10 Best Cabinet Paints of 2025, Tested by Experts

Demonstrating the best that hybrid alkyd enamel paints can be, Benjamin Moore’s Advance interior paint was formulated specifically with kitchen cabinets in mind, as well as doors, trim and other high-touch surfaces in the home.

You'll pay a premium for the paint, but Benjamin Moore is a favorite with professional painters and the engineers at the Good Housekeeping Institute because of its smooth, easy application.

The paint also cures to an exceptionally hard, furniture-grade finish that can stand up to the busiest kitchens. "For such a durable paint, the Advance is surprisingly non-toxic," said Good Housekeeping staffer, Nik Greenwald, who assessed the chemical content of all tested paints. Even after the tinting for one of Benjamin Moore's 3,500-plus colors is added to the bucket, it still qualifies as a low-VOC (short for "volatile organic compounds") formula, which means it contains low levels of harmful chemical emissions. This paint also cleans off easily with water, but it may be harder to find than other options.

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Though many hybrid paints cost upwards of $100 per gallon, Behr’s more affordable version is comparable to many high-quality latex paints. The urethane alkyd semi-gloss enamel is a specialty finish, so you might need to order ahead of time rather than running to Home Depot and purchasing it the same day, the way you can with standard Behr formulas.

This Behr paint boasts most of the same properties of other alkyd enamels, including excellent flow and leveling, meaning your cabinets won’t be marred by brush marks. The paint dries to a hard, durable finish. Paintbrushes and spills are easily cleaned with plain water, not the turpentine or mineral spirits that oil-based paints require.

Our experts also like Behr’s extensive online color-selection tools and the fact that Home Depot waives shipping fees on peel-and-stick sample orders.

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You likely won't get a smooth, durable finish from a cheap $20 bucket of paint. But some designer paints can sell for more than $100 a gallon, and they don’t always hold up either. Price-wise, this Infinity latex paint falls squarely in the middle while delivering exceptional results. Its semi-gloss formula is particularly well suited to kitchen cabinets thanks to its cleanability and superb stain resistance.

While our experts strongly recommend priming your cabinets before painting, if you decide you want to save time and money on that step, Infinity’s self-priming feature adds to its excellent coverage, often in a single coat. (Though we also always recommend a second coat with cabinets, since they get handled all day, every day.)

The Marquee is a solid all-around enamel paint that can be applied on walls and ceilings throughout the house as well as cabinets. This Home Depot exclusive is an extremely well-balanced paint formulated to handle a range of interior projects.

During extensive Lab tests, we were particularly impressed by its smooth, even finish and one-hour drying time. The Marquee also proved highly stain resistant and it can handle abrasions — whether from scuffs or a scouring pad — with the best of them.

As for color variety, Good Housekeeping's design experts like that Behr Marquee comes in more than 1,000 hues. Though it's on the pricey side, the one-coat coverage and paint-and-primer-in-one formulation mean you’ll save on material costs and spend less time wielding a roller or brush.

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Our experts recommend Behr for homeowners needing to refinish their cabinets on a tight budget. Though it costs half as much as other top picks, the Behr Premium Plus enamel paint delivered above-average coverage and it can handle the scrubber side of a kitchen sponge without marring (though stain resistance was more middling in our tests). "We found that it was easy to apply, and consumers rated it highly for overall style and appearance," said Greenwald.

The paint is Greenguard Gold Certified, meaning it’s been third-party tested for low odor and emissions. As with the Behr alkyd paint on our list, Home Depot offers free shipping on peel-and-stick sample orders.

While the shift to latex-based paints means that paints emit fewer fumes than in the past. Sherwin-Williams’ Ovation Plus line claims to eliminate VOCs, delivering lower odor without any compromise on durability and hiding capability.

All that plus a competitive price tag, which you’ll appreciate if you have a lot of cabinets to refinish. One downside is that it is not as stain-resistant as others on the list.

Valspar is Lowe's house brand, so if Lowe’s is your home center of choice, this brand is a good one for your cabinet project. The latex Reserve is a step up in price from other Valspar products, including its Signature and Ultra series.

Our experts say it’s worth it for the excellent coverage and stain resistance, as well as its resistance to fading, which is nice if your kitchen is flooded in sunlight. Our experts also like the online paint calculator, which is helpful for figuring out exactly how much paint you'll need for your project.

Another solid option for budget remodelers, the competitively priced Glidden acrylic paint punches above its weight when it comes to hiding and coverage, especially if you apply a separate primer coat, as our experts recommend. While the base paint is zero-VOC, the VOC count might rise significantly depending on which color you choose (some tints are more chemical-heavy than others).

This paint is great for use in rental units, garages or other areas that you know may be exposed to heavy use and will require a repaint in a few months or years. There is also no sense in investing in high-quality paint for areas of your house that you seldom use.

Sure, you can go to a home center and have a mainstream paint color-matched to any hue, but the sheer amount of options can get overwhelming. Luxury paints, on the other hand, are favored by many designers and architects for their curated color palettes.

Luxury paint maker Donald Kaufman says the formulas are special with “proprietary pigment combinations on each color’s own unique character.” In field tests, the boutique brand’s semi-gloss paint held up extremely well on cabinets in a busy kitchen setting. According to Dan Diclerico, Good Housekeeping Home Improvement Director, the hard finish is scrub- and stain-resistant, with little fading despite receiving intense southern sunlight throughout the day.

While most consumers still buy paint through the home center or specialty paint store, we are seeing an uptick in direct-to-consumer online purchases. Clare, a winner of a Good Housekeeping's 2023 Home Reno Award, is a pioneer in the digital paint shopping space. “I’m a huge fan,” says GH Home Design Director Monique Valeris. “Instead of being forced to evaluate an endless amount of paint colors, Clare offers a well-curated selection, including a thoughtful array of trendy picks as well as classic shades for just about any room."

In our tests, Clare provided excellent coverage and a smooth, durable finish that should hold up well on kitchen cabinets. Though pricey, the paint is also Greenguard Gold certified, so it meets rigorous emissions standards. Our experts like Clare's peel-and-stick swatches, which are much cleaner and more user-friendly than sample jars.