Give your kitchen a facelift with a fresh splash of color on the cabinets.
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Applying a fresh coat of paint to your kitchen cabinets will breathe new life into the space for relatively little cost. Of course, you need to like the layout of your existing cabinets and the units need to be structurally sound (no sticking drawers or doors falling off their hinges). If you can check both those boxes, it’s just a matter of choosing the right tools and materials for the job, starting with a top-performing paint. Our experts at the Good Housekeeping Institute continuously test interior paints, including those that have been specially formulated for high-touch surfaces, like your kitchen cabinets. “The best paints for this project go on smooth and deliver solid durability and stain resistance,” says Nikolas Greenwald, a Lab Assistant at the Institute who helped lead our latest tests of more than 20 paints. Here are the ones we recommend for your next kitchen cabinet redo.
Once you’ve read through our picks, you can find more information on cabinet paints, including how we test and other factors to consider as you shop around. And don’t miss our round-up of the best , an ideal tool for the project, plus this list of popular , curated by our home design experts.
Demonstrating the best that hybrid alkyd enamel paints can be, Benjamin Moore’s Advance interior paint was formulated specifically with kitchen cabinets in mind, as well as doors, trim and other high-touch surfaces in the home. You'll pay a premium for the paint, but Benjamin Moore is a favorite with professional painters and the engineers at the Good Housekeeping Institute because of it smooth, easy application, and that’s the case with Advance. The paint also cures to an exceptionally hard, furniture-grade finish that can stand up to the busiest kitchens. "For such a durable paint, the Advance is surprisingly non-toxic," says Greenwald, who assessed the chemical content of all tested paints. Even after the tinting for one of Benjamin Moore's 3,500-plus colors is added to the bucket. it still qualifies as a low-VOC formula. It also cleans off easily with water, but it may be harder to find than other options.
Though many hybrid paints cost upwards of $100 per gallon, Behr’s more affordable version is comparable to many high-quality latex paints. Because it's a specialty finish, you might need to order it ahead of time, rather than running to the Home Depot and being able to purchase it the same day, the way you can with standard Behr formulas. This Behr boasts most of the same properties of other alkyd enamels, including excellent flow and leveling, meaning your cabinets won’t be marred by brush marks. The paint dries to a hard, durable finish. Paintbrushes and spills are easily cleaned with plain water, not the turpentine or mineral spirits that oil-based paints require. Our experts also like Behr’s extensive online color-selection tools and the fact that Home Depot waives shipping fees on peel-and-stick sample orders.
You likely won't get a smooth, durable finish from a cheap $20 bucket of paint. But some designer paints can sell for more than $100 a gallon, and they don’t always hold up either. This Infinity paint falls squarely in the middle, price-wise, while delivering exceptional results. Its semi-gloss formula is particularly well suited to kitchen cabinets, thanks to its cleanability and superb stain resistance. While our experts strongly recommend priming your cabinets before painting, if you decide you want to save time and money on that step, Infinity’s self-priming feature adds to its excellent coverage, often in a single coat. (Though we also always recommend a second coat with cabinets, since they get handled all day, every day.)
Valspar is to Lowe’s what Behr is to Home Depot. So if Lowe’s is your home center of choice, this brand is a good one for your cabinet project. The latex Reserve is a step-up in price from other Valspar products, including its Signature and Ultra series, but our experts say it’s worth it for the excellent coverage and stain resistance, as well as its resistance to fading, which is nice if your kitchen is flooded in sunlight. Our experts also like the online paint calculator, helpful for figuring out exactly how much paint you'll need for your project.
Our experts recommend Behr for homeowners needing to refinish their cabinets on a tight budget. Though it costs half as much as other top picks, the Behr Premium Plus paint delivered above-average coverage and it can handle the scrubber side of a kitchen sponge without marring (though stain resistance was more middling in our tests). "We found that it was easy to apply, and consumers rated it highly for overall style and appearance," says Greenwald. The paint is GREENGUARD Gold Certified, meaning it’s been third-party tested for low odor and emissions. As with the Behr alkyd paint on our list, Home Depot offers free shipping on peel-and-stick sample orders.
While the shift to latex-based paints means that paints are less toxic than in the past, Zero-VOC may be the safest of them all. Sherwin-Williams’ Ovation Plus line eliminates the VOCs (short for "volatile organic chemicals"), delivering low-odor results without any compromise on durability and hiding capability. Though we didn’t test the claim, Sherwin-Williams says that the paint’s anti-microbial properties protect against mold and mildew. All that plus a competitive price tag, which you’ll appreciate if you have a lot of cabinets to refinish. One downside is that it is not as stain-resistant as others on the list.
Sure, you can go to a home center and have a mainstream paint color-matched to any hue, but the sheer amount of options can get overwhelming. Luxury paints, on the other hand, are favored by many designers and architects for their curated color palettes. Luxury paint maker Donald Kaufman say their formulas are special with “proprietary pigment combinations on each color’s own unique character.” In field tests, the boutique brand’s semi-gloss paint has held up extremely well on cabinets in a busy kitchen setting. The hard finish is scrub- and stain-resistant, with little fading despite receiving intense southern sunlight throughout the day.
While most consumers still buy paint through the home center or specialty paint store, we are seeing an uptick in direct-to-consumer online purchases. Clare, a winner of a Good Housekeeping's 2023 Home Reno Award, is a pioneer in the digital paint shopping space. “I’m a huge fan,” says GH Home Design Director Monique Valeris. “Instead of being forced to evaluate an endless amount of paint colors, Clare offers a well-curated selection, including a thoughtful array of trendy picks as well as classic shades for just about any room." In our tests, Clare provided excellent coverage and a smooth, durable finish that should hold up well on kitchen cabinets. Though pricey, the paint is also GREENGUARD Gold certified, so it meets rigorous emissions standards. Our experts like Clare's peel-and-stick swatches, which are much cleaner and more user-friendly than sample jars.
Another solid option for budget remodelers, the competitively priced Glidden punches above its weight when it comes to hiding and coverage, especially if you apply a separate primer coat, as our experts recommend. While the base paint is zero-VOC, the VOC count might rise significantly depending on which color you choose (some tints are more chemical-heavy than others).
To find the best cabinet paints, our market analysts in the Good Housekeeping Institute identify the brands and models (in their most current formulations) that are available in stores and online. Our hands-on paint testing process in our Lab consists of using 20 different paints in one-gallon containers in the same satin/eggshell sheen and shade of red to ensure consistency. Testers start by assessing ease of application. A panel of more than a dozen consumer testers then evaluates the finish and texture of the painted surfaces.
Opacity cards determine coverage and consistency; testers use a syringe to deposit 350 milliliters of paint onto each card, as pictured, and then spread it with a metal applicator tool to ensure even distribution. To assess fade-resistance, we put 4-x-4-inch painted samples into our accelerator weathering machine for seven days, where the intense UV light simulates years of exposure to sunlight. Finally, our engineers do a thorough review of safety sheets and technical data to determine health risks and sustainability.
Our durability test uses an abrasion machine that applies 750 passes with fine-grit sandpaper to simulate years of scrubbing and scratching, as pictured. To determine a paint's stain resistance, we apply oil, tomato sauce, crayon and other tough stains to a pair of test samples, allow them to set for five minutes and two hours, respectively, then try to remove the stains with a single, folded paper towel sheet and all-purpose cleaner.
It used to be that oil-based paints were the best way to get a durable finish for high-touch surfaces in the home, like cabinets and furniture. But today there are two other main types to consider.
✔️ Water-based latex paints have gotten so much better over the years, without the heavy VOC content (short for “volatile organic compounds”) of oil-based formulas, even with the color tinting added in.
“Any high-quality latex paint should work on cabinets,” says Gary McCoy, Lowe’s store manager serving the Charlotte, NC, market, with 8 years of expertise across all home improvement categories, including the paint aisle. McCoy adds that it’s important to “ensure the paint is acrylic, not vinyl.” Cheap, contractor-grade paints are often loaded with vinyl, which compromises their adhesion and durability.
✔️ Hybrid alkyd enamel paints (a.k.a. waterborne alkyds) are especially great if your cabinets get a lot of wear and tear. (a.k.a. waterborne alkyds). This is a newer category of paint geared toward professional painters, but consumers can find it too. “Hybrids bring together the best of water-based paints with the best of oil-based paint for a durable and glossy finish that’s water-resistant,” says McCoy. The downside to hybrid paints is that they tend to be pricey.
Our engineers recommend going with a semi-gloss finish (as opposed to flat or high-gloss), whichever type of paint you choose. The hard, durable coating will stand up better to staining, fading and chipping, and its shine makes it easy to sponge-clean without the risk of dulling.
Dan DiClerico has covered the residential paints and coatings industry for more than two decades. In that time, he has tested all major brands and reported on key innovations, including the rise of low-VOC paints and the emergence of formulations that combine paint and primer in one. As director of the Home Improvement & Outdoor Lab at the Good Housekeeping Institute, Dan oversees all paint testing, working closely with our team of engineers and product analysts. He also manages any consumer surveys designed to capture homeowners' experiences with interior paints and other coatings. Dan is a regular at trade shows, where he keeps up with the latest industry innovations.
Dan worked closely with Nikolas Greenwald on this project. As the Lab assistant at the Good Housekeeping Institute, Nikolas works with all of our Labs to develop testing protocols and manage data collection and analysis. Before joining Good Housekeeping in 2022, Nikolas worked in the labs of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, working on projects ranging from chemical inventory and reporting to the development of bioassays. He holds a degree in chemical engineering from Northeastern University.
Having written thousands of product reviews and how-to articles on all aspects of home ownership, from routine maintenance to major renovations, Dan (he/him) brings more than 20 years of industry experience to his role as the director of the Home Improvement & Outdoor Lab at the Good Housekeeping Institute. A one-time roofer and a serial remodeler, Dan can often be found keeping house at his restored Brooklyn brownstone, where he lives with his wife and kids.
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