Sprayed or hand-painted kitchen?

A professional spray finish against a professional hand-painted one: the finish, the paints each can use, touch-ups, time, mess and cost, with every claim credited to whoever made it.

Updated 29 October 2026 · The Kitchen Resprayer

The short answer

Spraying gives a smooth, even film with no brush marks and can use trade lacquers a brush can't. Hand-painting gives a softer finish with faint brush texture, done in place, and is easier to touch up or recolour by hand.

Per door they cost much the same. Choose by the finish you want on your doors, then by how you'd like the work done.

The finish, in each side's words

	Sprayed	Hand-painted
Surface	ColourHaus: "an even film with no brush strokes or roller stipple"	Jones Britain: "you may see the faintest brush texture, which is exactly what many people love about it"
On flat doors	ColourHaus: brush texture "shows in raking light" on a flat cabinet door	Traditional Painter: "we cannot apologise for the look of a hand-painted finish"
On panels and mouldings	ColourHaus: where brushes "leave heavy edges and runs"	SKR (a sprayer): brush marks give "a rustic, lived-in aesthetic" that "suits certain period properties or country cottages"
Deep colours	Jones Britain: spray "suits strong or deep colours"	Jones Britain: brushed variation "would be more noticeable" in them
How each describes the other	Harvey Jones (hand-paints): "Spray paint often looks plasticky"	J&D Sprayers: hand-painted is "textured, artistic"

Each line is that firm's own published view, read 29 October 2026. Jones Britain makes both kinds of kitchen; the others do one.

What the paint makers say

The paint decides part of this, not only the tool. Farrow & Ball's Estate Eggshell sheet says a medium pile roller gives "minimal stippling", but "where an optimum finish is required, we would recommend brush application", and warns that "brush, roller, spray" "may give a slight visual difference in the final colour".

The traditional brush paint

Traditional Painter: "Oil based eggshell is traditionally the paint specified for hand-painted kitchen cupboards." One maker's solvent-based satinwood sheet: "Brush or roller only", spraying "not recommended".

The spray-only coatings

Trade lacquers are "Designed for spray application" and "intended for professional use only"; one two-pack lacquer reaches "full resistance properties after 21 - 28 days".

Brush paints made to level

Water-based trim paints are designed to flow out: one trade acrylic satin has good flow "reducing brushmarks".

So a hand-painter and a sprayer are often not putting the same product on your doors. Traditional Painter itself says that for some kitchens "a factory lacquered or sprayed 2-pack finish may be more appropriate". Paint types in full: how to paint kitchen cupboards.

Wear: what each side claims

Nobody has published an independent test, so these are the firms' own claims. ColourHaus: brushed doors "tend to show wear at edges and around handles sooner", because a brushed coat has thinner areas, often on edges. Jones Britain: "A spray-painted finish is generally the tougher of the two", while hand-painted kitchens "are still durable when properly applied" but need more care in the first few weeks. Harvey Jones says its hand-painted finish is "both long-lasting, and easy to clean and maintain".

Homeowners on Mumsnet say both: sprayed "(if done really well) is more durable", and, from another kitchen, hand-painted "looked miles better than the spray painted ones and lasted longer". How a sprayed finish ages and what to expect: how long a respray lasts.

Touch-ups and changing colour later

This is the hand-painters' strongest point, and it's a fair one. Jones Britain: "A painter can touch up a mark and it disappears", whereas "on a spray finish, a deep chip is harder to blend in perfectly". Harvey Jones says a hand-painted finish can be "repainted entirely", and Jones Britain that it "can be repainted in a completely new colour on site" without removing the cabinetry.

A sprayed kitchen can be touched up too: Jones Britain says chips "can be repaired", and recolouring means the doors come away to be resprayed, which it calls "perfectly possible, just a bigger job". Spray firms leave touch-up paint to dab on thinly and feather; one homeowner notes the frame of an in-frame kitchen can't be sent away the way a door can. Touch-up method: respray care and repairs.

Where the work happens, and for how long

	Sprayed	Hand-painted
Where	Varies by firm: doors to a workshop, fixed parts on site, or everything in place	In the kitchen: Harvey Jones paints "on site after they have been installed"
How long, by the sprayers	SKR and ColourHaus: 3 to 5 days	SKR: "10 to 14 days"; ColourHaus: a brush repaint "can sometimes be quicker"
How long, by a hand-painter	Not stated	Traditional Painter: about 7 to 8 days for a full refurbishment
Living with it	Fixed parts masked against overspray (LG Spray Painting)	Traditional Painter: "make sure you can get to your appliances"; clients often go away

Timings are each firm's own. One Mumsnet owner's decorator took 3 days; another's sprayers spent a day on site and took the doors away for a couple of days.

Our own split: doors and drawer fronts leave the house for spraying, the fixed parts get sprayed where they stand, and the doors come back to be refitted. How other spray firms split the work: the respray process.

Cost: closer than you'd think

Traditional Painter says "Budget £100 per door" for a hand-painted refurbishment. Four respray firms' own published lists run from £62 to £110 a door. Decorators' day rates are quoted at £180 to £350 by SKR, a sprayer, and £150 to £200 outside London by MyJobQuote. Homeowners on Mumsnet report paying anything from £350 to "2k ish" for hand-painting and £1,000 to about £1,600 for spraying, for kitchens of unknown size.

Per door the published prices sit in the same band. The difference is what the money buys: texture or a smooth film, the work in your kitchen or the doors taken away, and which coatings can be used. Respray prices in detail: what a respray costs.

Which suits your kitchen

A hand-painter fits if

You want visible brush texture, oil eggshell, a period or in-frame kitchen painted in place, and to touch up or recolour it yourself by brush.

A respray fits if

You want a smooth, even finish, a deep colour (Jones Britain), flat or handleless doors where brush texture "shows in raking light" (ColourHaus), or coatings a brush can't apply, with the doors out of the kitchen while they're done.

Mumsnet's rule of thumb

"Smooth is better for ultra modern doors and slight brush marks for shaker or similar."

If it's a respray you're after, send two photos and the door type and we'll quote. Doing it yourself instead: by brush and roller or with a sprayer.

Where this comes from

All read 28 October 2026. Firms change their prices and terms; check the current position with them.

Common questions

They give different finishes. Sprayers such as ColourHaus say a spray lays 'an even film with no brush strokes or roller stipple'; hand-painters such as Traditional Painter say the charm of a brush finish is that it isn't a factory spray. Jones Britain, which offers both, says spray is generally the tougher of the two and hand-painted the easier to touch up.

That's Harvey Jones' view; it hand-paints its kitchens. Sprayers describe the same finish as smooth and even, and one homeowner on Mumsnet says smooth is better for ultra-modern doors and slight brush marks for Shaker. It comes down to the look you want on your doors.

Yes. Jones Britain says chips in a spray finish 'can be repaired', though a deep one is harder to blend than on a brushed finish. Firms leave touch-up paint, dabbed on thinly and feathered; wider damage usually means the panel is resprayed.

Touch-ups and care

Per door, not by much. Traditional Painter says budget £100 per door for hand-painting; four respray firms' published lists run from £62 to £110 a door. What differs is what you get for it.

Respray prices

The two sides disagree. SKR, a sprayer, says spraying takes 3 to 5 days and hand-painting 10 to 14; Traditional Painter, a hand-painter, says a full refurbishment takes about 7 to 8 days. ColourHaus, another sprayer, says a brush repaint 'can sometimes be quicker'.

Rather have it sprayed for you?

Send two photos of your kitchen and we'll price the respray from them. The quote costs you nothing.

Get my free photo quote