Guide · Cabinet painting
Should you refinish or replace your kitchen cabinets?
If your kitchen works but looks tired, painting the cabinets you already have can give them a new color and a harder-wearing finish without tearing anything out. If the boxes are damaged, or you want a different layout or door style, replacement is the honest answer.
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Short answer
The short answer
Cabinet refinishing is one of our services, so we have a stake in this question. This guide sets out how to tell which option fits your kitchen, including the cases where we would tell you not to paint.
Refinishing fits when the cabinet boxes are solid and dry, you are happy with the layout and the amount of storage, the door shape works for you in a different color, and what you want is a new color and a durable finish.
Replacement fits when the boxes are water-damaged, swollen or coming apart, the layout has to change, you want a different door style, or a full remodel with new countertops, flooring or plumbing is already planned.
Written by Modern Painters LLC. Last reviewed 18 October 2026. Sources are listed at the end.
What paint can do
What refinishing changes, and what it doesn’t
Refinishing changes the surface of the cabinets you have: the color (including a two-tone look, with one color on the uppers and another on the base or island), the sheen, and the finish itself, which goes on as a fresh, hard coating over filled dings and dents. You can change the hardware at the same time. If the new pulls or hinges need different holes, the old ones are filled and the new ones drilled before painting, not after.
Sagging shelves, worn drawer boxes, tired drawer slides and failing hinges are repairs or hardware replacements, separate from the paint, and should be listed separately on any quote.
Refinishing does not change
- The layout, or the number and size of the cabinets
- The door profile: a slab stays a slab, a raised panel stays raised
- Particleboard or MDF that has already swollen from water
- Laminate or vinyl wrap that is lifting away from the door
When not to paint
When replacement is the better choice
Water damage. The sink base and the panels beside the dishwasher are where this usually shows up. The Composite Panel Association, the trade body for particleboard and MDF, says that when these panels swell from high humidity or water, the swelling is not reversible: drying them out does not bring them back to their original size. Paint over a swollen edge still shows a swollen edge. One damaged sink base can sometimes be replaced on its own while the rest are painted, so ask about that before you decide on a whole new kitchen.
A new layout. Moving the sink, adding an island, or making room for a larger refrigerator means new boxes in new places. Paint can’t move a cabinet.
A different door style. If the door shape is what you dislike, a new color won’t fix it. Refacing is a middle path: new doors and drawer fronts, with a veneer over the existing boxes. It is a separate service from painting. Our cabinet service is refinishing, which means painting the cabinets you have.
Structural problems. Boxes pulling away from the wall, cracked face frames, or cabinets coming apart at the joints are construction problems, not finish problems.
A remodel already planned. If the countertops, flooring and plumbing are all being replaced anyway, painting the old cabinets saves less of the job, and new cabinets may be the better long-term choice.
Before you get quotes
Check your cabinets before you get quotes
You can learn most of what matters with a flashlight and a few minutes. Under the sink, look at the bottom panel and the lower edges for swelling, crumbling, soft spots or water stains. Beside the dishwasher and range, check the door and panel edges for puffed-up corners or edges that have lifted.
Laminate or vinyl-wrapped doors: look for bubbles or peeling at the edges. Firmly bonded laminate can be primed and painted; lifting laminate can’t be fixed with paint. Every drawer: do the boxes hold together, and do the slides run smoothly? Hinges: sagging doors or doors that won’t stay closed usually mean hinge work, which is hardware and can be replaced separately from painting.
The wood grain: oak and ash are open-pored woods, and their pores leave a textured surface that paint follows. If you want a smooth, grain-free look, the pores have to be filled before priming, which adds work. If you like seeing some grain through the color, say so. Either way it changes the prep. Paint already on them: previously painted cabinets can be painted again, as long as the old paint is sound. Paint that is peeling has to come off first, and slick or previously painted surfaces need an adhesion-promoting primer.
If you find swelling in one or two places and the rest is solid, refinishing may still be the right call, with those pieces repaired or replaced first.
Cost
Comparing cost without guessing
We haven’t published our own cabinet price list. Our cost guide sets out published market ranges for cabinet painting, and its calculator turns them into a ballpark for your kitchen. Be wary of any article that gives one number for “painting versus replacing” without seeing your kitchen. Here is what drives the price of each path, so you can read two quotes side by side.
A refinishing quote mostly depends on the number of doors and drawer fronts, the condition of the cabinets and any repairs, whether you are changing color and by how much, whether you want the cabinet interiors done, and hardware changes that need holes filled and redrilled.
A replacement quote mostly depends on the cabinets themselves (construction, finish and how many); removing and disposing of the old ones; the countertops, because the base cabinets carry them, so they have to come off (ask whether yours can be reused or the quote assumes new tops); disconnecting and reconnecting plumbing, appliances and any electrical; backsplash and wall repair; and flooring, if the new footprint differs from the old one and leaves gaps.
Refinishing leaves the boxes, countertops, plumbing and wiring where they are, so it skips whole categories of work that replacement includes. Whether that makes it the cheaper choice in your kitchen is something only real quotes can tell you. Get a written estimate for each path that covers the same kitchen and lists the scope line by line.
During the work
What each option does to your kitchen while the work happens
Refinishing, the way we do it. Doors and drawer fronts are removed, labeled, and sprayed in a contained area or off site. Meanwhile, the boxes and face frames that stay on the wall are cleaned, sanded, primed and sprayed in place, with everything around them masked. The work zone is sealed with plastic, and we clean up at the end of each day. Countertops, the sink and the appliances stay where they are, covered. Doors go back on once the finish can take handling.
Paint is dry to the touch well before it has fully hardened. Benjamin Moore’s own cabinet instructions say full hardness and adhesion take time to develop, and that freshly painted cabinets should not get heavy abrasion or cleaning right away. The exact times depend on the coating, so we give you the numbers for the product used on your job, and the days that will be most disruptive, before the work starts.
Replacement. The kitchen is emptied and the old cabinets come out, usually with the countertop. The new cabinets are set and leveled, the countertops are measured and installed, the plumbing and appliances are reconnected, and the backsplash and walls are finished. Each step may be a different trade. Ask whoever quotes it for a written schedule that shows when you will be without a sink and a counter.
Durability
What makes a painted finish last
A painted cabinet is a coating bonded to the cabinet. How long it holds up depends almost entirely on how well that bond was made. Sherwin-Williams’ cabinet refinishing guide calls washing and degreasing “the most important step”: kitchen grease and hand oils stop primer from bonding. After cleaning comes scuff sanding to give the primer something to grip, filling dents and holes, an adhesion-promoting primer on slick, laminate or previously painted surfaces, and a light sanding before the topcoats.
To be straight about the limits: a painted finish can chip at the edges that take the most contact, especially in the first weeks while it is still hardening. Treat it gently early on, clean with a soft cloth, and ask what the warranty covers. Ours is in writing.
The sequence we follow
- Degrease every surface
- Sand for a bond
- Fill
- Prime with a bonding primer
- Spray cabinet-grade coatings
- Leave time for the finish to cure
Hiring
Questions to ask any contractor
If you are getting cabinets replaced, ask what the quote includes (demolition, disposal, countertops, plumbing, electrical, backsplash, flooring repair), what the schedule is by trade and who coordinates the trades, and how long you will be without a working sink and counter.
If you are getting cabinets painted
- How do you degrease, and which primer will you use?
- Do you spray, brush or roll, and where are the doors sprayed?
- How do you contain dust and overspray in the house?
- What are the dry and cure times, and when can I use the kitchen?
- If the cabinets are oak, is grain filling included?
- Who does the work: your own employees, or subcontractors?
- What does the warranty cover, and is it in writing?
Common questions
Is it cheaper to paint kitchen cabinets or replace them?
It depends on the kitchen, and we won’t put a percentage on it without seeing yours. Painting leaves the boxes, countertops, plumbing and wiring in place, so it skips the demolition, disposal and countertop work that replacement usually involves. The honest comparison is a written quote for each option covering the same kitchen.
Is it worth having kitchen cabinets professionally painted?
It can be, if the cabinets are sound and you want a new color. Homeowners can paint cabinets themselves: both Sherwin-Williams and Benjamin Moore publish step-by-step instructions. What a professional job adds is a sprayed finish, a contained work area, prep done the same way on every door, and a schedule that leaves time for the finish to cure. If the boxes are damaged or the layout has to change, painting isn’t worth it, by us or anyone.
What are the downsides of painting kitchen cabinets?
It doesn’t change the layout, the door style or the storage. It can’t fix swollen particleboard or lifting laminate. The finish needs gentle use while it hardens, and painted edges that take a lot of contact can chip over time. Oak and other open-pored woods will show grain texture through the paint unless the pores are filled first.
Can you paint cabinets that have already been painted?
Yes, if the existing paint is well bonded. Paint that is peeling has to come off first. The surface is then cleaned, scuff-sanded and primed with an adhesion-promoting primer before the new finish goes on.
Can I change the cabinet hardware when the cabinets are refinished?
Yes, and it’s the best time to do it. If the new pulls or hinges don’t line up with the old holes, the holes are filled and the new ones drilled before painting, so the patches disappear under the finish.
Sources
What this guide is based on
Manufacturer and industry guidance: Sherwin-Williams’ cabinet refinishing guide, Benjamin Moore’s cabinet painting instructions, and the Composite Panel Association’s bulletin on particleboard and MDF swelling. A woodworking reference on open-pored woods. Our own process for cabinet work, described on our cabinet painting page.
It quotes no prices itself: we have not published our own cabinet price list, and the published market ranges are in our cost guide. The decision factors here apply to kitchens anywhere, not only in Wisconsin. Written by Modern Painters LLC. Last reviewed 18 October 2026. Corrections: hello@modernpainterswi.com.
Not sure which way your kitchen goes?
We’ll look at the boxes, the doors and the layout, and tell you plainly whether refinishing makes sense. If it doesn’t, we’ll say so.