Kitchen Cabinet Makeover ideas: DIY vs Professional painting
When it comes to Kitchen cabinet makeover ideas, learn the pros and cons of DIY vs Professional painting, before you pick up a brush.
Have you ever thought about giving your kitchen cabinets a painted makeover? Trying to decide if you should DIY it or have them professionally sprayed can be daunting.
Before picking your paint colour, here are some important considerations that can help with your final decision.
Do your cabinet makeover research.
Having had this same dilemma with our kitchen cupboards, I spent a lot of time researching both options before making a final decision. Here is what I’ve learned.
First of all, pretty much any type of door can be painted, whether it’s actual wood or melamine. Our doors are birch which works well for painting as they have minimal wood grain.
Looking for kitchen cupboard colour inspiration?
To get started, I always recommend creating an inspiration board on both Pinterest and Houzz. When you start gathering photos, you can usually see quite quickly what look you prefer.
Perhaps you are going for a light and bright colour palette or maybe you gravitate towards dark and moody tones. Your kitchen- your way!
Once you’ve decided on a colour scheme, it’s time to head to the paint shop and grab some samples.
Pro tip:
Remember that it’s always best to view paint samples over the course of a few days because the colour will look different from morning to evening as the light changes. Try Peel and Stick paint samples which are super convenient and reusable.
So here we are! You love the style of your existing your cupboard doors, you’ve got your kitchen colour scheme chosen. The next decision to make is deciding if you should do it yourself or contract it out.
The most important question to ask yourself first…
Before you consider DIY painting your cabinets: Do you have the time, the tools and the training to do a bang up job???
Kitchen cabinet makeover -Pros and Cons of DIY vs Professional painting
DIY Pros:
- Decreased labour cost
- A feeling of accomplishment
DIY cons:
- Takes a lot of time! Cleaning, sanding, priming, painting, topcoat (= Stress!)
- Requires lots of room: You’ll need a large enough space to lay out all the cupboard doors, both for painting and drying
- Costly supplies: Proper cabinet paint/primer and supplies (like a sprayer) can really add up. Research is key to finding the best products for the job.
Learn more about how to paint kitchen cabinets here.
Professional Painting Pros:
- A flawless finish! (and isn’t that the end goal?)
- Time saver! I can’t emphasize enough how much of your time you get back by NOT DIY’ing this job! (That would include all the Youtube tutorials you would have to watch)
- Durable industrial quality paint: Professional painters can customize their industrial paint to any colour of your preferred brand of paint. We chose Benjamin Moore- Decorator’s White CC20.
Professional Painting Cons:
1. Cost of paint and labour. That’s about it! Besides the flawless finish, they can do it faster and more efficiently than I ever could at home. (Keep reading to see how affordable it actually is!)
Our Kitchen cabinet makeover decision
Since our kitchen had solid birch doors in a classic shaker style, the only thing I wanted to change was the “Café latte” colour. How we ended up with that colour is a story for another day, but let’s just say it involved 2 babies and a wedding LOL
Because we had 2 young boys at the time, we decided that professionally spraying the cabinets was the right way to go. Though I’ve tackled many DIY paint projects, I had neither the time, nor spray tools required to get that gorgeous flawless finish.
Q: Where did you get your cabinet doors painted?
The number one question I’m asked is where we got our doors painted. We chose a local industrial painting shop rldindustries.com for this project .
Q: What was the total cost for professional painting?
The second most asked question is what it all cost. We paid just under $60 per door/drawer and they were ready in under two weeks. (from removal of the doors to re-installation). I was surprised at how affordable it was especially compared to the cost of replacing the cabinet doors!
Taking into account all 30 doors/drawers in our kitchen, we spent around $1500 total. We ended up with a “new” set of kitchen cabinets for a fraction of the price of new cabinet doors.
Kitchen cabinet makeover: How we kept the costs down
We saved on labour by removing and reinstalling the cabinet doors ourselves. I literally drove my car into the garage bay where they removed them from the trunk and I picked them up the same way, all carefully protected and packaged.
I also ordered the matching white paint from a local paint shop and properly prepped/painted all of the inside cupboard trim and side panels myself.
Alternatively, the paint shop had an employee who would take care of that if needed.
Q: What if you don’t like the style of your cabinet doors?
If you want to change up the style of your kitchen cabinet doors, check out local home improvement stores like Rona, Home Depot or Ikea, as they offer a wide selection of styles, at different price points (AND paint colours!)
For more custom options and inspiration, visit a local shop that specializes in kitchen cabinetry. They have showrooms filled with ideas and designers ready to help guide you through the process.
Replacing doors will increase the overall cost but can be worth it to give you a modern style that you will love everyday.
Kitchen cabinet makeover decision
Painting the cabinets was just one of five updates we incorporated in our Dream Kitchen Makeover. It got the ball rolling for the other kitchen reno design decisions we needed to make.
Whichever option you choose, remember to factor in how much new doors cost (several thousands of dollars) vs how much you save in time and money (and stress!) simply by having your existing ones sprayed professionally.
Here we are a few years later and the paint still looks perfect. In the end, professionally painting our cabinets was hands down the best decision we made for our beautiful “new” kitchen.
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