Kitchen Cabinet Refinishing Cost Calculator

Refinishing (repainting or restaining) keeps all your existing cabinet parts — doors, drawer fronts, and box frames — and applies a new coat of paint, stain, or lacquer over the existing surfaces after proper prep. No new materials are installed. Refacing, by contrast, installs brand-new doors and drawer fronts and applies a veneer or laminate skin over the existing boxes. Refinishing costs roughly $1,500–$4,000 for a typical kitchen; refacing costs $3,000–$8,000. Refinishing is the right choice when your existing doors are in good shape and you mainly want a new color, tone, or fresh finish — not a new door style.

Refinishing is priced per linear foot (LF) of cabinet run, roughly $40 to $65 per LF depending on the finish type, so a typical 20–28 LF kitchen runs $1,200–$3,500 for a basic repaint and $1,800–$5,000 for a full color change with primer, stain, or two-tone. Costs climb with raised-panel doors (more surface and detail), poor existing condition (chemical stripping and heavy prep), and premium finishes like lacquer or glaze. DIY with brush-on cabinet paint costs $200–$600 in materials but takes real skill and time. Use the calculator above to price your kitchen by footage, finish, style, and condition.

Waterborne alkyd-hybrid paints — like Benjamin Moore Advance or Sherwin-Williams Emerald Urethane — are the professional standard for painted cabinets. They flow out like oil-based paint (no brush marks) but clean up with water and cure to a very hard, washable surface in about 3–4 weeks. For a true factory-level finish, many pros spray a conversion varnish or catalyzed lacquer in a shop. For a natural wood look, a fresh stain and clear topcoat renews the grain. Avoid ordinary latex wall paint on cabinets — it stays soft and scratches easily. The finish you pick sets both the look and the durability.

Yes — the in-place method is common and cheaper. Pros clean, degloss, lightly sand, and mask the boxes in place, then paint the face frames, doors, and drawer fronts with a quality brush or small roller. But for the smoothest result — especially with spray lacquer or stain — most painters remove the doors and drawer fronts, finish them flat in a controlled space, and rehang after curing. This 'remove, paint flat, and rehang' method (a selectable option, about 10% more) produces a more even, professional finish with no brush texture or drips, at the cost of a bit more labor and time.

A professional crew refinishing a standard 20–30 LF kitchen typically takes 2–4 days: Day 1 for cleaning, deglossing, and prime coat; Day 2 for sanding and the first finish coat; Day 3 for sanding, the second coat, and cleanup, with drying time between coats. Kitchens in poor condition needing chemical stripping add 1–2 days. Plan to use an alternate kitchen for 3–5 days and keep the space at 65–75°F for a good cure. The paint may feel dry in a day but takes several weeks to fully harden, so treat cabinets gently at first.

Yes — remove and store everything inside the cabinets for the duration of the project. Dust, sanding residue, overspray, and fumes can contaminate food and dishes, and the doors come off anyway. Relocate countertop appliances too. Contractors typically cover countertops, appliances, and flooring with plastic sheeting, but it's safest to clear all food and small items before the crew arrives. Emptying ahead of time also speeds the job, since the crew won't have to work around your belongings and can mask and paint more efficiently.

Professional refinishing with proper prep, a quality primer, and a hard-cure topcoat (alkyd-hybrid or catalyzed lacquer) typically lasts 8–15 years before needing a full redo. The biggest factor by far is prep quality — improperly deglossed or dirty surfaces peel within 1–3 years no matter how good the paint. Areas near the cooktop and dishwasher face more heat and moisture and may show wear sooner. Choosing the remove-and-spray method and a durable cabinet-grade finish, plus letting it fully cure before heavy use, all extend the life. Occasional touch-ups on high-touch edges keep it looking fresh.

Yes, but the direction matters for effort and cost. Light to dark (e.g., white to navy) is relatively easy — a coat of primer and one or two finish coats usually covers. Dark to light (e.g., dark walnut stain to white) is much harder: dark tannins bleed through light paint, so you need a shellac-based stain-blocking primer (like BIN) before the finish coats, or the paint yellows over time. Expect a 15–25% cost bump for dark-to-light transformations. The calculator's 'new color with primer' finish accounts for the extra prime coat that color changes require.

Refinishing is worth it when the cabinet boxes are solid, the door style fits your taste, the layout works, and your budget is limited — at $1,500–$4,000 for a full kitchen, it's 60–80% cheaper than full replacement ($8,000–$25,000+). It's not worth it if the boxes are water-damaged or structurally weak, you want a different layout, the doors are warped or delaminating, or the refinishing quote is within about 30% of new cabinets on sale. And if you like your boxes but want a different door style, refacing (new doors over your boxes) sits between refinishing and replacing.

Prep decides whether the finish lasts 2 years or 15. A proper professional sequence is: (1) remove all hardware; (2) clean thoroughly with a degreaser to strip grease and cooking residue; (3) degloss with a liquid deglosser or 120-grit sanding; (4) fill dents, holes, and chips and sand smooth; (5) apply stain-blocking primer (required for drastic color changes or bare wood); (6) sand again with 150–180 grit before the finish coat. Skipping or rushing any step — especially degreasing and deglossing — is the number-one reason cabinet finishes peel and DIY jobs fail. When comparing quotes, ask specifically about the prep process.