Cabinet Refacing Vs. Cabinet Painting: Where You Should Go?

Are you stuck at the crossroad of cabinet refacing vs. painting? You are certainly not alone! Any homeowner trying to spruce up an old kitchen or remodel one from scratch often finds themselves in the same dilemma.

After all, both repainting and refacing cabinets are worthy choices to make. And each of these choices comes with its own sets of merits and demerits. Neither is a universally better option. Instead, which of the two you should go for depends on your kitchen cabinet’s condition, budget, and redesigning goals.

To decide among the two, you must dig deep and understand their key nuances.

Cabinet Refacing vs. Painting: The Difference

While similar words might confuse you at first, once you look into the technicalities of refacing and painting, you will realize that they are inherently different from one another.

What is Cabinet Refacing?

Refacing cabinets involve replacing the doors as well as the drawers of kitchen cabinets completely. In other words, you don’t salvage any of the old major hardware. The idea of cabinet refacing is to provide a new look to the existing cabinetry structure.

Cabinet refacing is advised for homeowners who are not satisfied with the condition of the front-facing doors of their kitchen cabinets.

What is Cabinet Painting?

Cabinet painting is also often referred to as a form of cabinet refinishing. As the name suggests, here, all you do is paint over the current doors and drawers of your kitchen cabinets, thereby giving them a fresh and vibrant look. All types of kitchen cabinets can easily be painted.

If your cabinet doors and outward structure are in good enough condition, painting them is ideal for modifying their look. Hence, if your house still sports the popular kitchen cabinets from the late 1980s or 1990s, you can paint them over to replace the outdated, stained look!

Cabinet Refacing Process

Now that you understand the basic difference between cabinet refacing vs. painting, now is the time to delve deeper into the process.

For those who are thinking of refacing their old cabinets, consider this as a process for changing the exterior of your cabinets. This process is considerably hassle-free and cheap compared to completely replacing your old cabinets.

When you seek help for refacing cabinets, professionals would take out your worn-out cabinet doors and fronts of drawers from your kitchen and then cover them with wood stains or veneers of your choice. Usually, hardware, including handles and hinges, are also replaced to give cabinets a polished look.



It can take as many as four days to reface cabinets your cabinets completely. This timeline varies as per the size of your kitchen and the number of cabinets to be refaced.

Cabinet Painting Process

Cabinet painting is hands-down the cheaper way of giving new life to your old and stained cabinets. However, this method is only applicable if the hardware of the cabinets is in good shape.

Here, a fresh coat of paint is added to the doors, drawers, and cabinet walls. Even if you have a whitewash oak look, you can replace it with a darker wood finish like maple or a cherry color through repainting.

Overall, the following steps are taken when painting kitchen cabinets:

• Removal of hardware and doors.
• Surface cleaning via a cleaning solution.
• Sanding surfaces to ensure that the paint holds effectively
• Applying a coat of primer-sealer for providing a solid base for semi-gloss and water-based paints.
• Paint application via foam sleeve mini roller, flat brush, or angled brush.

The cost of this process is at least half the expense of replacing cabinets. However, you must make sure that the paint you use is of high quality. The quality of the paint correlates to the longevity of the look of your cabinets.

Which one is better for you?

Simply put, in the war between cabinet refacing vs. painting, there is no clear winner. There are instances where refacing your kitchen cabinets is clearly the right choice, and in other circumstances, the same holds true for painting cabinets.

When to reface?

If your kitchen cabinets meet any of the following criteria, refacing is the best option for you:

• You are satisfied with the condition of the internal shelves, frames, and drawers of the cabinets.
• The kitchen doors are in terrible condition, or you do not like their style anymore.
• You want to enhance the aesthetics of your kitchen and wish to give it a new look.
• You wish to add value to your home.
• You wish to give the impression that your kitchen cabinets are new (without spending the additional money).

When to paint?

Here are some of the instances where painting kitchen cabinets will be the right path to take:

• The kitchen cabinet doors are in good condition.
• You are satisfied with the state of the frames, drawers, and shelves.
• You want to retain the look of your kitchen while brightening up the color scheme.
• You are satisfied with the current hardware, including handles, fitting and knobs, etc.

The risk of painting your kitchen cabinets

Apart from knowing when and how to paint your cabinets, another important thing is to consider all potential risks of making a choice.

Firstly, if you are thinking of doing a DIY project out of it, you need to be very cautious.

This is because cabinets tend to have a lot of details, making painting over them quite hard. You need professional tools and resources for it. To mitigate this risk, it is advised that you get a professional to do the job for you.

Secondly, it is challenging to maintain a painted cabinet when compared to a refaced cabinet.



Paint tends to attract a lot of dirt, dust, and grime. And if you end up using harsh cleaners on the cabinet to remove the dirt, you might end up stripping the paint away! To avoid this issue, you must seal the pain beforehand. Otherwise, it will peel and flake away.

The risks of cabinet refacing

Cabinet refacing isn’t always smooth sailing either.

Similar to painting, here, too, a DIY project is not advised. This is because, while installing doors and fronts seem like an easy task, veneering is not. Hence, refacing must be left to professionals.

Additionally, while it may seem like a cheaper option compared to cabinet replacement, if you are replacing a lot of your original hardware, the cost of refacing can climb up significantly. Not to mention that in any case, this cost is higher than painting the cabinets.



Finally, since refacing only changes the outward appearance of the cabinet, if your kitchen has issues regarding cabinet layout or storage, they will persist beyond this process.

Tips for choosing the right cabinet paint color

In case you have made up your mind and wish to proceed with painting your cabinets, here are four core tips that will help you in deciding what color to choose:

1. Check the design style of the cabinets: If you have a traditionally designed kitchen, opt for whites and creams for your cabinet. For a modern look, go for bright or contrasting tones.
2. Lighting matters: If your kitchen is dimly light, light it up via bright colors and vice versa. The size of a given space can also enlarge or reduce owing to the colors of the cabinet.
3. Add layers: Make your kitchen look dimensional by creating a contrast between your cabinets, countertops, and appliances. For instance, if your countertop is white, opt for black cabinets.
4. Strike a balance: If you find bold colors too dramatic and neutral shades too dull, find the middle ground by using multiple shades of the same color.

Tips for cabinet refacing

For those of you who have chosen cabinet refacing as the answer to your kitchen cabinet-related woes, here are things you must remember:

• Start as soon as you make up your mind: Once you have decided to opt for cabinet refacing, don’t wait! Your cabinet hardware has already undergone too much wear and tear and should be replaced quickly.
• Protect your kitchen: During the cabinet refacing project, place a protective covering on all other elements of your kitchen to prevent them from accidental damage.
• Don’t disregard style: Take refacing as an opportunity to experiment with kitchen cabinet styles. Pick a nice color and design to enhance the look of your kitchen.
• Consider functionality: When choosing the hinges, doors, or handles, make sure you select ones that are durable and better suited as per your needs.

Verdict

We hope that via this cabinet refacing vs. painting guide, you have been able to understand the key differences and hacks regarding the two processes.

Redesigning or revamping a kitchen can be very overwhelming, even if you have the best tools and resources. Therefore, seek help from reliable professionals to make the journey tad easier for you.



Weigh in all the pros and cons as well as your needs when deciding what path to take. We are confident you will make the right decision!