How Much Does It Cost to Paint Kitchen Cabinets in Toronto? (2026)

How do you work out the price of your own kitchen?

Count the pieces, then multiply. Cabinet painting is priced from $160 per piece, and every door, drawer front and finished panel is one piece. That gives the floor for your kitchen, before HST.

Kitchen	Pieces	Starts at
A small kitchen or a galley	20	from $3,200
An average kitchen	30	from $4,800
A large kitchen with an island	40	from $6,400
A large kitchen with a pantry wall	50	from $8,000

Those are starting points, because the per-piece row is a "from" price. Most kitchens land in the published range of $3,200–$8,500. The piece count tells you which end of that range to expect, and the condition of the cabinets does the rest.

The estimator does this sum for you. Enter your piece count and a few details, and it shows a range in about a minute.

What counts as a piece?

Anything with a finished face that gets sprayed. Walk the kitchen with a notepad and count these:

• Every cabinet door, upper and lower.
• Every drawer front, including the false fronts under a sink.
• Every finished end panel, where the side of a cabinet shows.
• The back and side panels of an island or peninsula.
• Tall pantry and oven-cabinet doors, one each.

Glass doors, open shelves and the insides of the boxes are different. They take more or less work than a plain door, so point them out in your photos. Your written quote lists what is painted, so nothing is left to assume.

Don't count handles, hinges or the countertop. Hardware comes off before spraying and goes back on afterwards.

What moves a kitchen toward the top of its range?

Three things: the wood, the condition and the colour change.

What	Lower in the range	Higher in the range
The wood	Smooth faces: maple, MDF, or doors already painted	Open-grain oak, where the grain shows through
The condition	Clean and sound	Chips, grease, worn edges or water damage
The colour change	Similar, or darker	Dark wood to white or another light colour

Open grain matters because paint follows every pore. Oak can be painted as it is and keep its texture, or filled first for a flat face, which is extra work.

Condition matters because the finish is only as good as what is under it. Grease has to come off before anything sticks, and chips and swollen edges are repaired before priming.

Colour matters because light colours hide less. Going from dark wood to white takes more to cover evenly than going from cream to grey.

How does painting compare with refacing or replacing?

Painting costs the least of the three, because it keeps the most. It suits a kitchen where the boxes are solid and the layout works.

Option	What changes	What stays	When it fits
Painting	The colour and finish	Boxes, doors, layout	Sound cabinets in a layout you like
Refacing	Doors and drawer fronts are replaced, and the boxes get a new skin	Boxes, layout	Sound boxes, but doors that are dated or damaged
Replacing	Everything	Nothing	Damaged boxes, or a layout you want to change

Painting usually costs a fraction of new cabinets. It cannot fix a box that is water-damaged or coming apart, and it will not make peeling thermofoil doors hold paint. Paint or replace your kitchen cabinets goes through each material and when painting is the wrong call.

How long is the kitchen out of use?

Less time than the finish takes to harden. The painting itself has dates, and they are in your written quote. The cure carries on after the crew has gone.

Paint makers' data sheets for cabinet enamels are clear about the difference. One widely used waterborne alkyd is dry to the touch in 4 to 6 hours and needs 16 hours between coats. It asks for at least 5 to 7 days before items go back on painted shelves, and allows up to 30 days to reach full hardness.

For the first month:

• Close doors and drawers gently.
• Wipe spills with a damp cloth, and skip scrub pads and harsh cleaners.
• Leave shelf liners and stick-on bumpers until the finish has hardened.

How long paint takes to dry and cure explains dry, recoat and cure times for walls and cabinets.

What should you check in a cabinet painting quote?

Check that it says what is painted, how, and with what. Cabinet quotes differ most in what they leave out.

• The piece count. It should match your own count of doors, drawer fronts and panels.
• Which faces. Ask whether both faces of each door are painted, and whether the box fronts are included.
• The method. Our doors, drawer fronts and panels are sprayed.
• The paint. A quote should name it by brand and line, so you can look up its data sheet.
• The warranty. Our cabinet finishes carry a 2-year written workmanship warranty.
• The tax. Our prices are before HST, with every mandatory fee included.

A quote that is much lower than the others has usually left something out. Compare the scope line by line before you compare the totals.

How can you keep the cost of cabinet painting down?

Spend on the finish and save on everything around it.

• Empty the cabinets before the first day. Clear shelves and drawers mean the work starts on time.
• Decide the colour early. The paint is tinted to it, and a change mid-job costs time.
• Keep your hardware, or choose new before the job. New handles that use the same holes avoid filling and drilling.
• Pair the cabinets with the kitchen walls. One visit covers both. A kitchen's walls are priced like a room, and a room on its own is billed at no less than the $750 + HST minimum.
• Fix leaks first. A swollen sink base is a repair or a replacement, not a paint job.

The kitchen cabinet painting page shows what the service includes, and the paint sheen guide explains why cabinet finishes are usually satin or semi-gloss.