Understanding your result
The headline is the enamel for the coats you chose, with the method’s allowance, and the sub-line adds the bonding primer. The three figures show the area, the enamel per coat and the primer quantity.
The breakdown lists each kind of piece with its area: doors times sides, drawer fronts, the face frame and the end panels. Those four lines are the inputs that matter; if one looks wrong, the count or the frame length is wrong. Then come the method allowance, the coverage, coats and total lines, the cans, and the primer as its own row with its own cans.
The quantities are small enough that rounding dominates. A gallon and a quart of enamel is the usual answer for a kitchen; a quart of primer is never enough and a gallon is often too much, so the primer rounds to quarts. The door paint calculator does the same job for room doors, the furniture paint calculator for a dresser or a table, and the drying and recoat calculator gives the waits between coats that make or break a cabinet finish.
How we calculate this
The per-piece areas are typical sizes. A standard cabinet door is about 15 × 30 in, which is 3.1 sq ft flat and about 3.5 with the raised panel and the edges; a drawer front about 6 × 24 in, 1 sq ft flat and 1.25 with its edges; an exposed end panel 24 × 30 in, 5 sq ft; and the face frame a strip about 2 in wide, so its area is the length of all the rails and stiles times 2 in. Tall pantry doors count as two doors; small doors over the refrigerator as one. The cabinet painting guide shows how to count a kitchen in ten minutes.
Coverage is the enamel’s figure from the can, typically 350 to 400 sq ft per gallon; the coverage rates table has the published figures for cabinet and trim enamels. The primer is costed at 350 sq ft per gallon, the figure bonding primers print, and it uses the same allowance as the enamel because it goes on the same way. The primer calculator has the other primer types if the cabinets are bare wood or stained.
The assumptions behind the numbers
| Assumption | Default | Where it comes from |
|---|---|---|
| Door, one face | 3.5 sq ft | A 15 × 30 in door with panel profile and edges; site estimate |
| Drawer front, one face | 1.25 sq ft | A 6 × 24 in front with edges; site estimate |
| End panel | 5 sq ft | 24 × 30 in; site estimate |
| Face frame width | 2 in | Standard face-frame stock is 1.5–2 in; the wider figure allows for the edges of the openings |
| Enamel coverage | 350 sq ft per gallon | Cabinet and trim enamel data sheets (Benjamin Moore Advance, Sherwin-Williams Emerald Urethane, Behr Cabinet & Trim): 350–400 |
| Primer coverage | 350 sq ft per gallon | Bonding primer data sheets (Zinsser Bulls Eye 1-2-3, Kilz Adhesion, Sherwin-Williams Extreme Bond): 300–400 |
| Allowance | 15% brushed, 35% sprayed | Brush and roller loss on small pieces; airless overspray on narrow objects |
| Coats | 2 | Enamel needs two coats for an even sheen; three over dark stain |
Assumptions last reviewed October 7, 2026.
The calculator does not model the inside of the boxes, the walls behind the cabinets or the backsplash, and it does not count a third coat for a dark stain going white, which is common; set the coats to three in that case. It does not count the cleaning, de-glossing and sanding products, which cost more than the primer. The drying and cure guide explains why the doors should not go back on for several days even though the enamel feels dry in hours.
Two worked examples
A typical kitchen, brushed and rolled
Twenty doors, eight drawer fronts, 60 ft of face frame, two exposed ends, both sides of the doors, bonding primer, two coats of enamel at 350 sq ft per gallon.
- Doors: 20 × 3.5 × 2 = 140 sq ft
- Drawer fronts: 8 × 1.25 × 2 = 20 sq ft
- Face frame: 60 × 2 ÷ 12 = 10 sq ft; end panels 2 × 5 = 10 sq ft
- Area: 180 sq ft
- Enamel: 180 ÷ 350 × 2 × 1.15 = 1.18 gallons, buy 1 gallon + 1 quart
- Primer: 180 ÷ 350 × 1.15 = 2.37 quarts, buy 3 quarts
The gallon alone is about 15% short, which is the allowance exactly. With cabinets it is worth having the quart: the touch-ups after the first dropped pan are inevitable.
A large kitchen through a sprayer
Thirty doors, ten drawer fronts, 80 ft of face frame, three exposed ends, sprayed, both sides, primed, two coats.
- Area: 210 + 25 + 13 + 15 = 263 sq ft
- Enamel: 263 ÷ 350 × 2 × 1.35 = 2.03 gallons, buy 2 gallons + 1 quart
- Primer: 263 ÷ 350 × 1.35 = 1.02 gallons, buy 1 gallon + 1 quart
Forty pieces sprayed on racks: the result’s note calls it a two-weekend job, and the sprayer usage calculator gives the overspray by tip and setting if you want a figure for your own rig rather than the 35% here.
Where to find your inputs
Doors and drawer fronts. Count them. Pantry and tall doors count as two; the false front under the sink is a drawer front. Glass doors count as a door for the frame and not for the glass; call them half a door.
Face frame. Add up the vertical stiles and horizontal rails you can see around the openings, in feet. For frameless (European) cabinets, leave it blank; only the edges of the boxes show, and the end panels cover them.
Exposed ends. Cabinet sides that are visible: the end of a run, both sides of a peninsula, the side of a tall cabinet. Sides against walls or appliances are not painted.
Method. Brush and roller, or a sprayer. The method sets the allowance; nothing else changes.
Common mistakes
- Skipping the bonding primer. Enamel over factory lacquer peels at the edges within a year.
- Not cleaning first. Kitchen grease under the primer is the other way to peel. Degrease, rinse, then sand.
- Painting the doors hanging. They drip and the hinges get painted. Off, flat on racks, numbered.
- Using the doors the next day. Dry is not cured. Give them a week before they take knocks.
- Buying wall paint. It never hardens; the first fingernail marks it.
- Forgetting the end panels. The side of a peninsula is 5 sq ft you will see every day.
Questions people ask
- How much paint do kitchen cabinets take?
- A typical kitchen with 20 doors, 8 drawer fronts, 60 ft of face frame and two exposed ends is about 180 sq ft with both sides of the doors counted. Two coats of enamel at 350 sq ft per gallon with a 15% brushing allowance is 1.18 gallons, so a gallon and a quart, plus three quarts of bonding primer.
- Do I paint the inside of the doors?
- Both faces, yes. The inside is seen every time a door opens, and a door finished on one side only can cup as the two faces take up moisture differently. The inside of the cabinet boxes is a different question and is usually left alone.
- Which paint for cabinets?
- A cabinet or trim enamel that cures hard, in satin or semi-gloss. Waterborne alkyd enamels level well by brush and roller; conventional latex wall paint stays soft and chips. Lacquers and two-part finishes are sprayer products for pros.
- Do cabinets need primer?
- Nearly always, with a bonding primer, because factory finishes are lacquer or conversion varnish that ordinary paint peels from. The only exception is cabinets that were painted with a quality enamel recently and are sound, which can be scuff-sanded and recoated.
- How much more paint does spraying cabinets use?
- About a third more. Doors and drawer fronts are small, so a large share of the spray fan misses them. The calculator uses a 35% allowance for spraying and 15% for brushing, so the same kitchen sprayed comes to 1.39 gallons of enamel rather than 1.18.
- How long does painting cabinets take?
- A weekend for the removal, cleaning and sanding, a day for primer, a day per coat with the doors flat on racks and turned the next day, and a week before the doors go back on and get used gently. Two weekends is realistic; the cure time is the part people rush.