Best Paint for Cabinets and Trim – Professional Finish

Learn about the best best paint for trim and cabinets that provides a professional finish. And learn the best brand of paint for kitchen cabinets, laminate cabinets, wood cabinets, trim, IKEA furniture and more!

I’ve been wanting to write this post about the best paint for cabinets and trim for a long time, but it has taken years of testing paints and experience to find the best, tried and true paint for cabinets and trim!

When I first started painting cabinets, furniture, and trim, I used regular latex paint from the home improvement store. My projects would look great at first, but for any high traffic pieces, like cabinets and often used furniture, the paint would start to chip off over time.

Eventually, I discovered the most amazing paint, that is extremely durable and provides a beautiful, smooth, professional finish! It is truly the best paint for cabinets and trim!

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Best paint for trim and cabinets

The best paint for trim and cabinets is a water based, alkyd paint or urethane paint. These paints are formulated to be super durable with a flawless, high end, professional, smooth paint finish and look!

Water based

They are water based and easy to clean up, but are as durable or more durable than oil based paint. And they don’t yellow over time like oil based paint can.

Self leveling and professional finish

Further, they are self-leveling, which means they don’t show brush or roller marks, and they dry with a very smooth finish, so they have the professional end finish!

There is no need to hire a professional painter or use a paint sprayer, you can use a high quality paint roller instead.

Very durable and easy to maintain

Also, not only are the very durable to daily wear, but they are easy to wipe down and clean too.

So, if you want to paint your kitchen cabinets or paint a bathroom vanity, or paint any other cabinet doors, trim, or even furniture where you need an extra durable finish, this water based alkyd paint is the best choice!

Here is a summary of the pros/cons of this best paint for kitchen cabinets and trim:

Best brand of paint for cabinets and trim

Over the years I have tested out three different well known brands and their cabinet and trim paints to determine the best paint brand for trim and cabinets:

• Benjamin Moore Advance Interior Paint
• Sherwin Williams Emerald Urethane Trim Enamel
• HGTV HOME by Sherwin-Williams Acrylic Interior/Exterior Door and Trim Paint

My favorite brand and paint line out of these three brands which has performed the best overall in my personal experience is the Benjamin Moore Advance. It’s also low VOC! Therefore, I’ve used it on many projects over the years!

Benjamin Moore Advance – best brand of paint for kitchen cabinets

We used Benjamin Moore Advance on our painted laminate kitchen cabinets and our entire kitchen makeover in our previous home.

It applied extremely well and smooth to the cabinets! And after 2 years, there was minimal wear of it.

It really only wore off in very highly used spots, like around the knob for our kitchen utensil drawer. As all paint, no matter what kind you use, will wear over time.

Here is a photo of the most worn spot (on our kitchen utensil drawer) from our painted kitchen cabinets after 2 years of use:

Make sure to check out my tutorial on how to paint laminate kitchen cabinets. One of the most important steps to a durable, painted cabinet finish is using the proper prep work with this paint!

The best finish and best results consists of proper prep work, a good primer, and using the right paint!

Our kitchen cabinets held up so well that I used BM Advance again for our DIY kitchen built in cabinets and for our current kitchen makeover where we are painting our wood kitchen cabinets!

It really is the best cabinet paint!

Note, I’ve always used the satin finish and a second coat for all of these projects.

Painting a bathroom vanity

The very first time I ever used Benjamin Moore’s Advance paint was painting a bathroom vanity. Again it looked so professional and held up perfectly over time!

Benjamin Moore vs Sherwin Williams Cabinet Paint

Overall, I have found Benjamin Moore Advance has held up better and been more durable over time than Sherwin Williams Emerald Urethane.

I also prefer the application of Benjamin Moore more. Both paints have an unpleasant odor after application while they are curing. But, for the Benjamin Moore Advance, it only lasts a day or two, while the Sherwin Williams Emerald Urethane lasts for almost a week.

However, if there is a Sherwin Williams paint color that you want to use on a project where you need extra durability, like cabinets and trim, the Sherwin Williams Emerald Urethane is still a great option!

I used Sherwin Williams Emerald Urethane for our DIY office built in cabinets and IKEA PAX cabinet built in hack where I used the paint color Cornwall Slate by Sherwin Williams. It has held up very well!

Lowe’s HGTV HOME by Sherwin Williams cabinet paint

If you’re looking for a more budget friendly cabinet paint, the HGTV HOME by Sherwin-Williams Acrylic Interior/Exterior Door and Trim Paint is a great alternative!

In fact, I find that is just as durable as the Sherwin Williams Emerald Urethane. Probably because it is from the same company! So, it’s a great option if you’re on a tight budget.

We used the HGTV HOME by Sherwin-Williams Acrylic Paint on our DIY garage cabinets.

Home Depot also has a similar paint line, BEHR Enamel Interior/Exterior Cabinet, Door & Trim Paint. Although, I have not tested it out yet!

Best paint for laminate furniture and best paint for IKEA furniture

Not only are these cabinet and trim paints the best for cabinets and trim, but they are also the best to use on any laminate furniture or IKEA furniture with that shiny, laminate finish!

Laminate furniture is extra prone to chipping off over time, even if you use an oil-based primer. But, for the IKEA furniture where I have used these specialty paints, they have held up way better than any other primer/paint combo.

For example, for our IKEA MALM dresser hack, I used Benjamin Moore Advance and it has been the most durable IKEA hack I have ever done!

For our IKEA PAX hack for our office, as I said before we used the Sherwin Williams Emerald Urethane for an extra durable finish!

The best paint for IKEA furniture is definitely the cabinet paint!

What is the best self leveling cabinet paint?

As I explained above, I have found Benjamin Moore to be the best self leveling cabinet paint that is also the most durable over time.

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No matter what paint or finish is used, high-traffic areas and pieces are prone to wear and tear over time. But, by using the right paint, these water based, alkyd or urethane paints, you will have a much more durable finish and a finish that looks professional!

I hope this explanation on the best paint for trim and cabinets that provides a professional finish has been helpful! Let me know if you have any more paint questions below!

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