What It Costs to Paint Kitchen Cabinets in McHenry County (2026)

Put the same kitchen in front of three painters and the quotes can land thousands of dollars apart. Usually nobody is lying. They are pricing three different jobs: different prep, different coatings, and different amounts of time allowed for the finish to cure.

I've been the customer in that spot. Before starting Level Best I ran a house-flipping business and paid for cabinet refinishing on my own flip kitchens, so I read these quotes with my own money on the line and then lived with the results. Here is what the published numbers say, and what actually moves a quote for a kitchen in McHenry County.

The short answer

Nationally, professional kitchen cabinet painting runs $2,500–$6,500 for a typical kitchen, with an average around $4,000 (Fixr, 2026). A small kitchen with a simple layout can come in near $1,000, and an oversized one can pass $10,000 (Fixr, 2026). Those are national figures, not McHenry County figures. Where your kitchen lands inside them depends mostly on how many doors and drawers you have, what the current finish is, and how much prep the job includes.

We're deliberately not printing a Level Best number here. A cabinet quote written without seeing the kitchen is a guess, and guessed numbers tend to grow once the doors come off. What we can do is lay out the published ranges and then show you exactly what moves the number, so every quote you collect makes sense.

What the published numbers say

Cost publishers price cabinet painting several different ways. All of these are national ranges:

• Per door: $70–$125 (Fixr, 2026)
• Per drawer front: $30–$110 (Fixr, 2026)
• Per linear foot of cabinetry: $30–$70 (Fixr, 2026); $30–$60 (HomeAdvisor, 2026)
• Per square foot: $3–$10 (Fixr, 2026; HomeAdvisor, 2026)
• Small kitchen, 70–100 sq ft: $1,000–$3,500 (Fixr, 2026)
• Typical kitchen, 100–200 sq ft: $3,500–$7,000 (Fixr, 2026)
• Large kitchen, 200+ sq ft: $5,000–$10,000 and up (Fixr, 2026)
• Customer-survey average: $942, with most reporting $425–$1,466 (HomeAdvisor, 2026)
• DIY, materials only: $200–$600 (HomeAdvisor, 2026); about $400 on average (Fixr, 2026)

Notice that two reputable publishers disagree by thousands of dollars. HomeAdvisor's figure is an average of what its surveyed customers reported paying. Our read is that a survey like that takes in every size of job, from a bathroom vanity to a full kitchen, while Fixr is modeling a whole kitchen done by a professional.

What none of these ranges tell you is what was included. They don't say whether the doors were degreased and sanded, what primer and coating went on, whether the finish was sprayed, or whether the insides of the boxes were part of the job. That missing detail is the whole difference between a low quote and a high one.

What actually drives the price

1. Door and drawer count. This is the starting point of every cabinet quote. Each door and drawer front gets removed, cleaned, sanded, primed, coated on both sides, and rehung. Thirty-five doors is simply more work than twenty, whatever the square footage of the room.

2. Material and current finish. Open-grain oak shows its grain through paint unless the grain is filled, which is an added step. Smooth maple takes paint with less work. Thermofoil and laminate need a specialty bonding primer and are case by case; peeling thermofoil often isn't worth painting at all. Cabinets that were painted before can be the hardest, because a failing old coat has to be dealt with first.

3. Condition and prep. Years of cooking residue, dings, loose joints, and water damage by the sink all take time to correct before any primer goes on. Prep is where quotes differ most, and where a cheap quote saves its money.

4. Sprayed or brushed, doors off or in place. A sprayed finish with doors and drawers removed and coated flat takes more setup, masking, and space than brushing everything in place. It also looks and wears differently. Make sure each quote says which method you're getting.

5. Coating grade and cure time. A cabinet-grade enamel costs more than wall paint and needs real drying time between coats and before reassembly. Extra days on the schedule cost money. Skipping them is one of the easiest ways to make a quote smaller.

6. Color change, two-tone, and islands. Going from dark stain to white can take more coats than a similar-tone change. A second color for the island or the lower cabinets means a second setup and more masking.

7. The extras. Painting the insides of the boxes, crown molding, exposed end panels, and filling old hardware holes so new pulls can go in a different spot all add labor. None of them are automatically included, so ask.

Where the money goes

Paint is the small part of the bill. Fixr and HomeAdvisor both put labor at roughly 85% of the cost of a professional cabinet job (2026). On a job done properly, that labor goes to:

• Removal and labeling: every door, drawer front, and hinge, so each goes back where it came from
• Degreasing and sanding: the steps that decide whether the finish sticks
• Repairs and priming: filling dings, then the right bonding primer for the surface
• Masking the kitchen: counters, floors, appliances, and the inside edges of the boxes
• Coating and cure time: multiple coats with proper drying between them
• Reinstalling and adjusting: doors hung straight, hardware on, final walkthrough

We lay out the full sequence on our cabinet painting page, so we won't repeat it here.

Why one quote comes in far below the others

A cabinet quote that is far below the rest is usually a smaller job, not a better deal. The things most often left out are degreasing, sanding, primer, door removal, and cure time. Without them the kitchen looks fine on the day the painters leave and starts chipping around the handles a few months later. I've paid for that version on a flip, and redoing a failed cabinet finish costs more than doing it right the first time.

Don't compare bottom lines. Ask every painter the same questions and compare the answers:

1. What prep is included? Look for degreasing, sanding, and repairs named specifically.
2. What primer and coating, by brand and line? "Cabinet paint" is not an answer.
3. Are doors and drawers removed and sprayed, or painted in place?
4. How many coats, and how long does the finish cure before the doors go back on?
5. Are box interiors, end panels, and crown included? Line by line.
6. Who is responsible for the job and the final walkthrough? Get a name.

A painter who has done this work answers all six without hesitating. For more on reading bids, see what flipping houses taught us about hiring painters.

McHenry County kitchens

The published ranges are national. What we can speak to locally is the kind of kitchen you're likely to have, because that affects where your quote falls.

1990s–2000s subdivision kitchens

Many homes in Huntley, Lake in the Hills, Algonquin, and the newer parts of Crystal Lake still have the builder cabinets they came with: honey oak or maple, often with solid-wood doors. These are usually good candidates for painting. The main pricing questions are door count, whether there's an island, and whether you want the oak grain filled or left visible.

Older in-town kitchens

Older homes in Woodstock, McHenry, and downtown Crystal Lake more often have cabinets that were built on site or have already been painted, sometimes more than once. These take more prep. Old coatings have to be sound before anything goes over them, and doors and face frames often need more repair. Expect the prep line on the estimate to be larger.

Is painting worth it vs replacing?

If the boxes are solid and the layout works, painting is usually the better value. If the boxes are failing or the layout is the real problem, paint won't fix it. We walk through that decision in cabinet painting vs. replacing.

Common questions about cabinet painting cost

Is it cheaper to paint cabinets yourself?

In materials, yes. Published DIY supply costs run $200–$600 (HomeAdvisor, 2026). What you take on is the labor that makes up most of a professional price, plus the risk. Cabinets are the hardest surface in the house to paint well, and a failed finish has to be stripped before anyone can redo it.

Do painters charge per door or per kitchen?

Both exist. Some price per door and drawer front, some per linear foot, and some give one number for the kitchen. The method matters less than the detail. Whatever the format, the quote should show the door and drawer count and what is being done to each.

Does painting the insides of the boxes cost extra?

Usually, yes. Most cabinet painting covers doors, drawer fronts, and the outside faces of the boxes. Interiors add surface area and masking time, so they're normally a separate line. Ask for it priced separately so you can decide.

How long does it take, and does that affect the price?

A typical kitchen takes several working days from prep through reassembly. Part of that is drying and curing time, and it's built into a proper quote. A much shorter timeline at a much lower price usually means those steps were cut.

Is cabinet painting cheaper in winter?

We won't promise a lower price by season. What winter does offer is scheduling flexibility. Cabinet work is entirely indoors, exterior painting stops for the cold months, and it's easier to get the dates you want between November and April.

Get a real number for your kitchen

The only number that means anything is one built on your doors, your finish, and your kitchen. Level Best is run by Tim from Huntley, with its office in Crystal Lake, and Tim quotes every job himself. You get an itemized written estimate with the door count, the prep, and the primer and coating named by brand and line, either Sherwin-Williams or Benjamin Moore. Request a free estimate and we'll call you back within 24 hours, or read how we handle cabinet painting first.

Sources

• Fixr, "How Much Does It Cost to Paint Kitchen Cabinets in 2026?" (updated January 27, 2026): national average and range, per-door, per-drawer-front, per-linear-foot and per-square-foot pricing, cost by kitchen size, labor share, DIY materials. fixr.com/costs/paint-kitchen-cabinets
• HomeAdvisor, "How Much Does It Cost to Paint Kitchen Cabinets in 2026?" (updated June 20, 2026): customer-survey average and typical range, per-linear-foot and per-square-foot pricing, labor share, DIY supplies. homeadvisor.com/cost/painting/paint-a-small-project