Learn the cost to repaint kitchen cabinets, from DIY materials to professional labor. This guide covers prep steps, primer choices, and paint types for a durable finish.
Repainting kitchen cabinets runs $900 to $3,850 for a typical pro job on 22 doors, 10 drawer fronts, and 30 linear feet. Doing it yourself costs about $220 in paint, primer, and supplies. The finish lasts when you remove doors and hardware, degrease, scuff-sand to dull the surface, prime with a bonding primer, and apply at least one durable finish coat.
How much does it cost to repaint kitchen cabinets?
A professional job on an average kitchen runs $900 to $3,850, or $70 to $125 per door. Sanderscore reports that DIY costs about $220 in materials for the same kitchen. You save roughly $680 to $3,630 by painting yourself, but you trade that savings for about 32 to 63 hours of your time.
Per-drawer-front pricing runs $30 to $110, according to HomeGuide and Fixr data cited by Sanderscore. The average professional refinishing job lands at $3,116, with most between $1,992 and $4,494, per HomeAdvisor and Angi figures on the same page.
What drives the price up or down?
Door and drawer-front count, linear feet of cabinet run, and the condition of the existing finish all add hours. A glossy or clear-coat surface needs more prep than a matte one. Painting the insides adds time, too; Benjamin Moore notes that interior work can take roughly twice as long as the exterior.
A typical pro job lands around $3,500, while replacing the same cabinets can run upwards of $24,000, per Benjamin Moore's contractor guide. When you compare quotes, ask how many doors and drawer fronts are included, whether insides are painted, and what prep work is covered.
Is painting cheaper than replacing or refacing?
Painting a typical kitchen is roughly $3,500. Refacing runs about $4,500 to $13,000, and full replacement can hit upwards of $24,000. If your cabinet boxes are solid and only the doors look dated, painting is the lowest-cost refresh. You can weigh those options in our kitchen cabinet refacing vs painting guide.
What are the steps to repaint cabinets so the finish lasts?
Remove doors, drawers, and hardware. Label each piece with a pencil in an inconspicuous spot so reassembly is simple. Clean and degrease every surface, then scuff-sand to dull the finish. Prime, let it dry fully, sand lightly again, and apply at least one durable finish coat. Let the paint cure before reassembling.
Benjamin Moore's refinishing guide recommends one coat of primer and at least one finish coat, with additional top coats depending on the substrate. If you are relocating hardware, fill old screw holes with sandable putty before priming.
How do I clean and degrease cabinets before painting?
Wash every surface with warm soapy water and damp rags. Then wipe down each piece with a degreaser on a clean, lint-free rag to cut the grease and oil that build up in a kitchen. Let everything dry fully before you sand.
Benjamin Moore's inside-cabinet guide suggests using a degreaser on older cabinets to remove oil and grease. Sherwin-Williams recommends the same approach: a good cleaner degreaser removes all the oils that could prevent paint from bonding.
Do I have to sand, and how much?
Most cabinet finishes are too smooth or glossy to take new paint. Scuff-sand with 100- to 220-grit paper just enough to dull the surface, not strip it. Benjamin Moore's 9-step guide suggests 100- to 150-grit for most cabinet finishes. For inside surfaces, use medium 180- to 220-grit paper.
If the old finish is a clear coat, This Old House recommends stripping it down to bare wood before painting. That eliminates an adhesion problem between the old finish and the new paint.
Which primer should I use on cabinets?
Use a bonding or high-hiding primer matched to your paint. Benjamin Moore Fresh Start is an interior alkyd primer that sands after about two hours and offers excellent stain suppression. STIX Waterborne Bonding Primer bonds well over existing coatings. Sherwin-Williams Extreme Bond Primer can skip sanding on clean, paintable surfaces and needs about 24 hours to dry.
Do not use a lacquer-based primer under waterborne finishes, as it can impede adhesion. Benjamin Moore's guide warns against this specifically for Advance paint.
Which paint is best for kitchen cabinets?
For a durable, furniture-like finish that stands up to wear and moisture, use a waterborne enamel like Benjamin Moore Advance or Sherwin-Williams Emerald Urethane Trim Enamel. If you go with a latex paint, pick a 100 percent acrylic formulation for better adhesion than vinyl acrylic, per This Old House.
The table below compares the three main cabinet paint families.
| Paint family | Dry to touch | Recoat time | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Waterborne enamel (Advance) | 4 to 6 hours | About 16 hours | Durable, furniture-like finish |
| Alkyd primer (Fresh Start) | Sandable after 2 hours | Varies by product | Stain suppression, smooth base |
| Urethane (Emerald Trim Enamel) | Not specified in source | Not specified in source | Kitchen wear and tear resistance |
Advance dries to the touch in 4 to 6 hours under optimal conditions and can be recoated in approximately 16 hours, per Benjamin Moore's refinishing guide. Sherwin-Williams describes Emerald Urethane Trim Enamel as a durable product designed to withstand the wear and tear kitchens experience.
Do wood, laminate, thermofoil, and MDF cabinets need different prep?
Wood gets the full clean, scuff-sand, prime, and paint routine. Laminate and thermofoil are smooth and non-porous, so a bonding primer is the key to adhesion.
For laminate or thermofoil surfaces, Benjamin Moore's inside-cabinet guide recommends STIX Waterborne Bonding Primer for its powerful bonding properties. You do not need to remove the existing coating entirely, but you must dull the surface so the paint can bite.
How long does the paint take to dry and cure?
Advance dries to the touch in 4 to 6 hours but can take up to 16 hours before a recoat. Sherwin-Williams Extreme Bond Primer needs at least 24 hours to dry before you sand and paint. Plan multiple days for the whole project.
Painting the insides of cabinets can take roughly twice as long as the exterior, per Benjamin Moore. Check the back of your paint can for the maximum recoat time before you schedule reassembly.
Is there a lead paint risk on older cabinets?
If your cabinets are from that era, test for lead and follow safe work practices before you sand. Use a damp cloth or HEPA vacuum to control dust rather than dry sanding, and keep children and pets out of the room.
For color and sheen choices that match the finish you are building, see our 2026 kitchen cabinet colors with Sherwin-Williams codes. When you are ready to move forward, request a free estimate from PaintPro.