Giving my old cupboards a fresh look without breaking the bank

Decided to finally tackle my outdated kitchen cupboards this weekend. I sanded them down lightly, cleaned off all the dust, and applied a primer coat. After drying overnight, I painted two coats of a nice creamy white color. Looks pretty good actually, but um... it took foreverrrr. Wondering if anyone has a quicker or easier way to refresh old cabinets? Or maybe some tips to make the finish smoother?