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How to Paint Kitchen Cabinets: A Step by Step NZ Guide
- amigospainters
- 4 days ago
- 6 min read
To paint kitchen cabinets, take the doors off, clean every surface with sugar soap to cut the grease, sand lightly so paint can grip, then prime and roll on two coats of a hard-wearing waterborne enamel like Resene Enamacryl. Let each coat cure fully and it will last for years.
Your kitchen doors look tired, but the layout's fine and a full renovation feels like overkill. So can you just paint the cabinets yourself and get a finish that doesn't look like a botch job? Yes, you can.
Painting kitchen cabinets is one of the best value jobs in the whole house. It's also the one most people rush and regret. The paint peels at the handles within a year because the prep got skipped. This guide walks through how to paint kitchen cabinets properly, what to use here in NZ, and when it's smarter to call a painter instead.
How much does it cost to paint kitchen cabinets in NZ?
Doing it yourself, you're looking at roughly $300 to $1,000 for paint, primer, sandpaper, brushes and a decent roller. The paint is the big cost, and it's the one thing you don't want to cheap out on.
A professional spray finish costs more, usually around $2,070 to $4,140 plus GST depending on the size of the kitchen, with painters charging roughly $80 to $150 an hour for 15 to 25 hours of work. You can see a full NZ cost breakdown here.
Now compare that to a new kitchen. A mid-range replacement in Auckland sits between $18,000 and $35,000, and premium jobs push past $60,000. If your cabinet boxes are sound and you simply hate the colour, painting saves you tens of thousands.
The other hidden cost is your time. A DIY cabinet job is cheap on materials but heavy on hours, so factor in a long weekend or two. A painter charges more up front, but the job is done in a few days and the finish is sprayed, not brushed. Which way you go usually comes down to how much spare time you actually have.
Can you paint over your existing cabinets?
Paint sticks beautifully to most cabinet surfaces with the right primer, but not every job is worth doing. Here's when painting your cabinets is the right call:
Your cabinet boxes and doors are solid, with no swelling, water damage or crumbling MDF edges.
The surface is timber, melamine, laminate or already painted, all of which take paint once they're properly prepped.
You like your kitchen layout and just want a fresh colour or a cleaner finish.
The doors still close properly and the hinges work, so you're not throwing good paint at failing hardware.
You're happy to live without the kitchen for three to five days while the coats cure.
If the doors are warped, the MDF under the sink has soaked up water, or the layout drives you mad every day, painting is a false economy. In that case a reface or partial reno makes more sense. For ideas on freshening the rest of the room while you're at it, our guide to interior painting in Auckland covers walls, trim and ceilings.
How do you paint kitchen cabinets step by step?
The result lives or dies on prep. Rushing the cleaning and sanding is exactly why most DIY cabinet jobs peel. Follow these steps in order and don't skip the boring ones.
Take the doors and drawer fronts off, and label each one with masking tape so they go back exactly where they came from. Unscrew the handles and hinges too.
Clean every surface with sugar soap or Resene Paint Prep and Housewash to strip out kitchen grease, then rinse and let it dry. Grease is the number one cause of peeling paint.
Sand all surfaces with 150 grit sandpaper until the sheen is gone. You're not stripping the old finish, just keying it so the new paint can grab on. Wipe off the dust with a clean, dry cloth.
Fill any dents or chips with wood filler, sand smooth once it's dry, then mask off anything you're not painting, like glass inserts or hinges.
Apply a quality primer or undercoat suited to the surface. Melamine and laminate need a bonding primer, while bare timber takes a standard wood undercoat. Let it dry fully.
Roll and brush on your first topcoat. Use a small foam or microfibre roller for the flat panels and a good brush for the edges, then lay off lightly to remove any roller texture.
Let the first coat cure, then lightly sand, wipe clean and apply the second coat. Two thin coats always beat one thick one.
For the technique behind a smooth, brush-mark-free finish, Resene's cabinetry guide is worth a read. And if your reno also involves new plasterwork, get the order of plastering and painting right before you start.
What's the best paint for kitchen cabinets in NZ?
Kitchen cabinets get touched, wiped and knocked all day, so standard wall paint won't survive. You want a hard-wearing enamel built for high-traffic surfaces.
Resene Enamacryl is a waterborne gloss enamel that dries hard like the old oil enamels, but without the yellowing or the heavy fumes, and it wipes clean easily.
Dulux Renovation Range Cabinet Doors is made specifically for this job and pairs with its own primer for melamine and laminate.
For primer, a bonding undercoat such as Dulux 1Step Prep grips the slick surfaces that standard primers slide straight off.
Waterborne enamels have come a long way. They're tougher, lower odour and far easier to recoat than the solvent based paints your parents used. Stick to a satin or semi-gloss sheen on cabinets, because it wipes clean and hides minor imperfections better than full gloss. If you're stuck on colour, our take on the best paint colours for Auckland homes is a good place to start.
Whatever you choose, do a small test patch on the back of a door first. Leave it a day or two and check the colour in your kitchen's actual light, and give it a fingernail scratch once it's cured. It's a five-minute step that saves you repainting a whole kitchen in the wrong shade.
Our honest take on painting your own cabinets
Here's the truth. Painting cabinets isn't hard, but it is fiddly and slow. The actual painting is the easy part. The prep, the drying time and the patience to do two proper coats is where DIY jobs fall apart.
If you've got a free long weekend, a steady hand and you're happy to wait between coats, you can absolutely do this yourself and save a small fortune. Where people come unstuck is trying to squeeze it around a busy week, or spraying without the gear to get an even finish.
We paint kitchens across Auckland, and plenty of our jobs start as DIY projects that grew bigger than expected. If you'd rather have it sprayed for a factory-smooth finish, or you've hit a snag halfway through, we're happy to take it from there.
Painting Kitchen Cabinets: Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need to sand cabinets before painting?
Yes. Sanding with 150 grit knocks the sheen off so the primer and paint can grip. You don't have to sand back to bare timber, you just need to key the surface. Skip this and your paint will peel at the edges within months.
How long do painted kitchen cabinets last?
Done properly with the right enamel, painted cabinets hold up for many years of daily use. The key is good prep and a hard-wearing waterborne enamel rather than standard wall paint. Cheap paint and poor cleaning are what cut that lifespan short.
Can you paint melamine or laminate cabinets?
Yes, but they're the trickiest surface because paint struggles to grip the slick finish. The trick is a bonding primer made for slick surfaces, applied over a clean, lightly sanded door. Without it, the topcoat will scratch straight off.
How long does it take to paint a kitchen?
For a DIY job, set aside three to five days. The painting itself is quick, but you need time for cleaning, sanding, priming and two topcoats with proper drying in between. Rushing the drying is the fastest way to ruin the finish.
Should I brush, roll or spray cabinet doors?
For DIY, a small foam or microfibre roller on the flat areas with a brush for the edges gives a great result. Spraying gives the smoothest, factory-like finish but needs the right equipment and careful masking. If you want that sprayed look without the hassle, it's worth getting a painter to quote it.
Is it cheaper to paint or replace kitchen cabinets?
Painting is far cheaper in almost every case. A DIY repaint costs a few hundred dollars against tens of thousands for a new kitchen. Replacing only wins when the boxes are water damaged or the layout doesn't work, because then you'd be painting something that needs to go anyway.
Thinking about a kitchen refresh?
Whether you want your cabinets sprayed to a flawless finish, or you've started a DIY job that's grown bigger than planned, we paint kitchens across Auckland every week. We'll tell you honestly whether painting or replacing makes more sense for yours.
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