So you opened Zillow to see what new kitchens cost and nearly spit out your coffee. $30,000 for cabinets? That’s a down payment on a car. Here’s what nobody tells you – you probably don’t need new cabinets. You just need better-looking ones.
Paint Lions has been painting kitchen cabinet Toronto since 2023. We’ve worked in everything from tiny King West studios to sprawling Rosedale homes. The result is always the same – people walk into their kitchen after we’re done and can’t believe it’s the same room.
Kitchen cabinet painting costs a fraction of replacement. We’re talking $3,500 instead of $25,000. Your solid wood boxes from 1995 are probably sturdier than anything you’d buy new anyway.
The Real Cost of Kitchen Cabinet Painting in Toronto
A teacher in Leslieville called us last fall. She’d been saving for three years to replace her kitchen. Had $12,000 set aside. We painted her cabinets for $4,200. She used the leftover money to redo her backyard deck.
Most Toronto kitchens run between $3,000-$6,500 for complete kitchen cabinet painting. Small condo kitchens start around $2,800. Big suburban kitchens with tons of storage might hit $7,500. Still way cheaper than ripping everything out.
The price depends on how many cabinet doors you have, whether you want the interior painted, and what kind of finish you pick. Glossy looks modern but shows every fingerprint. Matte hides more but can be harder to clean. We help you figure out what works for how you actually live.
Popular Cabinet Colors Toronto Homeowners Choose
White still dominates – maybe 60% of our jobs. Makes sense for resale value and it brightens up those dark Toronto kitchens in older homes. But color is making a comeback.
We’re doing a lot of two-tone kitchens now. White uppers, navy or forest green lowers. Or painting just the island a different color. A family in Riverdale did cream uppers with a deep teal island and it looked incredible.
Greige (that gray-beige hybrid) works well in homes with oak floors. True gray can look too cold. Black is risky but stunning when done right – we painted a CityPlace condo kitchen matte black and the owner said it felt like a high-end restaurant.
For kitchen cabinet paint colors, think about your counters and backsplash. White cabinets work with anything. Bold colors need to complement what you’ve already got.
Paint or Replace? How to Decide for Your Kitchen
Replace if your cabinet boxes are falling apart, water damaged, or you genuinely need a different layout. If doors are sagging off broken hinges and the structure is compromised, painting won’t fix that.
Paint if the bones are good. Solid wood cabinets from the 80s and 90s? Those are better quality than most new builder-grade stuff. MDF boxes in good shape? Perfect candidates for repainting painted kitchen cabinets.
We saw a house in North Toronto where the owners were about to gut their kitchen. Cabinets were oak, dated finish, but structurally perfect. We painted them white with new modern hardware. Cost them $5,000 instead of $40,000.
Maintaining Your Newly Painted Cabinets
Clean spills right away – don’t let spaghetti sauce dry on your cabinet door overnight. Use mild dish soap and a soft cloth for regular cleaning. Skip the harsh chemicals and abrasive scrubbers.
The paint we use is tough, but it’s not indestructible. Don’t slam doors. Be gentle around handles where you’ll touch most often. Treat your cabinets well and they’ll look new for a decade.
We tell people this is like getting your car painted – you don’t run it through those automatic car washes with the hard brushes. Same idea with cabinets. Be reasonable and they’ll last.
Toronto-Specific Cabinet Painting Challenges We Handle
Older Toronto homes come with quirks. Walls aren’t square. Cabinets were built on-site by someone in 1950 who eyeballed measurements. Doors don’t match. We’ve seen it all.
Humidity is real here. Summer gets sticky, winter heating dries everything out. Wood expands and contracts. That’s why we use paint formulated for temperature swings – prevents cracking and peeling.
Condo work has its own challenges. Building rules about work hours. Getting equipment up elevators. Protecting common areas. We’ve got relationships with property managers across Toronto and know how to work within building requirements..
How We Paint Kitchen Cabinets
We don’t just lay down drop cloths and start spraying. That’s how paint gets everywhere it shouldn’t be.
First, we set up a temporary spray booth right in your home. Usually that’s in your garage or basement. We bring professional ventilation equipment and create a clean environment where we can spray your cabinet doors and drawer fronts.
Inside your kitchen, we go room by room protecting everything. Countertops get covered with plastic and tape. We wrap appliances, mask off tiles, cover light fixtures, and protect your floors with paper. Homeowners across GTA are usually impressed by how well everything is protected, but that’s how we avoid overspray getting anywhere.
Your backsplash, ceiling, walls – everything gets masked.
This is where most of DIY jobs fail. You can’t just slap kitchen cabinet paint over dirty, greasy surfaces and expect it to stick.
We begin by removing all doors, drawers, and hardware. Everything gets labeled so it goes back exactly where it came from. Then comes the deep clean, we use commercial-grade degreasers that cut through years of cooking residue. The stuff that builds up near your stove? That invisible grease film? It all has to come off.
Next is sanding. We sand every surface for primer to stick. It’s not aggressive sanding, we’re not trying to remove the old finish completely, just rough it up enough for adhesion.
Got scratches or dings? We fill them with automotive wood filler, let it dry, then sand it smooth. By the time we’re done with prep, your cabinets feel and look smooth.
A couple in Scarborough had cabinets that looked beat up, scratches from kids playing, a chip where someone dropped a pan. After preparation, you couldn’t tell there was ever any damage.
Here’s where the magic happens with painting kitchen cabinets. We use specialized kitchen cabinet paint that’s designed to handle moisture, heat, grease, and constant touching.
First coat: high-quality bonding primer. This seals the wood and creates a base layer. We spray it on for an even, smooth finish, then let it dry completely. Once dry, we sand it to knock down any texture.
Second coat: before another layer of primer we inspect cabinets again. Yes, two coats of primer. This ensures complete coverage and a perfect base. More sanding between coats.
Now for the actual paint. We apply two coats of finish paint, a durable 2 component paint. The first coat gets sanded lightly after drying. The second coat is the final finish.
When we paint kitchen cabinets, we pay attention to every detail. The inside edges, the corners where doors meet frames, the spots you’ll see when you open a cabinet, everything gets the same careful treatment.
We worked on a kitchen in Oakville where the homeowner wanted a specific blue-gray colour she saw on Pinterest. Our paint supplier mixed custom kitchen cabinet paint colours to match exactly. She sent us pictures six months later, still looked perfect, no chips or peeling.
We treat your home like our own. After the final coat dries, we carefully remove all the masking and protection materials. Everything gets packed up and taken away, you won’t find random pieces of tape stuck to your floor weeks later.
We reinstall all doors and drawers, adjust hinges so everything closes smoothly, and put back all your hardware (or install new hardware if you upgraded).
Before we leave, we do a final walkthrough with you. We check every cabinet, make sure you’re happy with the kitchen cabinet painting, and answer any questions about care and maintenance.
Where We Paint Cabinets in Toronto?
We cover the whole city. Downtown condos in the Financial District. Victorian houses in Trinity Bellwoods. Suburban homes in Scarborough and Etobicoke. Wherever you’ve got cabinets that need paint to paint kitchen cabinets, we’ll come take a look.
The Beaches, Bloorcourt, Corso Italia, Don Mills, East York, Junction Triangle, Lawrence Park, Little Italy, Mimico, Moss Park, Parkdale, Regent Park, St. Clair West, Summerhill, Swansea, The Annex, The Danforth, Willowdale – we’ve worked in all these neighborhoods and more.
Visit our kitchen cabinet painting portfolio to see more finished kitchens
