I would not paint these Formica cabinets. If you are going to upgrade the counter tops to Quartz or granite, I suggest you look into refacing to get a more up to date look. The style of your cabinets reflects the 60's and no amount of paint will change that. Refacing is about 1/3 the cost of total replacement. Worth every penny as you get all new drawer and door fronts. It is also an opportunity to replace a lower cabinet with large pot drawers, for example. Many options to get better use of your space without a total gut job.

Hi, I had these exact same cabinets at one time. I painted them with a latex melamine kitchen and bath paint., cleaning them first with TSP. They turned out fine and held up until we replaced them. But I agree with above if you are going with a new granite or quartz counter, then I would at least reface existing because the style is very dated.

Reface. You will still see the design cut into the doors and that style went out with 8-track tapes.

Actually the cost of refacing is less than replacing the cabinets, and it's also a great way to improve your kitchen. Our refacing solution consists of using the highest industry procedures that will produced the superior quality for your cabinets. Take a brief second and see what it's truly possible with our refacing service, at http://www.dayoris.com.

Sincerely,
DAYORIS

Let me give you a formula for a cabinet replacement price that may surprise before you spend the same or more $ on refacing. Remember you will need to pay for some amount of labor if it is refacing or cabinet crew.

# of cabinet boxes (not doors)
multiply that times $225
Then add $225 for each cabinet with, extra drawers, glass doors, trash can inside, or is a tall pantry or oven cabinet.
Add $200 for crown.

You can have cabinets of the following quality for around this price out on the market.
All wood plywood construction
Solid wood doors
Soft close doors & drawers
Dovetail drawers
Pre-assembly of cabinetry
Full overlay doors
Painted, stained, or glazed cabinetry

Even if this is a hair higher than refacing, many people are under the impression that only the particle board cabinets on the shelf at the box store can compete with refacing and it's not true.

Also if you put a stone counter on your old cabinets you are en-tombing them. Even if you change the cabinets later, the contractor will have to slide in extra money to cover the danger to his men and your counters in moving them.

Also doing a stone top now takes away any option to ever re-design your kitchens layout in any cost effective way.

New cabinets with a Formica top is something that can easily be upgraded at any time with minimal investment wasted if you junk your Mica top in the future.

Find someone who offers POST FORM Formica 180FX tops they are gorgeous and cheap.
http://www.formica.com/en/us/products/180fx

If your looking to keep it low cost, then I agree with refacing. You will run into all kinds of issues with trying to paint

Some new hardware alone would do great things!

Unless you are very handy, filling the indented areas is fairly difficult for the surface to turn out well. I would only fill the middle hole and place updated handles on the corners and this will make a big impact. Read or ask for advice on prep/paint/roller/brush for best results. After you're finished, if not happy you can select another alternative. [houzz=];