Paint, replace the doors, or renovate?

Oct 23

Updated October 2026

If your cabinet boxes are solid and the layout works, recoat them: a sprayed factory finish is the lowest-cost route to a kitchen that looks new, at $4,180 + HST for up to 35 doors and drawer fronts. Replace only the doors when the door style or material is the problem, and renovate only when walls, plumbing, appliances or the layout itself have to change.

Most guides treat this as one decision with three price tags. It is three different problems, and the right answer depends on which one your kitchen actually has. Here is how to tell, and what each costs, so you can price it yourself online tonight.

Our goal is to deliver each client a kitchen with a look and feel that is polished, with the latest conveniences.

Which problem does your kitchen have?

Stand in your kitchen and ask what, specifically, is wrong with it.

The finish is wrong. The colour is dated, the doors are worn around the handles, the boxes look tired. But the doors are flat, the boxes are square, the drawers run true. That is a finish problem. Recoat.

The doors are wrong. The style is arched or raised-panel and you want shaker or slab. The thermofoil is peeling at the edges. You have oak and you want a smooth, grain-free look. That is a door problem. New doors, same boxes.

The layout is wrong. The fridge is in the wrong place. You want an island. A wall has to go. The boxes are swollen, crumbling or water-damaged. That is a kitchen problem. Renovate, and do not let anyone talk you into painting first.

Option one, recoat the cabinets you have

The New Coating Package is $4,180 + HST for up to 35 doors and drawer fronts, boxes included. Larger kitchens go up incrementally with the number of doors. Your doors and drawer fronts go to our shop and get sprayed with an industry leading European two-part (2K) cabinet coating that cures into a hard, cross-linked shell. It is far tougher against chips, scratches and daily wear than ordinary paint, waterborne and low-VOC, it will not yellow, and it resists moisture and kitchen chemicals. The boxes are sprayed on site in the same coating and colour.

What you keep: counters, backsplash, sink, appliances, flooring, layout. What you skip: permits, demolition, months of dust. Most kitchens take 4 to 6 working days, 2 or 3 of them in your home, and you cook every night.

Who it is for: the 10 to 20 year old kitchen in a family home, townhome or condo built in the 2000s or 2010s, the kind you find all over Oakville, Burlington, Mississauga, Ancaster, Toronto, North York and Milton. It looks dated on the outside but has boxes in excellent condition, not very different from the new boxes that would replace them. If that is your kitchen, this is a real, impactful update at a fraction of the cost of a renovation.

Option two, new doors on your existing boxes

If the doors are the problem, you do not need new boxes. Made-to-measure doors and drawer fronts are $16 per square foot + HST, in traditional shaker, thin shaker, beveled shaker or slab. They are fitted on your existing boxes, and the boxes are recoated in the same 2K coating to match. From where you stand, everything you see is new or newly coated.

This is also the answer for peeling thermofoil. It cannot be saved, and we will not pretend otherwise.

With new doors you can also convert a double-door base cabinet to deep drawers, $778.50 + HST for two or $1,109.07 + HST for three, per cabinet. Add corner swing-outs, lazy susans, pull-out waste and recycling bins, soft-close Blum hinges and your pick of 40 designer pulls, and you have the features people usually only consider at $35,000 or more on a full renovation.

Where does refacing fit?

Refacing is the industry word for new doors on old boxes with a new skin applied to the outside of the boxes. Our version skips the skin and sprays the boxes themselves in the same 2K coating as the new doors, so there are no seams and no edges to lift later. If someone quotes you refacing, ask what goes on the boxes and how long it is warranted.

Option three, renovate

Sometimes the honest answer is a renovation. If you want to move walls, plumbing or appliances, change the layout or add an island, you need a contractor and a permit. If the counters are being replaced anyway and the cabinets are coming out, do it all at once. If the boxes are swollen or water-damaged, no coating will fix them. We would rather lose the job than coat a kitchen that should have been replaced.

What stands behind the work

A 20-year no-peel warranty, the longest cabinet coating warranty we know of in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area.
The Day One Guarantee: "Any scratch or ding in the first 60 days, no matter how it happened, and we respray it like new at no charge. Once, on up to one third of your doors, drawer fronts and side panels."
Fully insured for $2 million and WSIB covered.
A 4.9 rating from 14 Google reviews.

One thing to know before you decide

We do not rush the cure, so we can take on 4 to 5 projects a month, maximum. There is strong demand from homeowners across Oakville, Burlington, Mississauga, Ancaster, Toronto, North York, Milton and Hamilton for exactly this kind of update, and months fill in order. If you have a date in mind, price it online now and hold it with a deposit. Nobody has to come to your house to tell you a number.

A gift for reading this far

Use the code DPulls when you price your kitchen and we will add free designer pulls, up to $800 in value, to your project.

Price your kitchen with free designer pulls

Frequently asked questions

Can oak cabinets be painted? Yes. Oak recoats well. The grain texture stays visible under a smooth coating, so if you want grain-free, choose new doors on your existing boxes.

Can peeling thermofoil be painted? No. Thermofoil that is peeling or lifting cannot be saved. Replace the doors and keep the boxes.

Do I need a permit for any of this? No. Nothing structural, electrical or plumbing changes, so there is no permit and no demolition.

Where do you work, and can I get a price without a sales visit? We work across Oakville, Burlington, Mississauga, Ancaster, Toronto, North York, Milton and Hamilton, at the same price. Choose recoat or new doors, add upgrades, and see the price before HST in a few minutes online.