Kitchen cabinet paint calculator
Cabinet painting math is different from wall paint — you're coating doors, drawer fronts, face frames, and the visible sides of every cabinet box. Linear feet of cabinetry × per-foot face area gives a much better estimate than wall sqft. PRO Semi-Gloss is the right finish. The calculator returns the amount you need plus a real per-gallon price for any of 15 brands, so you see the paint cost before you shop. For the full paint-plus-labor total, use thecost calculator.
The math behind cabinet paint
Cabinet paint is sized by the run length of your cabinetry, not by wall area, because you are coating door faces, drawer fronts, face frames, and the exposed sides of every box. The calculator converts each linear foot to a paintable face area, adjusts for whether you are painting boxes, doors, or both, then multiplies by coats and divides by your paint's coverage. The per-foot areas it uses:
- Upper cabinets: about 6.5 sq ft per linear foot, counting both sides of the doors plus the face frame and exposed ends.
- Lower cabinets: about 9 sq ft per linear foot, since they are taller and include drawer fronts and toe kicks.
- Island sides: about 6 sq ft per linear foot of exposed panel.
- Tall pantry cabinet: about 24 sq ft each.
- Doors and drawer fronts: roughly 60 percent of the total face area; the boxes are the other 40 percent.
Why three coats, not two
Cabinets get touched constantly, every door and drawer, ten times a day. Two coats of wall paint scuffs within a year on cabinets. A bonding primer plus three coats of a hard semi-gloss, with a light sanding between coats, wipes clean and holds up for the better part of a decade. A dark-to-light color change almost always needs that third coat to stay even.
Bonding primer is non-negotiable
Factory cabinet finishes are typically conversion varnish or melamine, and neither bonds well to regular topcoat paint. Use a true bonding primer on day one. One coat is plenty for most cabinets at roughly 350 square feet per gallon, so an average kitchen needs about a quart. Skipping this step is the single most common reason cabinet paint peels within a year.
Paint cost by brand
Cabinet and trim enamels go on a little thicker than wall paint, so coverage is a touch lower — plan for about 350 to 425 sq ft per gallon. Most kitchens only need a gallon of paint plus a quart of bonding primer, so the per-gallon price below matters less than buying the right size. These are current per-gallon prices for the cabinet-grade enamels the calculator can price:
| Brand & line | Price / gal | Coverage |
|---|---|---|
| Backdrop Trim, Door & Cabinet | ~$59/gal | 400 sq ft/gal |
| Behr Marquee | ~$52/gal | 400 sq ft/gal |
| Behr Dynasty | ~$65/gal | 400 sq ft/gal |
| Behr Ultra | ~$45/gal | 400 sq ft/gal |
| Behr Premium Plus | ~$33/gal | 400 sq ft/gal |
| Behr Cabinet & Trim Enamel | ~$50/gal | 400 sq ft/gal |
| Benjamin Moore Aura | ~$80/gal | 400 sq ft/gal |
| Benjamin Moore Regal Select | ~$64/gal | 400 sq ft/gal |
| Benjamin Moore ADVANCE | ~$88/gal | 425 sq ft/gal |
| Benjamin Moore Ben | ~$45/gal | 400 sq ft/gal |
| Benjamin Moore Ultra Spec 500 | ~$40/gal | 400 sq ft/gal |
| C2 Paint LUXE | ~$82/gal | 400 sq ft/gal |
| C2 Paint Cabinet & Trim | ~$80/gal | 400 sq ft/gal |
| Clare Trim & Door | ~$54/gal | 400 sq ft/gal |
| Diamond Vogel Avalon | ~$48/gal | 400 sq ft/gal |
| Dunn-Edwards Everest | ~$67/gal | 400 sq ft/gal |
| Dunn-Edwards Aristoshield | ~$88/gal | 425 sq ft/gal |
| Dutch Boy Platinum Plus | ~$38/gal | 400 sq ft/gal |
| Dutch Boy Pristine | ~$46/gal | 400 sq ft/gal |
| Farrow & Ball Dead Flat | ~$130/gal | 400 sq ft/gal |
| Farrow & Ball Estate Eggshell | ~$140/gal | 400 sq ft/gal |
| Glidden Diamond | ~$37/gal | 400 sq ft/gal |
| Glidden Premium | ~$22/gal | 350 sq ft/gal |
| HGTV Home by Sherwin-Williams Infinity | ~$46/gal | 400 sq ft/gal |
| INSL-X Cabinet Coat | ~$55/gal | 400 sq ft/gal |
| Kompozit ONE | ~$40/gal | 388 sq ft/gal |
| Kompozit PRO | ~$52/gal | 388 sq ft/gal |
| Kompozit NEO | ~$65/gal | 425 sq ft/gal |
| Magnolia Home Interior | ~$50/gal | 400 sq ft/gal |
| Magnolia Home Trim, Door & Cabinet | ~$55/gal | 350 sq ft/gal |
| Portola Paints New Standard | ~$80/gal | 400 sq ft/gal |
| PPG Timeless | ~$45/gal | 400 sq ft/gal |
| PPG Manor Hall | ~$55/gal | 400 sq ft/gal |
| PPG Break-Through | ~$65/gal | 400 sq ft/gal |
| Rodda Horizon Interior | ~$52/gal | 400 sq ft/gal |
| Rodda RESIST-X | ~$58/gal | 400 sq ft/gal |
| Sherwin-Williams Emerald | ~$74/gal | 400 sq ft/gal |
| Sherwin-Williams Duration Home | ~$70/gal | 400 sq ft/gal |
| Sherwin-Williams Cashmere | ~$60/gal | 400 sq ft/gal |
| Sherwin-Williams SuperPaint | ~$60/gal | 400 sq ft/gal |
| Sherwin-Williams Emerald Urethane Trim Enamel | ~$95/gal | 400 sq ft/gal |
| Sherwin-Williams ProClassic | ~$80/gal | 400 sq ft/gal |
| Valspar Reserve | ~$52/gal | 400 sq ft/gal |
| Valspar Signature | ~$40/gal | 400 sq ft/gal |
Pick a brand and line in the result panel for an exact paint cost; many cabinet jobs only need a gallon or two, so buying the right size matters more than the per-gallon price.
What it costs to paint cabinets
Doing it yourself, an average kitchen runs about $200 to $600 all in — cabinet enamel, a quart of bonding primer, sandpaper, a foam roller, and a good brush. The paint itself is the small part; the real DIY cost is 20 to 40 hours of prep, painting, and reassembly.
Hiring a pro is mostly labor, which is 70 to 80 percent of the bill. Painters charge roughly $30 to $70 per linear foot, or about $40 to $100 per door and drawer front, so a typical kitchen lands around $2,000 to $6,500 depending on cabinet count and how much grain filling and prep it needs. For a full labor-plus-paint estimate, use thepaint cost calculator.