Cabinet Painting & Refinishing – Los Gatos, CA

We refinish kitchen uppers, lowers, islands, and pantry cabinets, plus bath vanities and built-in shelving or hutches. In the downtown historic district, kitchens in Victorian and craftsman homes are often on the smaller side — original wood construction with raised panels and older hardware that we label and protect. Hillside custom homes above Highway 17 tend toward larger kitchens with extended cabinet runs, islands, and butler's pantries. Vasona-area tract homes fall in between. Bath vanities in older Los Gatos homes are commonly added to a kitchen refinishing project — the same process, same finish system.

Doors and drawers come off, get labeled for reinstall, and go off-site or into a mobile spray booth for a flat, even finish. Box frames are sanded and deglossed in place with dust containment. We use SW Emerald Urethane Trim Enamel or BM Advance as the top-coat system, with INSL-X Cabinet Coat or SW Extreme Bond as bonding primer on previously painted or sealed surfaces. Los Gatos sits far enough inland that marine-layer humidity is less of a factor than on the coast — cure times are more predictable here than in the fog-belt peninsula cities. Pre-1978 homes — which includes the Victorian and craftsman stock downtown — follow EPA RRP lead-paint protocol.

Satin is the standard for kitchen cabinets. Semi-gloss for bathrooms. The Victorian and craftsman homes in the downtown Los Gatos historic district suit warm whites, creamy tones, and heritage greens or blues that complement original millwork and period hardware. Hillside custom homes vary widely — some go for warm naturals, others for clean bright whites against dark stone counters. Vasona-area tract kitchens being updated tend toward clean whites or neutral grays. We work from the direction you've already set.

Door and drawer count varies more in Los Gatos than most cities — a small Victorian galley downtown and a large hillside custom kitchen are on opposite ends of the spectrum. The condition of the existing finish is a factor: original wood in good shape preps efficiently; multiple paint layers over original shellac in Victorian homes add steps. Color change versus same-color refresh adds a primer coat. Pre-1978 lead-paint protocol adds to prep time for the historic district homes.

We've worked on original craftsman kitchen cabinets in the downtown Los Gatos historic district — glass-front upper cabinets with original hardware, bonding primer over old shellac, finished in a warm cream satin that matched the surrounding period millwork. We've also refinished larger hillside custom kitchens where the original stained cherry cabinets were sprayed out in a bright white, a scope that took three days for doors alone due to the cabinet count.