How Much Does It Cost to Respray Kitchen Cabinets? (UK Guide)
Quick answer
Respraying a kitchen typically costs:
| Kitchen size | Typical door/drawer count | Typical price range |
|---|---|---|
| Small galley or one-wall kitchen | 10–15 doors/drawers | £1,200–£1,900 |
| Medium kitchen | 15–25 doors/drawers | £1,900–£2,900 |
| Large or open-plan kitchen | 25–35+ doors/drawers | £2,900–£4,200+ |
These ranges assume a standard sprayed finish on existing doors, drawer fronts, and end panels — not full replacement of the cabinet boxes or worktops. Bigger kitchens, complex door styles (shaker frames, ornate mouldings), or a colour that needs more coats for full coverage will push toward the top of each range.
Why respraying instead of replacing
Kitchen units — the boxes, hinges, and internal fittings — are usually still perfectly sound long before the doors start looking dated or worn. If the layout, storage, and appliances already work for you, the doors and drawer fronts are often the only part actually asking to be changed. That’s the entire case for respraying: it changes the look of the whole kitchen without touching anything structural.
Respray vs replace: the real cost comparison
| Respray | Replace units | |
|---|---|---|
| Typical cost (medium kitchen) | £1,900–£2,900 | £5,000–£15,000+ (units and fitting) |
| Typical time | 3–5 days | 1–3 weeks, plus lead time for ordering |
| Disruption | Kitchen usable most evenings; doors removed in batches | Kitchen substantially out of action |
| What it changes | Colour and finish of doors, drawers, end panels | Everything — layout can also change |
| Worktops, appliances, plumbing | Untouched | Often disturbed or need re-fitting |
Replacement makes sense if the layout genuinely doesn’t work, the carcasses are damaged, or you’re renovating anyway. If the kitchen’s bones are fine and it’s the colour and finish that’s tired, a respray gets you most of the visual transformation for a fraction of the cost and disruption.
What affects the price
Number of doors and drawer fronts. This is the single biggest factor — pricing is usually built up per door/drawer, so an accurate count from measuring up (not guessing) is the first step to a real quote.
Door style. Flat, simple slab doors spray faster and more evenly than shaker-style doors with a recessed panel, or anything with decorative moulding — more edges and detail means more time and more careful masking.
Colour and finish. A big colour change (e.g. dark oak effect to a matt sage or navy) may need a specific primer and more coats for full, even coverage than a straightforward like-for-like refresh. Matt finishes generally show fewer imperfections than high-gloss, which is less forgiving of any unevenness in the spray.
Condition of the existing doors. MDF or laminate doors with chips, swollen edges (often from water damage near a sink or dishwasher), or delaminating veneer may need repair or filling before they’re spray-ready — or in a few cases, aren’t worth spraying at all and are better replaced individually.
Where the spraying happens. Cabinets sprayed on-site, in a dust-controlled area, avoid the kitchen being out of action for as long as taking doors off-site to a spray booth — but on-site work depends on having a suitable space to spray in (a garage or outbuilding is often used) without contaminating the rest of the house with overspray or fumes.
Handles and hardware. Fitting new handles at the same time is a small extra on top of respraying, and often makes sense while the doors are already off — worth deciding upfront rather than as an afterthought.
What a proper respray job actually involves
A rushed respray is one of the easiest jobs to get wrong and one of the hardest to spot until months later, when the finish starts chipping at door edges and around handles. Done properly, it should include:
- Doors and drawer fronts removed and labelled
- Hardware (hinges, handles) removed
- Surfaces cleaned to remove grease — kitchen doors accumulate more grease than almost any other surface in the house, and paint won’t key properly over it
- Light sanding or de-glossing so the primer has something to bond to
- A proper primer suited to the door material (MDF, laminate, or wood behave differently)
- Multiple thin, even spray coats rather than one heavy coat — heavy coats are what cause drips and slow, uneven drying
- Adequate cure time before doors go back on and get used daily — a fresh sprayed finish can look dry to the touch well before it’s actually hardened enough for daily handling
Getting an accurate quote
Because the price is driven mainly by door count and condition, the most useful thing you can do before asking for quotes is have an accurate count of doors and drawer fronts, and note down any doors with visible damage. A decorator should still come and look in person — spray finish quality depends heavily on prep, and that’s not something to price from photos alone.
See our paint spraying service for more on how we handle kitchen respray jobs, or get in touch for a written quote based on your actual kitchen.