Kitchen Cabinet Painting in Toronto & the GTA

Is it worth painting kitchen cabinets instead of replacing them?

It is when the cabinet boxes are solid and the layout works for you. Paint changes the colour and the finish, not the structure, so it suits sound boxes with doors you are happy to keep. Replace instead when boxes are water-damaged, when thermofoil doors are peeling, or when you want a different layout.

Painting usually costs a fraction of new cabinets. Sprayed cabinet painting runs $3,200–$8,500 before HST for most kitchens. Paint or replace your kitchen cabinets walks through the decision, material by material.

How do you count the pieces in your kitchen?

Count every door, every drawer front and every end or island panel as one piece. Most kitchens come to between 25 and 40. Cabinet painting is priced from $160 per piece, so the count is the quickest way to see where your kitchen sits.

What to count	Counts as
Each cabinet door, upper or lower	1 piece
Each drawer front	1 piece
Each finished end panel or island panel	1 piece
A two-door pantry	2 pieces

A kitchen with 30 pieces starts from $4,800 before HST. The estimator takes your count and shows a range, and the cabinet painting cost guide explains what moves it.

Why are doors and drawer fronts sprayed?

Spraying lays paint down as an even film, with no brush or roller marks. That matters most on flat door panels, where every mark shows in side light. Our cabinet doors, drawer fronts and panels are sprayed for that reason.

Spraying also needs masking. Everything that should stay unpainted is covered first, which is why a kitchen takes planning and not just paint.

Can oak cabinets be painted smooth?

Yes, but the grain will still show unless it is filled. Oak has open grain, and paint follows every pore, so a painted oak door keeps its wood pattern. Some people like that texture. Others want a flat, smooth face.

A grain filler before the primer levels the pores. It is extra work, so say when you ask for your quote if a smooth face matters to you. Maple, MDF and doors that are already painted have tight, closed surfaces and paint out smooth without it.

How long before you can use the kitchen normally?

You can use the kitchen gently within days, but the finish keeps hardening for weeks. Paint is dry to the touch long before it is cured. Paint makers' data sheets for cabinet enamels say so plainly: one widely used waterborne alkyd asks for at least 5 to 7 days before items go back on painted shelves. The same sheet allows up to 30 days for the film to reach full hardness.

For that first month, close doors and drawers softly, wipe spills with a damp cloth and keep cleaners off the finish. How long paint takes to dry and cure explains the difference between dry, recoat and cure times.