We gave our 15 year old white custom cabinets a face lift by having them professionally painted by a company that specialized in refinishing cabinets. They were highly recommended by others in their field. They sealed off the room with tape and plastic film, removed/painted the cabinet doors in their shop, and sprayed the cabinet bodies inside and out, on site, with many coats of paint and sealer. It looked great when they were done.

We recommend using a professional service rather than painting them yourself because 1) the finish will be smoother and more durable, 2) paint brushes or foam brushes leave streaks no matter how carefully the paint is applied and 3) it takes several coats of paint and sealer (they did 5 coats of paint and 3 coats of sealer) to get a durable finish. Doing it by hand would take forever.

Good luck! Post pictures!

Did you ever paint the cabinets? I'm thinking of doing it too!

Me too

Yes if you hire a great painter. We do it all the time.

The original post is several months old. I wonder what their decision was...?

Thanks. Finished rooms are always an inspiration for others. Looks beautiful!!!

I don't know how much it costs to refinish, less than new cabinets, I'm sure. Another way to freshen and save $ is to use the rustoleum cabinet transformations kit to re-do your cabinets. I've used it, it's pretty easy but I will say if you were to take it on yourself it would be a project. I've re-done two bathroom cabinets with it and it was a wknd project but a whole kitchen would be different (my neighbors did their kitchen with it). It certainly changed the look for the better (we both starts with honey oak). There ore different color kits depending on if you want darker or lighter. No sanding or stripping...that's the beauty of the product! Good luck with whatever decision you make

Your cabinets look beautiful!

just beautiful!!! LOVE the black island with the white! if you ever need to redo the island paint, go with a high gloss, you will love the look with the white cabinets and the stainless steel appliances!

Nothing beats the look of spray painted cabinets. With that said, once I painted by hand, already white cabinets, with a foam roller. The only reason I dared to hand paint them was because the room's natural light was not facing the cabinets directly. You could still sometimes see the foam roller marks.
I used a matte finish paint. Go white! Dark cabinets look cavernous in general. Good luck!

One more thing! Leave the island dark for contrast and decide at the en to paint it :)

was ONLY talking about painting the island dark... as she was thinking of painting the wall and base cabinets white... ;)