Cabinet painting vs replacement: which fits your kitchen

CBy Carla Bingham, Painting and Restoration Guides Editor · Updated September 2026

The three options and what they cost

Painting keeps your boxes and doors and changes the color and finish. Refacing keeps the boxes but adds new doors, drawer fronts and a veneer over the frames. Replacement removes everything and usually brings new counters with it.

Published Atlanta figures show how far apart they sit. One local cost survey puts cabinet painting around $1,000 on average; a local painting company puts large kitchens at $8,000 to $12,000 and replacement at $15,000 to $50,000, noting that painting saves 50 to 70 percent. HomeAdvisor's Atlanta data puts refacing at an average of $7,032, typically $3,904 to $11,502.

When painting is the right call

Painting works when the cabinet boxes are plywood or solid wood, dry and square, the doors close properly and the layout suits how you cook. Dated oak, tired white and builder-grade finishes all paint well with the right prep.

It also suits kitchens where the counters are recent or in good shape, since painting doesn't touch them. Pair it with new hardware and a backsplash and most people stop noticing the cabinets were ever old.

When it isn't

Swollen particleboard under the sink, delaminating thermofoil, sagging shelves and boxes that were never square are problems paint can't fix. The same goes for a layout that doesn't work: painting a kitchen you want to rearrange only delays the remodel.

Look under the sink and around the dishwasher first. Georgia humidity and years of small leaks show up there before anywhere else, and they often decide the question.

What a proper paint job involves

Doors and drawer fronts come off and are labeled. Every surface is degreased, sanded and primed with a bonding primer, then sprayed with a hard cabinet enamel. Boxes are painted in place with the kitchen masked off, and doors cure before they're rehung.

Most failures come from skipped degreasing or the wrong primer. Kitchen grease is invisible and paint won't bond to it, which is why DIY cabinet jobs so often chip near the stove within the first year.

Choosing a color and finish that wears well

Cabinet enamels come in satin and semi-gloss. Satin looks softer and hides small dings; semi-gloss wipes cleaner and shows every brush mark or dent, which is why it's sprayed rather than brushed. Most kitchens look best in satin.

Very light whites show grime near handles, and very dark colors show dust and scratches. Mid-tone greens, blues and warm grays hide daily wear best. Test a color on one door in your own kitchen light before painting the rest, since cabinet colors look very different under warm bulbs than on a sample card.

Where refacing fits

Refacing makes sense when the boxes are sound but you want a different door style, from raised panel to flat slab for example, which paint can't change. It costs more than painting and less than replacement, and the kitchen stays usable through most of the work.

A quick way to decide

Ask four questions in order:

• Are the boxes dry and solid, especially under the sink?
• Do you like the layout?
• Do you like the door style?
• Are the counters staying?

Yes to all four points to painting. No to the door style points to refacing. No to the first two points to replacement.