New year, tired kitchen? Cabinets age slower than most surfaces in your home, so it's easy to not notice the wear creeping in. Here are the five signs we see most often when a homeowner finally decides it's time.

1. The finish has gone dull or yellowed

Older clear coats and cheaper factory finishes yellow with age and UV exposure, especially near windows. If your "white" cabinets have started looking cream or beige without you changing anything, that's the finish breaking down.

2. Chips and dings at the corners

Cabinet doors take the most abuse right at the edges and corners, where hands, elbows, and grocery bags make contact. A few dings here and there is normal wear; visible bare wood or exposed substrate means it's past due for a refinish.

3. Hardware looks dated even though the cabinets are fine

Sometimes the boxes are in great shape but the oil-rubbed bronze pulls from 2008 are doing all the damage to the room's feel. A repaint paired with a hardware swap (we can handle both) is often the fastest, most affordable way to modernize a kitchen.

4. Sticky or tacky surfaces near the stove

Years of cooking grease build a film that regular cleaning can't fully remove, especially on cabinets flanking the range. That residue also keeps new coatings from bonding, which is why a proper degrease step matters so much during refinishing.

5. You're avoiding the kitchen in photos

This one's more gut check than checklist. If you catch yourself cropping the cabinets out of listing photos, dinner party pics, or video calls, your kitchen is telling you something.

Pricing

Cabinet refinishing runs $100–$150 per door or drawer, condition-based, and includes our full Renner 2K spray process. Most kitchens are done in a few days.

P.S. Even one or two of these signs is usually enough reason for a quick, no-pressure look. It costs nothing to ask.