Painting, refacing, and replacing cabinets solve different problems at very different price points. Here's how to pick the right one for your kitchen.
Cabinet painting keeps your existing boxes and doors and changes the color and finish, typically $3,500–$8,000 for a full kitchen. Refacing replaces doors and drawer fronts with new ones while keeping the boxes, typically $8,000–$18,000. Full replacement tears everything out for new cabinetry, typically $15,000–$35,000+. Painting is the right call when the layout and boxes are still good; replacement is right when the layout itself needs to change.
We remove doors and drawer fronts, degrease and sand every surface, spray a bonding primer, then spray 2 finish coats of a hard, factory-style waterborne enamel like Sherwin-Williams Emerald Urethane or Benjamin Moore Advance. Hardware often gets updated at the same time.
For a standard 25–35 linear-foot Jacksonville-area kitchen, expect $3,500–$8,000 depending on cabinet count, door style (raised panel takes longer than flat slab), and whether uppers and lowers are two different colors. Timeline is typically 5–7 working days, with 2–3 of those being dry/cure time between coats.
Cabinets that are structurally solid — no water damage, doors hang straight, boxes aren't particleboard falling apart — but the color is outdated (oak, cherry, honey-toned wood) or the finish is worn. Extremely common in Mandarin, Fleming Island, and Middleburg homes built in the '90s and 2000s with heavy wood-tone cabinets.
The cabinet boxes stay in place, but doors and drawer fronts are replaced entirely with new ones, and exposed box surfaces get a matching veneer skin. You get a genuinely new look and new door style, not just a new color.
Refacing a full kitchen typically runs $8,000–$18,000 in the Jacksonville market, and takes 1–3 weeks since doors are custom-ordered. It costs roughly 40–60% of full replacement.
Homeowners who want a different door style (shaker instead of raised panel, for example) but whose layout and box condition are fine. Not something we offer directly — it's worth knowing about as a comparison point even though our focus is cabinet painting.
Complete demo and new cabinetry, often paired with a layout change — moving the sink, adding an island, reconfiguring corner cabinets.
$15,000–$35,000+ for a mid-range kitchen with stock or semi-custom cabinets, more for custom. Timeline runs 4–8 weeks including cabinet lead time, and your kitchen is unusable for a good chunk of it.
Water-damaged boxes, particleboard that's swelling or delaminating, or a layout that genuinely doesn't work for how you use the kitchen. If the boxes are failing, no amount of paint or new doors fixes that.
Open every door and drawer. Check for swelling, delamination, or soft spots around the sink base — those are replacement signs. If everything opens and closes fine and the boxes are square, painting or refacing both work, and painting is the far cheaper route to a completely different-looking kitchen.
Sprayed cabinet doors with a proper enamel look factory-smooth — no brush marks, no roller texture. That's the difference between a $3,500 painted kitchen that looks like new cabinetry and a DIY paint job that looks like painted cabinets. Spray equipment, dust-controlled setup, and the right dry times between coats are what make the difference.
A properly sprayed cabinet finish with a hard urethane-modified enamel holds up to daily kitchen use — grease, water splashes, kids' hands — for 8–10+ years before it needs a touch-up, as long as it's allowed to cure fully before heavy use.
Some contractors quote cabinet painting per linear foot ($100–$180/ft is typical locally), others quote a flat price for the whole kitchen. Either way, ask what's included: are drawer boxes painted inside, is hardware included, how many coats, and is there a cure-time guarantee before normal use.
Not sure if your cabinets are a paint job or a bigger project? Text or call (904) 593-4372 and we'll tell you straight.
Painting is cheaper — typically $3,500–$8,000 for a full kitchen versus $8,000–$18,000 for refacing. Refacing gives you a new door style; painting gives you a new color and finish on your existing doors.
Most wood cabinets can be painted well. Thermofoil or laminate cabinets can be painted too but need a specialized bonding primer since standard primer doesn't adhere to that surface.
Check for swollen or delaminating particleboard, soft spots near the sink base, or doors that no longer hang straight. If the boxes themselves are failing, painting won't fix that.
A properly sprayed enamel finish typically holds up 8–10+ years with normal kitchen use, as long as the cure time is respected before heavy daily use.
Text or call (904) 593-4372 to get your project rolling, or request a free estimate.
Prominent Painting — 451 Dale Ct, Macclenny, FL 32063 — (904) 593-4372 — prominentpaintinginc@gmail.com. Open daily 7:00 AM – 7:00 PM.