Cabinet Painting › Wood & surfaces
Repainting Already-Painted Cabinets
Yes, you can repaint cabinets that have already been painted, as long as the old paint is well bonded. It gets degreased, scuff-sanded and primed with a bonding primer before two new finish coats. Loose or peeling paint has to come off first, and repainting is priced like any cabinet painting job: $80 per door and $50 per drawer front, with frames and trim on top.
Maybe a previous owner painted the kitchen a color you'd never pick. Maybe your own paint job from years ago is chipped and tired. Either way, the cabinets already have paint on them, and the question is whether you can repaint cabinets that have already been painted without starting from bare wood.
Usually it can. What decides it is how well the old paint is stuck, and you can check that yourself before you ask for quotes.
Test the old paint
Before you repaint cabinets that have already been painted, a few quick tests tell you a lot. Do them on the inside of a door or a cabinet side that doesn't show.
- Tape test. Press a strip of packing tape firmly onto the paint, then pull it off fast. If paint comes off on the tape, adhesion is poor.
- Fingernail test. Scratch firmly. Sound paint resists. Paint that flakes off easily isn't bonded.
- Alcohol test. Rub a small spot with a cotton ball soaked in rubbing alcohol. If the paint softens or rubs off, it's likely latex. If not, it may be oil-based or a harder enamel. Either can be painted over with a bonding primer, but it helps to know which you have.
- Look closely. Check door edges and around handles for lifting, and look for drips, thick buildup or brush ridges that would show through a new coat.
If the old paint passes, cabinet repainting is straightforward: degrease, scuff-sand, bonding primer, two sprayed finish coats.
Peeling and chipped paint
Scattered chips on a well-bonded finish are normal wear and not a problem. Their edges get sanded smooth so they don't show through, then everything is primed and painted.
Peeling is different. If paint lifts in sheets or flakes away around the chips, the original job didn't bond, usually because of grease, a glossy base that wasn't sanded or missing primer. New paint over peeling paint fails along with it.
Loose paint has to be dealt with first:
- All loose and flaking paint is scraped and sanded back until the edges are tight.
- The edges between bare and painted areas are feathered so they don't show as ridges in the new finish.
- Bare spots are primed along with everything else.
A little of this is normal on any repaint. When most of the surface is failing, the question becomes stripping.
Get your cabinet price
$2,500–$4,500 for an average kitchen, 3–4 days, 2-year warranty. Send photos and we reply the same day.
Get a free quoteWhen to strip
Stripping means removing the old paint entirely, with chemical strippers or heavy sanding. It's slow and messy, and usually it isn't needed. It makes sense when:
- Paint is peeling across most of the doors, not in a few spots.
- There are several thick layers and the door profiles look rounded and soft.
- Heavy drips, runs or brush ridges are baked in and would telegraph through new paint.
- You want to go back to a stained wood look, since stain can't go over paint.
Stripping adds a lot of labor, so it changes both the price and the timeline. If every door needs stripping and the doors are also damaged, it's worth pricing new doors against it. We don't sell doors or do refacing, so we have no reason to steer you either way. Send photos and we'll tell you plainly whether your cabinets can be repainted as they are.
Changing colors
Repainting kitchen cabinets is often about color, not repair. Some things to know:
- Dark to light. Going from navy or black to white needs a solid primer coat for even coverage. Two finish coats over primer handle it.
- Light to dark. Easy for coverage, but dark colors show chips more, because a lighter layer underneath peeks through.
- Changing whites. Moving from a stark white to a warmer one like Benjamin Moore White Dove OC-17 looks subtle in photos and noticeable in person. Look at a sample on a door in your own light.
- Sheen. You can change sheen at the same time, for example from an old high gloss to satin.
Pricing follows the same structure as any cabinet painting: from $2,000 for a small kitchen under 20 doors and drawers, $2,500–$4,500 for an average kitchen and $4,500+ for large ones. Cabinet painting cost explains what moves the price. If your cabinets are stained rather than painted, read painting over stained cabinets. To get a quote, send photos through our cabinet painting page.
Common questions
Can you paint over painted cabinets without sanding?
Not reliably. A scuff-sand dulls the old paint so the bonding primer can grip, and skipping it is a common cause of new paint scratching off.
Can you put latex paint over oil-based cabinet paint?
Yes, after cleaning, scuff-sanding and a bonding primer. Latex applied straight onto oil paint tends to peel.
How do I know if old cabinet paint is oil or latex?
Rub a hidden spot with rubbing alcohol on a cotton ball. Latex usually softens or rubs off, while oil-based paint does not.
Is it cheaper to repaint cabinets than to replace them?
Yes. New cabinets usually cost many times more than painting, and repainting keeps the doors and boxes you already have.