Plan on this job taking a week to do properly. Every kitchen is unique, of course, and if your cabinets have extensive detail, the priming and painting steps will likely take longer. But for most kitchens, this is your timeline: Day 1 — Prep your kitchen and work area. Protect all the surfaces around your cabinets, remove hardware from your cabinets, and lightly sand your cabinets so they’ll have a good grip. Day 2 — Fill in any dents with wood putty and then prime your cabinets. You can paint your first coat today once your primer is dry. Day 3 — Paint your second coat. Day 4 — Return your hardware to the dry cabinets. Don’t reinstall your cabinets today, though; let them hang out for about 12 hours (overnight) so they are thoroughly dry… even if you’re using paint marked as “fast-drying.” Day 5 — Reinstall your thoroughly dry cabinets. Read more about planning your project here.