Could you sand them or strip the paint off and then paint them? Maybe some expert in paint will chime in.

Latex paint can go over oil. It is a problem the other way around. You may simply be experiencing the wear and tear of painted cabinets - they often show wear around door handles, or experiencing poor prep, especially if the cabinets were not cleaned well first before painting or a good primer and cabinet paint were not used.

I had a cabinet with a broken door and a cabinet maker made me a new one, so if you like the style you could ask a cabinet maker to make you the same in a paint grade wood. If you want a different style door, it could still be done.

If there is a lot of paint build up you could strip the doors, prime and paint. There is probably lead in the paint, so you would want to be very careful, use a stripper and not do any sanding till the paint has been stripped. Keep the gunky stripper / paint gunk confined and dispose of properly.

Latex can Not go over oil unless it's an oil primer....

Sand all areas with 100 grit sandpaper by hand, dust, vacuum. Prime everything with "Gripper - Universal Acrylic Primer). Let dry for a minimum 24 hours (depending on room temperatures and air circulation). Sand with 120. 2 top coats with your preferred acrylic top coat. I would use one of the newer hybrids that Waterborne Alkyds, light sponge scuff sand in between coats. Again letting the coat fully dry and harden up some.

Sorry I don't understand the problem. Is the latex paint failing or is it just wearing off around the handles? If the latex paint is stuck, then it's not a problem to just paint over it. It's only a problem when the latex paint was applied over an unprepared slick oil based coating and it didn't stick. Painting over oil based with latex is perfectly fine if you use good products and you have sanded and cleaned the surface well. An oil based primer is certainly not required either.

You may want to choose a handle with more finger clearance to the door after you repaint your doors.

What exactly are you wanting to know. Are you replacing the doors or repainting them. IMO they need to replaced but that would be up to the budget I guess . From what I see of the cabinets they are too close to the counter , the upper ones are pretty usless and I think replacing the cabinets and redo of the kitchen is what I would be saving my money for since you obviously need more storage.

Christopher - please note the rest of my post -

- or experiencing poor prep, especially if the cabinets were not cleaned well first before painting or a good primer and cabinet paint were not used.

Some states no longer allow the selling of oil based paints and the oil based painted surfaces in these areas are not being tossed out, but can be successfully painted over if the proper prep was use - as noted by paintguy22.

Whether painting over latex or oil, many are not doing the proper prep when painting their cabinets or are doing a rush, slap-dash job before putting the home on the market.

Thank you all for for the tips and inspiration.

@Patricia My plan is to replace doors but not replace cabinets, I do need to paint the facing of the cabinets to go with new doors. As old as my home is new cabinets are not an option, I would have to gut the whole thing and with plaster walls it is much more expensive (as I learned when re-plumbing and rewiring).

@jhmarie and @Palace Painting Unfortunately the previous owners did not do the proper prep so the info you provided is invaluable.

@paintguy22 The paint is failing and the color just looks dirty.

@dan1888 Another reason for new doors, finding those handles was next to impossible :)

Since the doors are flush doors, you may be able to orbital sand them down to the oil based layer or even to raw wood fairly easily.

When you do new doors, you can switch to hidden hinges. It looks like you have the 3/8 partial recessed doors (where part of the door sits out over the face frame, the other part goes in). If so, draw up a map of your openings, label each, and measure width and height of each opening. Take that to a door shop and let them know that is your opening size - not door "make" size. Change out drawer fronts too so the outer edge is consistent. While the doors are off, remove as much of the problem paint from the cabinet boxes as you can. Prime everything with Zinnser BIN Shellac (acts like an insulating layer between chemicals that otherwise would not get along too well). Paint with a good top coat from a paint store - not Lowes or Home Depot (the paints they sell that say "Cabinets" or "Wood and trim" do not dry hard - they stay soft and cause problems like you have now). When buying your top coat - find a store that knows what they are doing and let them know how you will be painting. Some paints are designed for spray (airless), others for brushing. Don't use the wrong product....good luck!

@Edmond Kitchen & Bath, you are right about the cabinet doors which is why I've decided to go with new (I don't have the patience to sand them) and I hate those hinges, lol. Unfortunately I might to have to have new drawers made, I'll find out when the cabinet maker comes to give me an estimate. Thanks for the product tips!

Depending on how much skill and money you want to exert...Hardware Resources makes dovetail drawer boxes to order. You can specify wood species, under-mount glides or side mount, prefinished, unfinished, etc....

@Edmond Kitchen & Bath Thanks for that info but I'm going to talk to a company in my little town that actually has very good reviews here on houzz, Alcorn's, they are only a half mile from my house :) However I'll keep Hardware Resources in mind if expenses get crazy.

"Oil over Latex or latex over oil": my 2 cents;

First, the controversy largely applies to EXTERIOR paints. Why? Latex paints expand greatly when heat is applied to them ( think rapid surface temperature gain when hit by the sun). Oil paints are brittle from the outset and get more so with age. They are bonded to one another and the latex paint wants to expand, the oil does not - bad scenario. It can literally pull the paint right off a house, especially older homes with many coats of underlying oil paint.

Second, pertaining to interior paint: The early generations of "latex" paint (1950's,60's) were exactly that. Many had natural latex resins in them and had adhesion problems when going over the old standby oil paints. The "latex" name has become generic for water based paints. After the initial real latex paints, along came many resin blends such as with acetates. These too came up short on adhesion. Most of today's premium "latex" paints are actually 100%acrylic based. Acrylics have excellent adhesion to oil paints. May I point out that most of today's white carpenter glues are acrylics, obviously because of its adhesive properties.

I purposely keep samples of door casings to show customers, which have been base coated with high gloss oil paint. Over this I have applied 100% acrylic paint directly to the oil paint without any preparation, as I wanted to see the worst case scenario. The customer is invited to try to scrape off the acrylic paint. So far, not one has been able to do so! I also have a sample which has been finished coated with our new water based alkyd based paint. It too survives frequent scrapping attempts.

As with any new layer of paint, surface prep is critical, especially in kitchens where airborne cooking oils and oily human hands constantly come in contact with the surface of the cabinets. Clean the cabinets and either use a deglosser or give a good scuff sanding to assure good bonding of the new paint, whether oil or "latex".