Cost to Paint Kitchen Cabinets: What Sets the Price in Five Countries
Painting kitchen cabinets is priced differently from painting a room. The painter counts your doors and drawer fronts and charges for each, because nearly all the work is in taking every door off, preparing and painting it on both sides, and putting it back. Kitchens vary too widely for a whole-kitchen price to mean much, so this page explains what sets the price in Australia, New Zealand, the US, Canada and the UK, gives the typical published price per door and per drawer front where one exists, and covers what to ask before you say yes.
What you are paying for
Almost all of a cabinet respray is the painter’s time. Paint is a smaller part of it than people expect, even though cabinet coatings cost far more than wall paint. For every door and drawer front, the painter:
- takes it off, labels it and removes the handles and hinges;
- degreases it, sands it, and fills any dents;
- primes and paints both sides, usually three coats in all, and lets each one cure;
- rehangs it and adjusts the hinges so the gaps line up.
On top of that comes masking off your benchtops, splashback, appliances and floor, and painting the boxes on site. That is why painters work in 30 to 60 hours for a standard kitchen.
Kitchen cupboard respray cost (Australia)
In Australia kitchen cupboards are usually resprayed in 2-pac, a hard-wearing two-part polyurethane, and most kitchens are frameless: the doors, drawer fronts, end panels and kickboards are painted, and the melamine carcass edges are not. Australian painters usually come out, count the kitchen and quote it as a whole; a per-door price is rarely published, and kitchens differ too much for a typical kitchen figure to be worth anything. What moves an Australian quote:
- how many doors and drawer fronts there are, and whether the end panels and kickboards are included;
- whether the doors are sprayed in a workshop or on site, and whether the interiors are being done;
- the condition of the existing finish, and how much degreasing, sanding and filling it needs before the first coat.
Kitchen cupboard respray cost (New Zealand)
New Zealand kitchens are much like Australian ones: mostly frameless cabinetry with kickboards, resprayed in 2-pac. Painters there also count the kitchen and quote it as a whole, so ask what that comes to per door and per drawer front if you want to compare quotes fairly. The same things move the price: the door and drawer-front count, whether the interiors and end panels are included, workshop or on-site spraying, and the condition of what is there now.
Kitchen cabinet painting cost (US)
US cabinets are mostly face-frame, so the frame around each opening is painted along with the doors, and the usual coating is a urethane-modified enamel, sprayed or brushed. US painters quote doors and drawer fronts separately, and the typical published ranges are for each:
- US$90–175 per door;
- US$30–50 per drawer front.
Where a door lands in that range depends on the condition of the old finish, whether it is sprayed or brushed, and the coating. Toe kicks, end panels and painted interiors are usually extra lines. Kitchens vary so widely in size and layout that there is no useful typical figure for a whole kitchen: count your own doors and drawer fronts and ask for the price of each.
Kitchen cabinet painting cost (Canada)
Canadian cabinets follow the US pattern: face-frame boxes, toe kicks and urethane enamel coatings. Painters quote by the door and drawer front or give one figure for the kitchen once they have counted it. There is no reliable published per-door range for Canada, so compare quotes by asking each painter what their price comes to per door and per drawer front. The figure moves with the count, the door style, the frames, interiors, spray or brush, and the condition of the old finish.
Kitchen unit respray cost (UK)
In the UK it is usually called a kitchen respray or painting your kitchen units. Most kitchens are frameless; in-frame kitchens are premium work and cost more. The finish is commonly a water-based satinwood or eggshell, brushed by hand, or a sprayed lacquer. UK painters usually price by the door, and the typical published figure is £45–90 per door. End panels and plinths are usually counted in as extra doors, so a kitchen’s price follows its count; kitchens vary too much for a typical whole-kitchen figure to help. Hand-painted or sprayed, the door style and the state of the old finish decide where in that range a door falls.
What moves the price
- How many doors and drawer fronts. The biggest factor by far. Count them before you ring round.
- Spray or brush. A sprayed finish is smoother and is what most people want on a kitchen. It is not much cheaper, because the handling and preparation take the same time either way.
- Framed or frameless. A face-frame kitchen (the usual kind in the US and Canada, and UK in-frame kitchens) has a frame around every opening to paint as well as the doors, so it takes longer than a frameless one.
- Interiors. Painting inside the boxes is extra work and an extra line on the quote.
- The coating. 2-pac (Australia and New Zealand), urethane-modified enamel (the US and Canada) and sprayed lacquer or satinwood (the UK) all cost far more than wall paint, and some need a workshop to spray.
- A big colour change. Going from a dark colour to white can need an extra coat.
- The condition and the surface. Greasy, chipped or previously painted doors need more preparation, laminate and thermofoil doors need a special bonding primer, and some are not worth painting at all.
What to ask before you say yes
- How many doors, drawer fronts and panels have you counted, and what is the price for each?
- Is it sprayed or brushed, and what coating are you using?
- Are the interiors included?
- Will the doors be painted on site or taken away, and how long will I be without them?
- How many coats, including primer, and how long does each need to cure?
- Are the hinges and handles going back on, and who supplies new ones if I want them?
The homeowner painting quote guide has a fuller checklist for comparing quotes.
Related guides
FAQ
How much does it cost to paint kitchen cabinets?
It depends on how many doors and drawer fronts you have, the coating and where you live. Kitchens vary so widely that a typical figure for a whole kitchen means very little, so painters price each door and drawer front. Published typical ranges exist for two markets: in the US, US$90–175 per door and US$30–50 per drawer front; in the UK, £45–90 per door. For Australia, New Zealand and Canada there is no reliable published figure, so ask your painter for the price per door and per drawer front. Your painter’s quote is the real figure.
Why do painters charge per door?
Because most of the time goes on each door, not on the paint. Every door is taken off, labelled, stripped of hardware, cleaned, sanded, primed, painted on both sides, left to cure, then rehung and adjusted. Counting doors and drawer fronts is the fairest way to size the job.
Why is a drawer front cheaper than a door?
It is smaller, and it is quicker to take off and refit. Most painters charge a drawer front at about a third of a door.
Is painting cabinets cheaper than replacing them?
Usually, by a long way, when the boxes are sound. Painting changes the colour and finish; it does not fix swollen or broken doors, worn hinges or a layout you dislike.
Does painting the inside of the cabinets cost extra?
Yes. Interiors are almost always an add-on, quoted as a separate line, because every shelf and inside face is extra preparation and paint. Most resprays paint the outside only.
How long does a kitchen cabinet respray take?
Painters plan on 30 to 60 hours of work for a standard kitchen, spread over several days so each coat can cure. If the doors are sprayed off site, you may have a kitchen without doors for part of that time.