Cabinet Painting vs Refacing vs Replacing: How to Choose

These three get compared as if they are alternatives to the same problem. They are not. The right one depends on whether your cabinet boxes and layout are worth keeping.

Refinishing (painting)

Doors and drawer fronts come off, get cleaned, sanded, primed and sprayed, and go back on the original boxes, which are painted in place. You keep the layout, the boxes and the hardware positions unless you change them.

Choose it when the boxes are solid and the layout works, and what you dislike is the colour or the dated finish. It is the least disruptive and the least expensive of the three.

Refacing

New doors and drawer fronts, with a matching veneer applied over the existing box faces. The layout stays; the visible surfaces are all new.

Choose it when the boxes are sound but the doors themselves are damaged, warped, or a style you cannot live with. It costs more than refinishing because you are buying new doors.

Replacing

Everything out, new units in. The only option that changes the layout, the interior storage or the box sizes.

Choose it when the boxes are water damaged or falling apart, or the kitchen layout itself is the problem. Expect demolition, a longer timeline and usually countertop work.

Where people go wrong

The most common mistake is comparing a refinishing quote that includes the boxes against one that covers doors only. The second looks cheaper and leaves you with painted doors on unpainted frames. See what drives cabinet painting cost or the cabinet painting service.