A pre-sale refresh is a painted kitchen scheduled around a listing date, in a neutral colour that photographs well, with the vanity and hardware handled in the same visit so the house is camera-ready in two to three weeks.
Kingston lists houses on deadlines, and pre-sale cabinet painting exists for them. CFB Kingston moves about 8,500 people through posting season, Queen's and the hospitals turn staff over every year, and retirees in Reddendale and Strathcona sell on a closing date. A kitchen that reads as new in the listing photos costs a few thousand dollars, and kitchen cabinet painting is how it gets there.
The kitchen decides whether a buyer keeps scrolling, and a dated oak or espresso kitchen is the first thing a realtor asks about before photos are booked. A replacement kitchen costs $15,000 to $40,000 and takes months. Cabinet painting comes in at a fraction of that, takes weeks, and leaves the counters, plumbing and floor exactly where they were.
Nobody can honestly promise a resale number or a dollar return, and we do not. What we promise is that the kitchen will be finished, cured and clean before the photographer arrives, and that the timeline is written into the quote.
Warm white and greige are the two colours we recommend for a house going to market, because they read as clean and current in photographs and they do not fight with any buyer's furniture. A soft white with a hint of warmth suits the older kitchens in Polson Park and Kingscourt. Greige suits the newer maple kitchens in Westbrook and Cataraqui North, where the floors are already grey or taupe.
Bold cabinet painting colours are for a kitchen you plan to keep. For a listing, the island can go a shade darker than the perimeter for depth in the photos, and the two-tone and island page covers that pairing. A cabinet colour consultation with a painted sample door settles the choice in one visit.
The visit happens within a few days of the call and a written quote lands a day or two later. The work itself needs two or three days in the house plus five to seven days of booth time for the doors. From first call to final hinge tweak, allow two to three weeks, and plan the photographer for a few days after that so the finish has cured and the kitchen has been cleaned.
A posting message or a listing date is a hard deadline, and cabinet painting is scheduled to meet it. If the date is too tight for a full kitchen, we say so during the visit and price what can be done in the time, which is usually the doors and the visible fronts.
The main bathroom vanity is nearly always the same dated oak or thermofoil the kitchen has, and the camera sees it too. Painting it in the same colour during the same job adds a day and a small line on the quote. New hardware is the other cheap fix that goes with cabinet painting. Brushed nickel or matte black pulls on a freshly painted door give a listing photo more per dollar than any other change, and the hardware and hinge page sets out the choices.
Tell us the listing date or the posting date and we will work back from it. Send the form or call +1 (613) 706-5129, and we book the visit within days. The Kingston Cabinet Painting home page covers the full range of cabinet painting work for houses that are staying put.
Whatever else in the house has doors and drawers gets prepped, primed and sprayed the same way.
Fronts leave for a booth; boxes are coated where they stand, behind containment. What returns looks factory finished, wears a new colour, and costs a fraction of replacement. Kitchen cabinet painting is how a tired kitchen gets there.
See Kitchen Cabinets
Oak cabinet painting seals golden oak's tannin with a shellac primer, then fills the open grain or leaves it on show, and finishes doors and boxes in a sprayed modern colour so a 1990s kitchen looks built this year.
See Oak Cabinets
Cabinet spray painting runs the doors and drawer fronts through an off-site filtered booth and the boxes through sealed containment in the kitchen, the only cabinet painting method that produces a factory-smooth surface.
See Spray Painting
Two-tone work gives the island, or the whole lower run, a deep colour like navy, green or charcoal while the perimeter stays light, and an island by itself can be done as a small stand-alone job.
See Two-Tone and Islands
Melamine, laminate and thermofoil doors are slick from the factory, so their cabinet painting starts with a bonding primer and finishes with hard sprayed enamel, and it holds on any door whose surface is still tight to the board.
See Thermofoil and Melamine
In a condo galley or L-shape the fronts leave for spraying and the boxes take a single contained day indoors. The unit stays usable, and cabinet painting works around the building's rules on elevators and parking.
See Condo Kitchens
Refinishing suits good hardwood that should stay on show: stripping or sanding removes the old finish, stain follows if the colour is changing, and the grain is sealed under a sprayed clear topcoat.
See Refinishing
When the boxes are sound but the doors are not, refacing fits a full set of new doors and drawer fronts, or replaces just the few past saving, and old and new get painted together so nothing looks different.
See Refacing and New Doors
A vanity is a small piece that lives in steam and splashes, so it gets the kitchen treatment of degreasing, priming and sprayed enamel, is finished inside two days, and is often booked with a kitchen.
See Bathroom Vanities
Hardware work covers filling the old handle holes, drilling fresh ones with a jig after the paint has cured, swapping slamming hinges for soft-close, and fitting knobs or pulls in brass, black or nickel.
See Hardware and Hinges
Pantries, laundry runs, mudroom lockers, bookcases, wall units and mantels are fixed in place, so their cabinet painting is done on site inside sealed containment, using the same products a kitchen gets.
See Pantries and Built-Ins
A colour consultation narrows the shortlist to two or three colours, sprays a full sample door in each, and checks them under the kitchen's real light so the finished result matches the choice.
See Colour ConsultationA visit to the house, a door count and a written quote, with no fee and nothing owed if the answer is no.
Tell us what you can about the kitchen, and we phone to arrange the visit. Sending the form takes nothing more than a name and a number. If talking is easier, the number to dial is +1 (613) 706-5129.
