Painting your existing cabinets is one of the most cost effective ways you can update a space. Whether it’s your kitchen, bathroom, or laundry room a little bit of prep work and some paint can completely transform your room! In 2018/2019 I completely updated my 1960s kitchen. I utilized a lot of the existing cabinets, built some new ones for an island and pantry, and create a cohesive look with some paint and new doors. You can paint your existing doors, but that wasn’t an option for me. This blog post will discuss when it is best to paint your cabinets. Here’s a link to my entire kitchen renovation, and a picture of the before and after!
You may ask yourself, should I buy new cabinets, reface my cabinets, or paint my cabinets for my remodel? There are times when buying new cabinets is the best option. If you don’t like the layout in your space and you are planning to reconfigure your room with new appliances or other features, buying new cabinets is probably the best option for your renovation. Changing the layout of your room, may change the size if the cabinets you need and buying new cabinets that completely fit your new layout is the route to go for this type of remodel.
If you like your current layout and your existing cabinets are good quality, it would be cost effective to reface or paint your cabinets. What is the difference between refacing vs. painting? Refacing involves adding a thing veneer layer to the outside of your cabinet boxes. The veneer can be painted or stained for your desired color. New doors will also be installed that match the finish of the veneer. Refacing is usually completed by a third party contractor and, in my experience, the quotes for refacing were 2.5-3.5 times the cost of painting and adding new doors.
Painting cabinets is a very cost effective way to update cabinets! If you are keeping your layout and your existing cabinets are good quality and paintable, then painting is a great option. Cabinets that are solid wood and are not covered in a thermafoil covering are good quality cabinets. You can opt to keep your existing doors, or choose to buy new doors.
For my kitchen renovation, and for my latest laundry room makeover, I wanted to keep the current layout of cabinets (for the most part). For the kitchen renovation, I removed some cabinets and then built cabinets for the island, fridge, and pantry. Painting the cabinets was the easiest way to have everything look cohesive. I also wanted cabinet doors with concealed hinges and needed new doors for all of the cabinets I built. I opted to purchase new doors for all of the cabinets, new and old. If you like your cabinet doors and don’t want to change them, painting them is a great cost effective option.
In my next blog post, I’ll share all of the steps for painting cabinets for a smooth durable finish! In my 3rd blog post for this series I’ll discuss how to measure your cabinets for new doors! Here’s a look at the laundry room cabinets I will demonstrate how to paint and update!
