breaking trends.
White color it is also very widely available. You need not worry about shades if you opt for the pure white version of it. White color also expands the features of the subject. So it is ideal if you have a small cabinet. It will make it look bigger than it is.
Ebony or Black Color
Black is the total opposite of white when it comes to contrasting hues. Still, it is pretty much on the same level as white, when it comes to universally accepted colors. You can also match black easily with any other color. So if you choose black for your vanity you have an edge when selecting the perfect match in many settings and decor.
The greatest advantage you get from using a shade of black for your vanity cabinet is its ability to hide things in place sight. You’d hardly need to re-touched your vanity now and then as black tends to show dirt and mess very less indeed. So I think black color is a great option for those who are busy or who do not want to frequently re-touch and spend on their vanity.
Black color also tends to give the illusion of a small space, wherever it is applied to. So, if your bathroom vanity cabinet is overall large in comparison with the rest of your bathroom area, it is best to use the color black to paint it so that this elusive effect is given out through it.
Grey Color
Sitting in the middle of black and white, grey is the next most frequently used and universally accepted color. It can be used to paint bathroom vanity cabinets of any size and can create a professional look, no matter how it is applied.
Grey also tends to have the advantages of both, white and black colors. It can give a very bright look to the entire area while not being inconvenient in cleaning up any mess which might not be as visible on it as it is on white.
How To Paint A Bathroom Vanity Cabinet
Painting bathroom vanity cabinets could easily be done by almost anyone. But some think it is best to get some skilled assistance so we can get the perfect outcome.
However, I found there are a few simple steps we need to keep in mind if we decide to go the DIY (Do-It-Yourself) route to re-touch of our vanity cabinets. Many have got good results following these simple steps and a much better-looking vanity than when they started.
Choose the right paint
It is important to select the best type of paint in order to get the perfect finish for your cabinets. With the advice I shared above I think we can do it pretty well now.
Remove the parts
It is always recommended to remove all of the parts of the cabinet and paint them on an individual basis. Make sure these parts have all dried up well before fixing them back in the correct positions.
Clean and sand
Make sure each part of the cabinet is free of dust. Thereafter ensure to give it a good scrub from sandpaper or any other alternative available to prime the surface prior to painting.
Test the paint
Before painting directly on the front of the cabinet doors, make sure you test the paint and its effect by painting an inner corner of it, which might not be visible at first glance. This makes it easier to rectify any mistakes which you might have made when selecting the paint or color.
Paint the cabinet and reattach parts
If all is well, the cabinet could be painted as intended and left to dry prior to fitting the parts back.
Related Questions
Where to buy paint for bathroom vanity cabinets?
These paints could be bought from any local store which sells hardware or specifically sells paints. Sometimes these type of paints could be bought from physical or online stores which sell any items related to constructing a bathroom.
What happens if bathroom vanity cabinets are not re-touched?
If bathroom vanity cabinets are not re-touched on a timely basis, the interior and exterior parts tend to peel off and give an unsightly look. This process tends to be worse as bathroom furniture interacts directly with water.