buy new cabinets,

in todays market painting cabinets are not worth the time and money they look beat up after a few years doing the paint job,

i highly recommend doing a replacement since it is only $2000 more and would add value

Are they solid wood? Reuse if the layout suits you. There are plenty of trees being cut down for our consumerism.

What size is your kitchen? I never heard of some one replacing their cabinet for 2000.00.

I would get another paint quote.

If that is drawers /rollouts/soft close/good glides/ and there is nothing particularly great about your old and you get to improve layout even a bit of skooching/tweaking.......then replace but you will have more costs w everything else that will need to be done. I might live w the existing (no painting job) and start to plan for a replacement :means look at counters /floor/lighting /everything else.

It is probably going to be more than $2000 by the time everything is done and paid for.. Replacing cabinets generally starts a cascade of other necessary items starting with counters. Since boxes remain in place when cabinets are painted, one can keep existing counters which means one is also less likely to want/need to replace other stuff like sinks, pulls, etc.

You state that your existing cabinets are "good quality". What does this mean. Is the layout ideal? Are they equipped with lots of drawers for lowers?

In general, IMO, painting existing cabinets is a temporary stop gap because the finish is not as durable as factory painted cabinets would be so most likely they will need work in five years or so versus wood stained cabinets which are more durable. Don't get me wrong, I did paint cabinets in the first condo I bought but there was really no salvaging them aesthetically - they were plywood slab doors that were stained a hideous dark "walnut" color. The cabinets had been built on site and were were built like battle ships. They were so old fashioned in terms of construction that the drawers were built without any slides at all - just like bureaus. But solid and some people in my building still are using the original boxes from 1965 with new doors - I can tell because of the very specific configuration of the cabinets in kitchen and bathrooms.

To clarify. The quote was $4500. New cabinets would be about $6800 I think

Post a pic of your current kitchen. You'll get much more help.

What cab line quoted you 6800? Have you checked out Ikea?.

Some always negative posters are best ignored.

"To clarify. The quote was $4500. New cabinets would be about $6800 I think"

Again, what size kitchen? How many cabinets? Who is painting? What brand "new" cabinets? To many variables with no solid point of reference.

• also -- the price of new cabinets you are quoting is NOT installed and demo..and unless a very small kitchen that is really a low price for cabinets. I am looking myself and have a smaller budget than many on these forums,. I have gotten estimates for both painting and replacements and of course both vary a LOT-- but your estimates do sound so low.

Here is how I would expect a pro to spray paint kitchen cabinets. An amateur job should follow the same path. A brush painted job would differ slightly in that you wouldn't hang the doors to paint. You'd place them on a work table or easel instead. It's time intensive work, and should take 7-14 days for a Pro to accomplish completely and cost between 8--11K depending on kitchen size and amount of detail in cabinets.

Remove doors and drawer fronts.

Remove hinges and hardware.

Clean with degreaser

Rinse and let dry.

Scrape any loose finish.

Fill any damaged spots or hardware holes that won't be reused.

Sand fill smooth.

Scuff sand the rest.

Tack off dust.

Hang in dust free paint booth with wires through hardware points to spray both sides. Or lay on a spinner, and do one side at a time.

Tack off dust again.

Spray with shellac based primer.

Scuff sand again.

Tack off dust.

Spray with second coat of primer.

Spray with first finish coat of a polyurethane enamel (DIY) Or conversion varnish, (Pro product) . NOT house paint. Never house paint. PROS DO NOT USE HOUSE PAINT!

Spray with second coat.

If glazing is to occur, that is next.

Spray with clear over glaze that is compatible with base coat and glaze.

Add more molding or decorative details to boxes, filling nail holes and sanding smooth.

Repeat prep process with face frames and exposed cabinet sides using plastic to create a spray booth on site. If interiors are to be done, they are done before face frames and sides. Interiors are difficult, and add both time and expense to the job. Most interiors are laminate and don't accept paint well.

Allow everything to fully cure. That's 7-14 days.

Clean hinges and hardware and clear coat if you're keeping the old hardware.

Install new (or old) hinges and hardware.

Re-install doors and drawers and adjust for proper clearances.

If you are receiving or doing a job without this amount of effort, then you are not getting a quality job. You are getting a poor quality job that will not last. Anyone who paints cabinets with the doors on is an amateur and a Philistine, and should be fired immediately. If they paint the hardware too, go straight to shooting them also, and saving the world from such criminal ineptness.

As others said, it depends. What is the quality of your current cabinets v. the new ones? Do you like your current layout and cabinet organization? Are you replacing the counters and flooring? Too many variables for a straight answer here.

Get back to us in a year. Everything looks great for 5 minutes.

It’s a year old this month :-)

For the record, professional painters did the work carefully, sanding and priming. So much of the Houzz world is people convincing you that unless you are spending thousands disaster will strike! Of course new looks perfect. Of course sprayed is smoother. But I wanted to save my $$ for Newport Brass nickel faucets and Top Knob drawer pulls. It’s all about priorities.

Brush strokes look great against the Viking rangetop i was able to afford bc I didn’t buy new cabinets or pay 000s to have them sprayed.

Wow Jennifer - your cabinets do look wonderful. I know for me the prices and the results seem to be all over the place and that makes me less likely to consider painting.

Obviously we don't know the size or how many cabinets you had painted but it would seem to me you got the deal of the decade~~maybe even century. $800 for a great paint job? I was quoted between $2500 -$6000.

IMO if you love the layout of the kitchen and the cabinets are in good shape and a simple style painting by a pro with conversion varnish is going to last as long as a factory finish and saves the hassle of a renovation but if you don’t love the kitchen now paint will not make you love it later. I think the quote for painting is dependant on the sixe of the kitchen so I have no idea without some pictures and a floor plan. BTW I have replaced cabinets in kitchens for 7K from Ikea many times.

I haven't price out painting cabinets but some friends have had rooms painted recently and $800 wouldn't cover the cost of a decent paint job on a room with no particularly difficult issues - that's with no moving of furniture - no large areas to repair. Isn't a can of quality paint a decent amount now?

Around here it might cost $800 to hire someone to take off and replace cabinet doors properly :-).

I always had our cabinets lacquered- rentals and our home. Great savings!

I would wager that the quality of the new cabinets for that price point will have the same life span as painting the old cabinets. Of course that is a guess because we don't know the size or amount of cabinets in this kitchen.

For people who asked about my $800 cabinet painting, It was not a lot of cabinets; probably 12 doors total and 6 drawers and their associated boxes. Uppers were existing and lowers were new plywood stock. Doors were all removed and primed (old ones were sanded, too) and lived in my dining room as he did them over the course of a week, a couple of hours at a time. Maybe 25 labor hours....$32 an hour... So yes when you compare to a "remodeling" company, or kitchen/bath shop, or large painting outfit it's seems like a crazy price, but this was not that. And some will turn up their nose at my contractor (yes licensed & insured) hiring an old Polish immigrant who can't speak English, who took his time and was meticulous, and probably had more years' experience than I've been alive. I liked him.

And yes the gallon of Farrow & Ball paint was $99 (last years prices). Not sure what the oil primer cost. The cost for replacing all of the hardware was not included in that painter's fee but folded into my renovation. BTW I live in one of the pricier counties in the country Fairfield CT. My point in posting this kind of thing is not to broadcast my cheapness, but just to chime in to show there are alternate scenarios to the high-end Houzz filter. The Houzz business model gets these expensive professionals to pay huge fees under the premise they will get a lot of clients, and some do, but really only the very high-end ones. And if you are someone who can afford that I don't think you need to research painting costs :-)

IN short, some of us get by just fine by hiring a simple tradesman. Same premise as buying fabric on sale and having a local seamstress sew you up some curtain panels vs. a High End Interior Designer tell you it costs $1250 a panel.