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Best DIY Paint Sprayer for Your Kitchen Remodel

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Instead of tirelessly painting your kitchen cabinets by hand, elevate your results and get the job done faster by using an airless paint sprayer! Below I’ll share the best DIY paint sprayer for cabinets and how easy it is to apply paint.

Our kitchen cabinets before we started the kitchen remodel, were dark cherry looking stain. We opted to keep them in an effort to save money. Painting cabinets vs purchasing new, is very expensive. I’ll share a before and after pictures of the kitchen towards the end of this post.

best kitchen cabinet paint brand for Graco airless paint sprayer
The Graco magnum was the best paint sprayer for our kitchen remodel

Our cabinets were in great shape for being 20 years old, just some minor dings and scratches.

Our goal was to get the cabinets as close to a factory finish as possible and that’s where the Graco Magnum Prox17 airless paint sprayer works perfectly.

Best Paint Sprayer

There is no denying that the best paint sprayers have a few things in common.

Whether you are repainting kitchen cabinets or this is your first time, spraying paint vs brushing will achieve a more factory smooth finish.

Sherwin-Williams-Mindful-Gray-Painted-Kitchen-Cabinets
I love the Mindful Gray paint color on these painted kitchen cabinets!

FAQs about Paint Sprayer

HVLP stands for high volume low pressure and works with a compressor. The airless paint sprayer works with a piston to pressurize the sprayer, allowing you to paint quicker and provides faster dry times vs the HVLP. We find that the Graco Magnum is a versatile airless paint sprayer as you can adjust the tip size if you need a more finer spray pattern for cabinets but also works for large surface areas like walls and siding.

Depending on what the project is, will determine which is better. If you are working in a room with no furniture I highly recommend spraying the walls and ceiling as it will take a lot less time. A paint sprayer will get into all the nooks and crannies of what you are spraying and you will not have brush marks. BUT, spraying involves a technique that comes with practice and that is not having paint overlap. Or worse, too much paint sprayed in one area will cause the paint to run.

Have you ever hand painted cabinets before?

Although we can now buy high-density paint rollers instead of the old school paint brushes that leave brushstrokes, painting cabinets is still so tedious.

You have to roll just right and make sure you don’t add too much; otherwise, you’ll get drops and imperfections.

Plus, it’s just exhausting! The Best diy paint sprayer for cabinets will have features to make the project go smooth and quick.

Once the prep work is complete, you are ready to apply paint.

NOTE: If you missed our post, how to paint kitchen cabinets like a professional, be sure to read it before you start painting! We share everything from what type of primer, paint and sheen as well as a step by step guide on how to paint kitchen cabinets.

We find that airless paint sprayers make it so much easier to spray paint to any surface. They take way less time, use so much less paint, and give you a super smooth finish every single time.

spraying cabinets with graco magnum airless spray machine
by far the best paint sprayer for cabinets

What is an Airless Sprayer?

Basically, an airless sprayer has a canister that holds paint and a spray nozzle that sends out liquid paint at a high pressure to atomize it like one of those old-fashioned perfume bottles.

Some use an air compressor but others, like the Graco paint sprayer, are called airless paint sprayers. They can cover your cabinet doors using either high or low pressure, depending on the paint in the can.

The sprayer adds a thin, perfect layer of your paint over your surface in just seconds for a professional-looking finish.

No brush marks, no hours of painting and repainting – just a beautiful, smooth surface right away.

Best DIY Paint Sprayer: Graco Magnum X

  • Intuitive & user-friendly
  • Quick & effective
  • Easy cleanup
  • Versatile & powerful
how to paint kitchen cabinets with a sprayer
best paint sprayer that is versatile and perfect for various applications

Best DIY Paint Sprayer for Cabinets

In my post about how to paint kitchen cabinets professionally, I broke down every step of the process with photos and detailed instructions.

There’s one particular model that stands above the others and is worth every penny: the Graco Magnum X. The spray gun on this unit keeps the flow rate consistent.

Airless spraying can save painters between 50% and 75% of their painting time. Airless spray is at least 4 times faster than brush applications and at least 2 times faster than roller applications.

spraying kitchen cabinets with a paint sprayer
the best paint sprayer for cabinets will have a variety of key features specific for painting cabinets

The painters ended up hooking up a heater to propane tank as the paint needed a certain temperature to cure properly. If it’s too cold, it won’t dry correctly.

Although it can be hard to spend over $500 on a paint sprayer, this one will truly give you the best results in way less time.

It has so many features that make it the best paint sprayer on the market for home DIYers.

  • Easy to fill: Instead of pouring paint into a canister, you can add the suction hose directly to the paint bucket, and the paint sprayer will take exactly what it needs.
  • Versatile: You can use any type of non-flammable paint, stain, or lacquer with this sprayer, including oil-based paint and latex paint. It does prefer thinner paints, which is perfect for interior painting. A nice bonus is you can also use on the exterior as well
  • Easy cleanup: The paint hose attaches directly to a garden hose, making it so easy to clean.
  • Adjustable pressure: You can spray with up to 30,000 PSI and adjust the tip for the perfect finish depending on the type of paint and surface you’re covering.
  • Perfect spray nozzle: The Graco TrueAirless spray tip allowing for a super smooth finish every time. It comes with a 515 tip size, but you can buy additional spray tips if you need different spray patterns.
  • Good for larger projects & smaller jobs: This cabinet paint sprayer can handle around 300 gallons of paint per year – that’s more than enough for even your largest home improvement project like the exterior of a home.
Best paint sprayer is the Graco ProX17 Paint Sprayer with Stand

It’s easily the best choice as it’s so affordable, effective, and user-friendly.

After watching the painters use the Graco Magnum on our kitchen cabinets, I know it’s one of the best airless paint sprayer out there and it turns out, Jim has the same one!

Be sure to read our post, the best cabinet paint brand to use with a paint sprayer, before you embark on a kitchen remodel. Not all paints are created equal!

Is a paint sprayer really worth it?

Especially if you’re a DIYer, money is always a factor. That’s the whole reason for tackling these paint projects in the first place, right? You’re trying to work on a tight budget, but you also don’t want to compromise quality. Is it really worth investing in a paint sprayer?

There are so many reasons to use an electric paint sprayer:

  • Seamless finish
  • Incredibly fast and easy
  • Save your elbow grease for something else
  • Spray smaller coats that dry faster
  • Cheaper than hiring a professional team
  • So convenient for detailed work like trim and molding
  • Refinish new cabinets or update old ones
  • Paint small or larger areas with little effort
  • Use a variety of paints, stains, and lacquers

Air sprayers don’t just paint cabinets, right? If you’re investing in a good paint sprayer, you’re probably finishing up some other paint jobs, like painting the interior walls, exterior, or other parts of the house.

With a good paint sprayer, you can finish your paint projects so much faster, making it easier to stay on schedule (and on budget)!

Here is the kitchen below before we painted.

If you missed our post on how to update your kitchen and not remove the cabinets, be sure to check it out for details on how we saved thousands of dollars.

Below, you will see how beautiful the painted kitchen cabinets (and a peek at our new floors!) look and how much brighter the kitchen is.

by far the best paint sprayer for cabinets with a professional finish

Here is another angle of the kitchen before we started painting.

Here is this kitchen painted in Sherwin Williams mindful gray.

SW Mindful Gray Paint

The kitchen completely finished is absolutely beautiful and this paint sprayer was a game changer!

grey kitchen cabinets with white countertops
The Graco prox17 is the best paint sprayer for cabinets as well as many exterior large painting projects

You can take a tour of our new kitchen before and after by clicking through these posts:

Best Paint Sprayer For Unthinned Latex

Experience the ultimate control over your paint flow with the top-of-the-line paint sprayer.

The ProX allows you to spray unthinned paint at high pressure for flawless finish every time.

What does unthinned paint mean?

Basically, it’s the paint straight from the can. The best paint sprayer will not require paint to be thinned or made more liquidy. It can handle the paint directly as you bought it.

This is why I love it! There are no brush marks, it’s similar to a factory finish. The flexible suction tube also lets you spray directly from a 1 or 5-gallon paint bucket, cutting down on time and hassle.

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Meet Jessica

What started as a hobby, Jessica’s blog now has millions of people visit yearly and while many of the projects and posts look and sound perfect, life hasn’t always been easy. Read Jessica’s story and how overcoming death, divorce and dementia was one of her biggest life lessons to date.

2 Comments

  1. We bought this same paint sprayer when we were ready to paint the new shop we built. After pricing the cost of renting this made so much more sense. It has been a workhorse and my husband painted his shop in one weekend (one coat per day for the main color, we painted the corner boards and fascia boards by hand). We are in the middle of putting new siding on our house so it is getting put to use again this spring and summer (DIY projects always seem to take longer than we plan). He takes care to do a thorough job of cleaning out the paint every time he uses it so hopefully it lasts a long time.

    1. HI Angela, yes I agree! It’s definitely worth the investment especially if you are doing more projects.

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