Those are budget cabinets/doors and may not be worth paying to have them repaired.

At the low end, probably $3,000 to remove, repair, paint and reinstall just the doors and drawers.

Oh man i didnt realize they were budget cabinets! this is an older home- here is the full kitchen. There is alot i want to change eventually once we move but a full reno will not be in the budget for a long time.

They appear to be thermafoil which is a coating over top of mdf. There are videos that show ways to make repairs to these type of cabinets and there are videos of people completely removing the coating and repainting the cabinets but it is a lot of effort especially since they are not necessarily considered quality made. Since the cabinets are not in good condition and you are not happy with the layout, it is a good idea to plan to save for a complete renovation in the future. But also be aware that houses built in the 90's that have been maintained but not updated sometimes look ok on the surface but are at the age when they start needing ongoing work. *Make sure to get a thorough inspection, know the age and condition of the roof, the type of siding used, and if quest piping was used in the house.

Those are cheap cabinets but expensive to repair. The repair will not be worth it. Live with them until you save for new cabinets. I get that might be years.

You could try to find replacement doors for order at Lowes or HD, but a new door of the same color will be hard to find as these have probably changed color with age.

My neighbor had the same issue and she covered the cracks with strips of clear packing tape to stop the chipping until she renovates the kitchen. It sounds janky as hell, but I had been in her kitchen probably 10 times and not noticed it until she pointed it out.

A certain larger cabinet distributor has a setup in the shop to make such repairs. To fix this the right way, they will strip everything to a particle board and bond a thin laminate layer, usually a resin paper, using strong adhesive. They have special equipment that creates a laminate by fusing materials under high heat and pressure.

I used the company to fix a few drawer fronts and a door for a customer when they put up the house for sale. At the time (going back about 6 years ago the drawer front was about $50-60, and the door was $95. See if you can find someone locally who can do re-lamination.

Another way is to make a band-aid repair.

@GN Builders - How didnthe color match look afainst the older non-replaced doors and drawers? Your solution sounds much less than I would have anticipated.

Do you have an IKEA near you? Their cabinets are relatively inexpensive but have excellent reviews. They are ready-to-assemble (RTA) and you install them yourself, which is one reason they are less expensive than other mainstream brands. (They have a rail system that assists with the installation.)

While you may not be ready to do a full renovation now, it might be worth it to check out IKEA and see what your savings goal might be, at least for cabinets. (Other items such as appliances, fixtures, etc., will depend on your choices. Labor will depend on where you live.)

In our previous home, we waited 13 years (and saved) b/f we could do a gut remodel of our Kitchen. (We had 2 kids in daycare for about 6 of those years and then school, etc., so it took longer to save than I had hoped.) We didn't use IKEA (I didn't know about them back then), so it cost quite a bit more than it would have if we had used IKEA.

If interested, search the Kitchens Forum for IKEA cabinets or start a new post asking about them. Make sure your subject is explicit about asking for IKEA information.

You will be able to tell that the door and drawer fronts have been replaced, you have brand new items against a 20-25 year old kitchen.

They are not necessarily cheap cabinets. A paint finish on wood cabinets exposed to moisture from spills or overspray which is not wiped up immediately are all going to crack. It will happen no matter how much you spend if the family doesn't take care of the cabinets, and frankly which family does?

The only solution is to have cabinets faced in THERMOFOIL.

• Thermofoil (Rigid Thermofoil or RTF) kitchen cabinet doors offer a durable, easy-to-clean, and cost-effective alternative to paint, featuring a seamless vinyl finish over MDF. Popular styles include modernslab(flat),Shaker, andraised paneldesigns, available in various colors and finishes such as matte, high-gloss, and woodgrains.

Cabinet Door Styles

• Slab (Flat Panel): A modern, minimalist, and sleek option that provides a perfectly smooth, uninterrupted surface.
• Shaker: A timeless design with a flat center panel and square edges (e.g., Naples, Boca), often used for a versatile, clean look.
• Raised Panel: These doors feature a center panel that rises to the level of the frame, providing a more traditional, sophisticated, or country-style aesthetic (e.g., Henderson).
• Recessed Panel: Similar to Shaker, but often with more detailed or profiled inner edges for added dimension.
• Modern/Contemporary Styles: Includes options like "Modern Shaker Ogee" or specialized profiles like the vertically routed "Tulsa" design, which often feature textured or matte finishes.
• Glass Panel (Mullion): Frames designed to hold glass inserts, providing a decorative touch to a kitchen layout.

Key Features of Thermofoil Cabinets

• Durability & Care: Resistant to moisture and easy to maintain, making them ideal for high-humidity areas like kitchens and bathrooms.
• Surface Finishes: Available in a wide variety of options, including crisp whites, solid colors, textured woodgrains, and high-gloss or supermatte finishes.
• Seamless Construction: The thermofoil is vacuum-pressed, eliminating edge banding lines on the front face of the door.

Those ARE thermofoil. And, it's peeling. The thing that needs to happen in a remodel.

If you are up to it, you can use a hair dryer to heat the foil and peel it off. Video for you...

https://thermofoilrepair.com/?utm_source=adwords&utm_medium=528056643307&utm_campaign=REPAIR&utm_content=REPAIR%20-%20dynamic%20ad%20group&utm_keyword=&utm_matchtype=&campaign_id=325870715&ad_group_id=101915192075&ad_id=528056643307&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=325870715&gbraid=0AAAAADgPw73tMAaa7QdicMZPC0bAxCL92&gclid=Cj0KCQjwkrzPBhCqARIsAJN460nEQr_l_BfI-Qp9CSMNWp61jfdy4cKI-dgLRK92muhtV0zpkf2lUWcaAgNmEALw_wcB

Another (my) choice is to keep the existing cabinet boxes and refacing the fronts. That's pretty cost effective and could also allow you to keep the cabinets for years. My opinion, a box is a box. Keep what you have installed. And, you do not have to replace with white fronts.

https://cabinetdoorsnmore.com/blogs/news/new-rtf-cabinet-door-drawer-front-colors#:~:text=CAN%20CABINET%20DOORS%20BE%20A,that%20suits%20a%20new%20style.

I've seen Thermofoil peel from heat but not crack.

Your new home is very pretty. Beautiful floors, beautiful back yard. You said it was happening, "in some places." Can you swap your cabinet doors i.e. swap the ones that are chipping and cracking for ones that are the same size that don't get as much wear and aren't chipping and cracking? You may not have ones that are the same size, but in all likelihood the ones that get the most use or sunlight are the ones that are cracking. If you can swap them, at least it won't stare you in the face everyday until the renovation budget is ready.

Another option is to scout your local Habitat Reuse if you have one. I can almost guarantee a set of these cabinets will show up there although my Reuse center has gotten a little pricey so it might not be worth it as you'll have to buy a whole cabinet not just doors. But you never know, there may be just doors out there.

I had similar cabinets in a house about 30 years ago, could have even been the same cabinets. They aren't "cheap" but they are not fine cabinetry. They were the go-to for upgrading 1970's kitchens in the early to mid 90's. One tell, tell sign of not being fine cabinetry is the corner where the raised field meets the rails. In these cabinets, it's curved, indicating a router process rather than a right angle of cabinet joinery.

The good thing about these cabinets is that they are very straight and sturdy, don't warp. They will last you many, many more years.

Not sure if anyone mentioned this yet, but you have frameless cabinets. Easy to replace the doors.