Of all kitchen cabinet finishes, there’s nothing easier or more versatile than paint. Paint finish for cabinets (also known as opaque cabinets) are offered in a robust range of colors, making them easy to match any style.

When applying color with a stain, it soaks deep into your cabinets to become part of the wood. Because of this, stain moves with the natural swelling and shrinking of your cabinets and won’t crack or peel like paint or lacquer does.

Whether you paint or stain your kitchen cabinets, finishing them off with a glaze is an excellent way to add a rustic, aged, or antique look to your cabinets.

Transparent or semi-transparent glaze is typically applied completely over painted or stained cabinets and then wiped away, allowing the glaze to settle into the bevels, lines, and details of your cabinets with just a thin layer left on the rest of your cabinets.

Melamine finishes are some of the most durable and versatile cabinet finishes out there! Cabinets with a melamine finish are made by heat-sealing thermally fused melamine resin (TFM) to a hard wood substrate such as pressed wood, medium-density fiberboard, or plywood.

TFM has a paper layer that can be printed with any color or design, making melamine kitchen cabinets an extremely versatile choice. Another popular variation is textured melamine cabinets, which have a high-resolution image on that printed layer that delivers a 3D look. Textured melamine is often used to mimic the look of real wood.

Looking for an especially durable and modern clean cabinet finish? Lacquer cabinets have you covered! Lacquer is a solvent-based paint that creates a rigid synthetic coating on surfaces. Lacquer can either be sprayed or brushed on and dries within 15 minutes so you can add multiple layers really quickly.

It takes multiple layers of lacquer paint to achieve a lacquer finish. Lacquered kitchen cabinets come in matte, medium gloss, or high gloss. They are available in a variety of colors and can be used on any material or style of cabinets.

Laminate finished cabinets are a great option if you’re looking for kitchen cabinets that are easier to maintain and more durable than natural wood cabinets. Laminate cabinets have a plywood, particle board, MDF, or HDF core covered in a thin, durable plastic laminate layer. This laminate layer can be any color and can even mimic the look of wood.

Many of the kitchen cabinets you’ll find when shopping will have a varnish on them. Almost always clear, varnish is a top coat you put on your cabinets that forms a hard protective layer once it’s dry. Though not required, you may apply varnish to most kitchen cabinet finishes to increase durability.