Typical price ranges
These are full-service ranges: degreasing, sanding, priming, two sprayed finish coats, hardware off and back on, and clean-up.
Small kitchen
About 15–20 doors and drawer faces — galley or apartment kitchen
Average kitchen
About 25–35 doors and drawer faces, no island
Large kitchen
40+ doors and drawer faces, island, pantry or built-ins
Ranges are typical market pricing, not a quote. Your kitchen's real number depends on the counts and condition below.
What moves the price
How many doors and drawer faces
Almost all of the labor is in the faces — removing, cleaning, sanding, priming, spraying and reinstalling each one. Counting them is the single best predictor of price.
Raw or stained wood vs already painted
Oak, maple and cherry need a stain-blocking primer and grain filling on open-grain wood. That's extra product and an extra day or two.
Island, pantry and built-ins
An island is usually priced on its own because it's painted in place and often gets a second color.
Interiors, shelves and crown
Painting inside the boxes, open shelving and crown molding are add-ons, not part of a basic face-and-frame repaint.
Hardware and hinges
Removing and reinstalling knobs, pulls and hinges takes real time. New hardware or a hinge change adds more.
Where you live
Labor rates swing roughly 20–30% between rural areas and expensive metros, so the same kitchen can price differently across town lines.
What a good quote includes
- Degreasing and sanding every surface before any finish goes on
- A bonding or stain-blocking primer matched to your cabinet material
- Two sprayed coats of a cabinet-grade finish, not wall paint
- Doors and drawer faces labelled, sprayed off-site or in a booth, then reinstalled
- Full masking of counters, floors, appliances and backsplash
- A written warranty and firm start and finish dates
Common questions
Is painting cabinets cheaper than replacing them?
Yes — usually by a wide margin. New cabinets for an average kitchen commonly run $15,000 or more installed, while a professional repaint of solid existing boxes lands in the low thousands.
How long does it take?
Most kitchens run 4–7 working days from masking to reinstall, depending on the number of faces and the cure time between coats.
Does the price include the paint?
A professional quote includes the primer, the cabinet-grade finish, all masking materials and the spray setup. Watch for quotes that don't.
Can you paint laminate or thermofoil cabinets?
Often yes, with the right bonding primer, but they need to be inspected first — peeling thermofoil has to be addressed before any finish goes on.
What makes a cheap quote risky?
Brushed-on wall paint, no primer, no degreasing and no spray booth. It looks fine for a season and then chips at every touch point.
Get your own number
Count your doors and drawer faces, send a few photos, and see your price range instantly. A real estimator reviews it and follows up with a firm quote.