Mask Cabinet Openings With Sticky-Side-Out Tape and Film

The Problem

Painting or spraying cabinet frames with the boxes still in use means every opening has to be sealed — completely, or overspray drifts onto shelves and everything on them. Draping plastic loosely leaves gaps at the corners, and taping film directly to the frame face eats into the surface you're trying to paint.

The Technique

The trick is tape with its sticky side facing out into the opening, so the film has something to grab everywhere:

1. Run two-inch masking tape around the inside of the face frame — along the bottom, top, and both sides of each opening — with the sticky side facing out. Half the tape's width bonds to the frame's inner edge; the rest presents adhesive to the room.
2. Wedge the tape firmly into the corners. Loose corners are where the seal fails, so if a piece lands short of the corner, redo it — a firm tape bond is what keeps the plastic taut later.
3. On a double cabinet where the opening passes through, one long run of tape covers it.
4. Cut masking film to the opening size — a hand masker (the dispenser that feeds film and tape together) makes this fast.
5. Press the film onto the exposed adhesive all the way around. Sized right, it pulls snug and seals the opening in one motion.
6. When the paint is dry, run a fresh razor gently along the tape line — score the film without cutting through the tape underneath — and pull everything off in one piece.

It works best on face frames with a pronounced inner lip; on flush openings the same idea applies with a little more fitting.