If your kitchen cabinets look dated and in need of some TLC, you have several options to choose from. That can be a great thing, but it can also be confusing for Raleigh homeowners. Cabinet refacing vs. painting vs. refinishing vs. replacing are all very different options, and the biggest catch is that all four come with very different price tags.
The terminology around cabinet services gets used very loosely, which is where a lot of the confusion comes from. One contractor may say “refinishing” when they mean painting, while another may use “refacing” to describe a completely different scope of work. That can make it hard to compare recommendations, budget accordingly, or even figure out what your kitchen truly needs.
Here’s the simple explanation of each option:
- Painting: a new finish goes on your existing doors and cabinet boxes.
- Refinishing: the existing finish is stripped back and the wood is re-stained or re-sealed.
- Refacing: new doors and drawer fronts are installed, with new veneer applied to the existing cabinet boxes.
- Replacing: the existing cabinets are removed and replaced with new cabinetry.
The right choice for your home comes down to three things:
- The condition of your cabinets.
- Whether your current layout works.
- Whether you dislike the color or the actual door style.
In this post, we’ll walk through all four options, their scope and relative cost, and which one fits your kitchen.
In This Post
Four Options for Updating Cabinets (With Definitions)
Cabinet Painting
Painting is the simplest of the four options because you’re keeping the cabinetry you already have.
A professional cabinet painting project involves cleaning and degreasing the surfaces, prepping them properly, priming as needed, and applying a cabinet-grade finish designed to hold up to the daily wear and tear kitchens face (grease, splatters, and pots and pans knocking around).
With this option, the color and finish are the only things that change. The structure stays the same.
If you have solid cabinet boxes, the doors are in good condition, and you like the existing layout and door style, painting can give your kitchen a completely different look without replacing the cabinetry.
It’s also the least expensive option of the four by far, which is why it’s worth considering before assuming a kitchen update requires all new cabinets.
Not sure what type of paint is best for your cabinets? We’ve broken that down in our guide to the best paint for kitchen cabinets. You can also see what goes into a professional cabinet painting project in How to Paint Kitchen Cabinets Professionally.
Cabinet Refinishing
Refinishing is different from painting. With refinishing, the existing finish is stripped back to the wood, and the cabinets are then re-stained or re-sealed. The goal is to preserve and enhance the natural wood rather than cover it with an opaque paint color.
That makes refinishing a good fit when you love the wood grain of your existing cabinets but don’t love the stain or finish.
Refinishing does come with a significant limitation: it requires a surface that can actually be stripped and refinished. That’s why real wood cabinetry is the best candidate.
Thermofoil, laminate, and MDF doors, which are common in homes built throughout the Triangle over the last couple of decades, aren’t candidates for traditional wood refinishing in the same way.
If you wish your cabinets were a lighter or different wood tone, refinishing may be a great option. If you want to change the color completely, your best bet is painting.
Cabinet Refacing
Refacing changes more than the finish. With cabinet refacing, the existing cabinet boxes stay in place, but the doors and drawer fronts are replaced. A new veneer is also applied over the exposed cabinet boxes so everything has a consistent appearance.
That means refacing can change both the color and the door style of your kitchen.
For example, you could replace dated raised-panel doors with a modern Shaker style without tearing out the cabinet boxes themselves.
The tradeoff is cost. Refacing is much more expensive than painting because you’re buying and installing new doors, drawer fronts, and veneer. It will usually still cost less than a complete cabinet replacement.
Refacing makes sense when the existing boxes are structurally sound and the layout works, but you want the cabinet style itself to look different, not just a different color.
We want to be transparent here: refacing is a specialty service, and there are companies in Wake County that focus specifically on it. If your kitchen needs refacing rather than painting, we’ll tell you that, even though we’re not the ones who do that work.
Cabinet Replacing
Replacing means the existing cabinets are removed completely and brand-new cabinetry goes in.
This is the most extensive and most expensive option.
Full cabinet replacement makes sense when the cabinet boxes are failing, the existing layout doesn’t work for your kitchen, or you’re already planning a larger remodel that involves moving appliances, plumbing, walls, or other major components.
It can also make sense when you simply want a completely different configuration and the existing cabinets can’t accommodate it.
The important thing to remember is that replacing cabinets rarely stays limited to the cabinets. Once you’re changing the layout, you may also be dealing with countertops, backsplash, plumbing, electrical work, flooring, and other parts of the kitchen.
If your existing cabinets are solid and your kitchen functions well, replacing everything just because the finish looks dated may be more renovation (and cost) than you actually need.
How to Tell Which Cabinet Upgrade Is Best for Your Kitchen
If you’re standing in your kitchen trying to figure out which option is right, start with these three questions.
1. Are the cabinet boxes sound?
Open the doors. Look inside the cabinets and underneath the sink. Check the hinges, the shelves, and anywhere moisture may have caused damage.
Water damage, swollen particleboard, deteriorating boxes, or sagging shelves can all be signs that your cabinetry has bigger problems than an outdated finish.
If the boxes are structurally compromised, painting may not be the right investment.
2. Does the layout work?
Ask yourself whether you actually need to move anything.
Do you like where the sink is? Does the range work where it is? Do you have enough storage? Are the appliances where you want them?
If the answer is yes, you probably don’t need to replace your cabinets just to get a fresh look. One of the biggest advantages of keeping your existing cabinetry is that you aren’t paying to rebuild a layout that already works.
3. Is it the color you dislike, or the doors?
This is the question that separates cabinet refacing vs. painting for many homeowners.
If you like the door style but dislike the orange oak, dark stain, or dated finish, painting may solve the problem for you.
If you look at the doors themselves and realize you don’t like the style anymore, refacing may be the better fit because it lets you change the doors and drawer fronts.
For many Wake County kitchens with sound cabinetry and a functional layout, the decision comes down to those two options: painting or refacing.
If you’re trying to understand the financial side before making that call, we’ll break down what painting cabinets actually costs in our full cabinet painting cost guide, coming soon.
What Each Option Actually Costs
There’s no one-size-fits-all number for a kitchen cabinet project, no matter which option you choose. Kitchen size, the number of doors and drawers, cabinet condition, materials, finish, and scope all change the price.
In general, the cost from least to greatest is:
Painting → Refinishing → Refacing → Replacing
Painting is typically a fraction of the cost of refacing, while refacing is generally less expensive than a full cabinet replacement.
That said, the cheapest option isn’t automatically the right one for your kitchen. If you truly need new cabinetry or new doors, it’s worth looking into those options instead of forcing a paint job to solve a different problem.
When you get an estimate, make sure you understand exactly what’s included so there are no surprises in the scope of work or the cost. A painting estimate and a painting quote aren’t necessarily the same thing, and a professional proposal should outline the scope clearly.
Honest Answers to Common Objections
“Doesn’t painted cabinet finish chip?”
It can, but a professional cabinet finish isn’t the same thing as rolling leftover wall paint onto your kitchen cabinets.
Cabinets need thorough cleaning and degreasing, proper surface preparation, the right primer, and a hard-curing finish designed for cabinetry. Skipping those steps creates adhesion and durability problems down the road.
If you’re concerned about wear and tear, here’s how to keep painted cabinets from chipping.
“Is painting just a cheap shortcut?”
When the scope is right, no.
If your cabinet boxes are solid, your layout works, and you like the door style, painting isn’t a corner-cutting option. You’re addressing the part of the kitchen that actually needs to change.
There’s a big difference between choosing a lower-cost solution because it fits the project and hiring the lowest-cost painter without understanding what you’re getting. Here’s what to know about whether hiring the cheap painter is truly cheaper.
“Can I just do it myself?”
You can. Cabinet painting is one of those projects where the materials are accessible to homeowners, but the prep and finishing process takes far more time and attention than painting a bedroom.
If you’re deciding whether the DIY route makes sense for your kitchen, Should I DIY or Hire a Pro for My Kitchen Cabinets? walks through the tradeoffs.
“What about the color?”
This is the fun part.
Once you’ve decided painting is the right option, you still have to choose a color that works with your countertops, flooring, backsplash, lighting, and the rest of your home. Our kitchen cabinet color inspiration guide can help you start narrowing it down.
How We’d Approach Cabinet Painting
You don’t have to figure out exactly which option is right before calling a painting contractor. During a walkthrough, we’ll look at the condition of the cabinet boxes, the existing door style, and how the kitchen is laid out. From there, we can talk through whether painting makes sense or whether you’re really looking at refacing, refinishing, or replacement.
And if refacing or replacement is the better answer, we’ll tell you.
That’s part of giving you an honest recommendation. We don’t want to paint cabinets that aren’t good candidates for painting, and we won’t recommend a painting project when your kitchen needs a different scope.
Oak City Coatings is a local, family-owned painting company serving homeowners throughout Wake County, including Raleigh, Cary, Apex, Holly Springs, Fuquay-Varina, Morrisville, and Garner.
Our process includes a final walkthrough before payment, so you have the chance to make sure the finished project meets the agreed-upon scope and your expectations.
Ready to Find Out What Your Cabinets Actually Need?
Painting, refinishing, refacing, and replacing aren’t interchangeable services. They’re four different approaches with four different scopes and price ranges.
If your cabinet boxes are sound and your layout works, the question to ask yourself is: do I need a new finish, or do I need new doors?
If you’re not sure, reach out to Oak City Coatings and let us take a look. We’ll help you understand what your kitchen needs (and what it doesn’t), give you our honest opinion, and put together a fair estimate if cabinet painting is the right fit.
