Cabinets, Low Sheen or High Sheen?

Question

Hello all, my GC & I are not seeing eye to eye on the sheen of the completely gutted kitchen and bath cabinets. Of course, he'll paint them neon if I ask. He states that every job they have done has been semi-gloss. I, on the other hand, see the innards of approx 100 houses going on market each month, and don't recall seeing much of high sheen cabinets. This may be a personal deal that I need to get over. So, please advise on what you guys typically do for painted cabinets, low sheen or high sheen.

House is located in Oak Cliff (Dallas), 1950's, 1102 sq ft, and listing for around $170k.

Thanks!

House is located in Oak Cliff (Dallas), 1950's, 1102 sq ft, and listing for around $170k.

Thanks!

Jimmy Watson · Answer

Joel Owens and Karen Margrave.  The cabinets are the shaker style, with a basic white.  I think semi is the way to go.

Thanks for the input guys!

Marcus Johnson · Answer

My friend who is a professional painter always tells me that eggshell is the new semigloss.

John Milliken · Answer

hope you didn't buy the semi gloss yet. satin is the best sheen. most cabinets come from the factory with a satin finish. satin is as durable as semi gloss, and looks 10x better. semi gloss is old school mindset that still holds up but lower sheen paint formulas in the recent years have come up. if your going white,off the shelf behr ultra pure white is always nice or white dove benjamin moore leaves a great impression.

Karen Margrave · Answer

Jimmy Watson  If you are painting them, I agree with @Joel Owens, use semi gloss, it's best for clean up. What style of cabinet are you using? Many homes of that period are post modern, and look good with the slab front or the mission style cabinets. Go online to HGTV and look at pics of various kitchens. What color are you doing the cabinets?

You might also look at IKEA cabinets for houses in that price range. They have a lot of great options. Good luck.

Joel Owens · Answer

Look up surrounding houses that have recently SOLD. This will tell you the types of cabinets buyers are purchasing.

Actives do not mean as much if they sit on the market. Either the price is high in that case or the layout design is bad or both.

How do you know a paint versus a stain which one would look nicer?? To me painting cabinets is covering up older ones to make them pop again and put new hardware on.

Real wood cabinets the stain would show the beauty of the wood unless you are buying cheap particle board type stuff which I would understand painting them.

Jimmy Watson · Answer

Joel Owens, Yes, this is a flip, and the cabinets are raw and being painted.

Joel Owens · Answer

So you are reselling for a flip correct??

With rentals I see semi-gloss used frequently because it is easy to clean the dirt and grime off when tenants leave. The flat paint tend to get things to stick to it kind of like flat paint on a car versus clear coats.

If you are buying new cabinets where I am at they are pre-done. Are you talking you bought cabinets raw that have to be stained or just throwing some paint over them??