A kitchen can look tired long before it wears out. The carcasses are sound, the layout works, the drawers still run, and yet the orange-toned oak or high-gloss cream that looked right fifteen years ago now dates the whole house. The standard answer is a new kitchen. The less advertised answer is to keep everything and respray the doors, drawer fronts and panels in a factory-grade finish.
Done properly, spraying gives a result most visitors cannot tell from new, for a fraction of the price and in a fraction of the time. Done badly, it peels within a year. This guide covers when spraying makes sense, when it does not, and how to tell a proper job from a cheap one.
In short: if you like your layout and your cabinets are solid, spray. If the layout is wrong or the carcasses are failing, replace. Spraying changes the colour, not the kitchen.
The comparison at a glance
| Professional respray | Replacement doors only | Full new kitchen | |
| Typical cost | Lowest: often a quarter to a third of a new kitchen | Middle | Highest, before worktops and appliances |
| Time without a kitchen | 3 to 5 days | 1 to 2 days fitting, weeks of lead time | 2 to 4 weeks |
| Changes layout? | No | No | Yes |
| Colour choice | Any colour, matched to a sample | Manufacturer’s range | Manufacturer’s range |
| Waste | Almost none | Old doors to landfill | Whole kitchen to landfill |
| Expected life of finish | 10 years or more with a two-pack or acid-catalyst lacquer | As new | As new |
When spraying is the right call
- Solid timber or good-quality MDF doors. Both take a sprayed finish very well.
- A layout you are happy with. If you would keep the same cabinets in the same places, there is nothing a new kitchen gives you that paint cannot.
- Sound carcasses and hinges. Hinges and drawer runners can be swapped cheaply during the job.
- You are selling or letting. A resprayed kitchen photographs as new and costs a fraction of the uplift it gives.
- You want a colour nobody stocks. Sprayers mix to any reference, so the cabinets can match your walls, tiles or a fabric sample exactly.
When it is not
- Peeling vinyl-wrap doors. If the foil is lifting, it has to be stripped completely or the doors replaced. Painting over loose wrap never lasts.
- Swollen chipboard. Water damage around the sink or dishwasher cannot be painted away.
- A layout that does not work. Too little worktop, no space for a dishwasher, a fridge in the wrong place. Paint fixes none of these.
- Very cheap flat-pack units near end of life. If the carcasses are sagging, new doors or new paint are money after bad.
What a proper spray job involves
The difference between a finish that lasts ten years and one that chips in ten months is almost entirely preparation. This is what you are paying for.
- Doors and drawer fronts removed and taken to a spray booth, or a sealed, extracted spray area set up on site.
- Degreasing. Kitchens are coated in years of airborne cooking oil. Every surface is cleaned with a proper degreaser, not just wiped.
- Sanding and filling. The old finish is keyed, dents and old handle holes are filled, and edges are eased.
- Adhesion primer. A bonding primer suited to the substrate: different for bare timber, lacquered timber, MDF and laminate.
- Two or three sprayed top coats of a hard-wearing lacquer, de-nibbed between coats.
- Frames and end panels sprayed in place, with the room masked from floor to ceiling.
- Curing, refitting and adjustment, usually with new handles and soft-close hinges if wanted.
Brushing or rolling cabinet paint at home skips most of these steps. It can look fine on day one. It is the degreasing, the primer and the hardness of a sprayed lacquer that make the finish survive daily use.
Questions to ask before you hire
| Ask | A good answer sounds like | A warning sign |
| What paint system do you use? | A named two-pack or acid-catalyst lacquer with a matching primer | “Good quality kitchen paint” |
| Where are the doors sprayed? | Off site in a booth, or in a fully masked and extracted area | “In your garage” or “outside if it is dry” |
| How do you prepare the surface? | Degrease, sand, fill, adhesion primer | “A light rub down” |
| Can I see a job from two years ago? | Yes, with the client’s contact | Only photos from the day of completion |
| What is guaranteed, and for how long? | Written guarantee against peeling and adhesion failure | Nothing in writing |
Most established decorating firms now offer kitchen spraying alongside interior and exterior painting. OS Decor in Dublin is one example, and their project photos give a fair idea of the finish to expect from a professional job compared with a brushed one.
Making the most of the change
- Swap the handles. New handles do as much as the colour to update the look. Fill the old holes before spraying if the centres differ.
- Do the walls at the same time. The room is already masked and the decorators are already there.
- Consider two tones. A darker island or base units with lighter wall units looks deliberate and hides scuffs where they happen most.
- Choose the sheen carefully. A 10 to 20% sheen satin hides fingerprints and looks closest to a factory-painted door. High gloss shows every mark.
How to look after a sprayed finish
- First fortnight: close doors gently and avoid hanging wet tea towels over them while the lacquer hardens fully.
- Cleaning: warm water, a drop of washing-up liquid and a soft cloth. Avoid abrasive pads and strong degreasers.
- Steam and heat: use the extractor, and keep the kettle and toaster away from the underside of wall units.
- Touch-ups: ask the sprayer to leave a small labelled pot of the exact colour for the odd chip.
Frequently asked questions
How long before I can use the kitchen? Light use the day the doors go back on. The lacquer reaches full hardness over one to two weeks, so be gentle at first.
Will it chip? Any painted surface can chip under a hard knock, including factory-painted doors. A sprayed lacquer is considerably tougher than brushed paint, and chips can be touched in.
Can laminate or melamine be sprayed? Yes, with the right adhesion primer. It is the one substrate where the choice of primer matters most.
Is it worth it on an expensive kitchen? That is where it makes most sense. A solid timber, in-frame kitchen has decades of life left; changing its colour is the rational upgrade.
If the bones of your kitchen are good, get a spraying quote before you get a kitchen quote. The gap between the two numbers usually settles the question.
