These Are the All-time Brands of Paint for Kitchen Cabinets to Update Your Way

We researched the best brands to transform your kitchen

Camryn Rabideau By

Updated on 10/29/21

We independently research, exam, review, and recommend the best products—acquire more nigh our process. If yous buy something through our links, nosotros may earn a committee.

The Bandbox / Chloe Jeong

A full kitchen remodel is a time-consuming, expensive, "how long can I survive without a sink?" undertaking. If you lot don't take the heart or the upkeep for a renovation right at present, the fastest, easiest way to bandbox up your space is with a fresh coat of paint on your kitchen cabinets. It tin can requite new life to tired cabinets, and is far less costly.

The hardest role? Choosing the right paint (and pigment brand) for your cabinets. Picking a color is merely one of several important decisions you'll take to brand. Gloss or semi-gloss? Oil or latex? We're hither to assist you narrow down the best options.

Scroll on for the best brands of kitchen cabinet pigment.

Valspar Pro

 Courtesy of Lowe's

If you want to paint your cabinets white, one of the all-time paints you tin can use is Valspar Pro Contractor Glaze, an alkyd enamel or oil-based paint. This professional-course pigment is great for trim, cabinets, and other accents, peculiarly considering its high-gloss finish hands wipes clean and keeps its shine, fifty-fifty after being washed multiple times.

Valspar Pro Contractor Coat has excellent catamenia and leveling, which results in an incredibly smooth, uniform finish, and it can be brushed or sprayed on. Plus, this affordable paint is easy to employ and has a beautiful finish.

Good Buying Tip

"High gloss content helps hide imperfections and limits fingerprints from showing. About importantly, it is like shooting fish in a barrel to clean, which is a requirement when selecting paint for kitchen cabinets." —Anne R. Kokoskie, Interior Designer

Sherwin-Williams Emerald Urethane Trim Enamel

 Sherwin-Williams

For a paint that'southward both stain- and scratch-resistant—two important characteristics for kitchen cabinets—and comes in a broad range of colors, you can't go wrong with Sherwin-Williams Emerald Urethane Trim Enamel paints. This line of paints is designed for high-traffic surfaces such as doors and trim, and y'all can choose from dozens of Sherwin-Williams colors and custom tints, as well every bit satin, semi-gloss, and gloss finishes.

Semi-gloss is the best selection for durability, as it tin can withstand frequent cleaning, and reviewers say the Emerald Urethane Trim Enamel delivers smoothen, consistent coverage with merely ii or iii coats. Yet, several people say it can be tricky to apply and is non very forgiving, so it'southward not the all-time option for novice DIYers.

Expert Buying Tip

"Sherwin-Williams Emerald Urethane Trim Enamel provides exceptional washability, durability, and stain and scratch resistance. In fact, most stains wipe clean with water or mild soap. Information technology also has advanced stain-blocking technology to seal in stains already on your walls." —Rick Watson, Director of Product Data

Farrow & Ball

 Courtesy of Farrow & Ball

Another high-gloss paint that will requite kitchen cabinets a beautiful shiny finish is Farrow & Ball Full Gloss—a high-end water-based variety that'south a favorite of many designers.

This line of pigment is available in a diverseness of colors, including both neutral and bold shades. For case, Stiffkey Blue is perfect for making a statement in your kitchen or dining room. For a more traditional approach, opt for a color similar Ammonite, which is a soft and understated gray.

While information technology delivers a beautiful, durable finish, this make of paint is quite the splurge, retailing for more than than $100 per gallon.

Expert Buying Tip

"Farrow and Ball has a 95% gloss paint that makes cleaning as easy every bit glass. Its ability to create a 'just like new' cease on restored cabinets is amazing." —Anne R. Kokoskie, Interior Designer

BEHR Premium Interior Cabinet & Trim Enamel

 Behr

If you don't want a sleeky end on your cabinets, BEHR Premium Interior Chiffonier & Trim Enamel is a budget-friendly semi-gloss pigment. This water-based production delivers a durable end that resists clay, grime, and mildew, and it dries rapidly, allowing you to recoat in merely two hours.

It provides a sleek and radiant sheen that is perfect for both high-traffic areas and high-moisture areas. Reviewers like that this paint is low-smell and easy to apply, but several note that it takes quite a few coats of paint to completely comprehend dark materials.

Insl-x Cabinet Coat

 Courtesy of Home Depot

Another popular paint stop is satin, which is a proficient middle footing between flat and glossy paint. If this is the finish you adopt, Insl-x Cabinet Coat is a water-based formula that's specially designed for refinishing kitchen and bathroom cabinets. This brand of pigment has superior adhesion, allowing you lot to pigment over a diverseness of hard surfaces, such as polyurethane and varnish, without primer, and its excellent flow and leveling will give you lot a shine, professional-looking terminate.

Insl-x Cabinet Glaze dries to a durable satin finish that resists chipping, scuffing, grease, and water, making it like shooting fish in a barrel to clean and an ideal option for kitchen cabinets. Reviewers highly recommend this brand, writing that it'due south easy to apply with a brush or roller and wears extremely well, property upwards over years of article of clothing and tear. However, it does take several coats to fully cover darker surfaces.

BEHR Chalk Decorative Paint

 BEHR

For a trendy farmhouse look, you can paint your cabinets with matte or apartment paint like the BEHR Chalk Decorative Paint. This line of paint comes in a wide range of muted colors, and it delivers a smooth, velvety matte finish that creates a more rustic look on your cabinets.

This water-based chalk paint tin can exist applied to nigh any surface without primer, and it provides cracking coverage so that you tin can apply fewer coats. Nevertheless, if you're using this matte paint on a loftier-traffic surface such every bit kitchen cabinets, yous'll want to seal it with wax or water-based clear sealers to improve its immovability.

Rust Oleum

 Dwelling Depot

If your cabinets are worn or dated, they might need more than than only a coat of paint. The Rust-Oleum Cabinet Transformations is a multi-step DIY cabinet transformation system that will help to totally redo your cabinets, making them look as good every bit new. It includes all the supplies you demand to cover upward to 100 square feet of cabinets, and you lot can choose from white, gray, or espresso finishes.

The showtime pace in the Rust-Oleum Cabinet Transformations kit is a de-glosser that saves yous from having to sand or prime number previously finished surfaces. Side by side, y'all utilize two layers of the tinted bond coat, which provides maximum adhesion. And finally, you top information technology off with a durable, protective topcoat, which makes the surface scratch-resistant and gives your cabinets a satin finish. There's also an optional decorative glaze.

Reviewers love that this cabinet transformation kit is and then affordable and includes everything y'all need to completely redo kitchen cabinets. Many notation that it's easy to use, simply it tin can take several days to complete all the steps carefully.

Finish

As if choosing a cabinet paint colour wasn't difficult enough, you'll besides need to select a stop: semi-gloss, gloss, or eggshell/flat. Semi-gloss is considered the best for kitchen cabinets, as information technology is durable —super of import in a high traffic surface area like a kitchen—and easy to clean. Gloss is some other bully, durable selection if you lot like a shiny, modern look. Steer away from eggshell or flat finishes though, as they aren't as washable, a must for all the splatters and spills that inevitably end upwardly in kitchens.

Blazon of Cabinet

The fabric of your cabinets will determine the best paint for them. Do you have solid wood cabinets, or are they fabricated from MDF? Are they laminate or composed of woods veneer over particle board? The material volition determine how much (if any) sanding is necessary, and if you'll need an oil-based primer. See The All-time Types of Kitchen Cabinet Paint for the full breakup of chiffonier materials, and which pigment is best for them.

Oil vs. Latex

In that location are pros and cons of both oil and latex paints, which y'all'll demand to consider when choosing kitchen chiffonier paint. While oil-based paints provide good coverage and a durable finish, they're rough on the environment and have long stretches of time to dry between coats. Latex-based paints, meanwhile, dries chop-chop and is a friendlier option for Mother Nature only is less durable in terms of scrubbing and requires more than prepping to ensure an fifty-fifty finish.

FAQ

  • What blazon of paint is best for kitchen cabinets?

    Both oil and latex paints provide a good finish for kitchen cabinets. Latex paints dry chop-chop and clean up easily with water and soap, making them fool-proof for novice painters. Oil paints, however, covers the wood more smoothly just takes much longer to dry (we're talking anywhere from a mean solar day to weeks to fully cure) and requires chemicals for clean upward.

  • How exercise you prep cabinets for paint?

    If the existing paint is in rough shape, or if the existing cease is a clear coat, it's best to strip your cabinets down to the blank forest. (That way at that place won't be whatever adhesion issues betwixt the old terminate and the new paint.) If that'due south one step as well many for you, oftentimes you tin get abroad with but thoroughly cleaning the cabinets, then lightly sanding them. That's oftentimes plenty to prep the cabinets for a fresh coat of color.

  • How practice you sand cabinets before painting?

    Before painting your kitchen cabinets, y'all'll demand to deconstruct them equally much every bit possible. Remove the doors and drawers, as well equally hardware, so set up a sanding station outside. Using 120 to 180 grit sandpaper, lightly roughen the front surfaces and visible edges. You don't need to sand off the one-time paint entirely; y'all just want to roughen the surface to give the new coat of pigment a clean base to grip to. Remember to wear a dust mask and safety goggles.

This roundup was researched and written by Camryn Rabideau, a freelance writer for The Spruce and an skilful on all things home. She has a bachelor's degree in Fashion Merchandising and Design, and she's taken several courses in interior decorating. Additional enquiry was done by Megan McCarty, a author for The Spruce and MyDomaine with over xiii years of experience in both print and digital media. She regularly contributes to blueprint-focused outlets such equally Architectural Digest, Domino, House & Abode, and Hunker.