It depends upon how handy a DIYer you are. You'd better be an intermediate level at least.

I'd say the biggest challenge is correct selection and installation of hinges. Do you have a photo of current installation? Does the door supplier to any hardware prep?

Being able to take very accurate measurements and do the math required to get the correct door and drawer front dimensions is the first critical step. Then it is a matter of installing the doors and drawer fronts accurately. I would expect a full refacing would include a matching veneer over the existing cabinets and possibly new drawer boxes and new drawer hardware. Those would be the most challenging aspect. The veneer could be substituted with painting the cabinet boxes, as you suggested. I agree that a beginner DIYer would find it challenging, but an intermediate DIYer would probably enjoy the challenge of getting it all fit together perfectly. Since I’ve been thinking about doing the same thing I recommend that you evaluate your skills objectively before moving forward.

Most cabinet door manufacturers will provide hinges at additional cost. Well worth it. Also, use a story stick to get the doors all correctly located in the cabinet frame. Once you get one correct, you’ll be able to do all the others exactly the same.

I have known two people who have gone this route. One was my daughter's previous landlord and the results likely would have been better if done by a first grader. An ugly job which made the kitchen worse than the original version.

On the other hand, my nephew and his wife added IKEA cabinets, bought matching doors for his existing cabinets and painted everything to match. Their results were fanastic and the only way to tell without opening the cabinets was the original cabinets were built in sections, not as separate boxes joined together. They both work in the industry and have a very well equipped workshop and take great pride in their workmanship.

If you want to go this route for the results, plan on investing in some high quality tools to make it possible. It will reduce the price differential but save you time and aggravation.

Well, there is the messing up the measurements and ordering 5K worth of firewood bit that the pros have mostly managed to work through. You’re betting that won’t happen to you. It easily can unless you fully understand overlays and hinge types. Only frameless is “easy”. .

Never order finished doors. They won’t match what you do in home. Cabinets aren’t brushed and rolled in any shop, anywhere. There’s no point in spending all of this money and time doing any of this to end up with something much less durable than the coating that was on them originally. Learn to spray $100 a gallon Milesi and use that. Or hire the pro to do it, and do it all.

"Never order finished doors."

Nonsense. The pre-finished doors available to refacers are as good as any high end cabinet manufacturer. The veneer matches perfectly.

A lot of people selling new cabinets knock the refacing business. The refacers have got this down; their work and products can be excellent and a great value.

The main reason it's not done as often is that it's still fairly expensive so that you have to love the cabinet boxes and their arrangement enough to commit to them. (They need to smell nice enough, too.)

Refacing doesn’t change what’s underneath. And that’s the part that gets used. You’re just putting a prettier dress on old and lumpy. I’ve quoted customers 28K for refacing for something that I could replace for 14K for equivalent quality to what they had. And they went for it, because they gone out of order and put pretty stone on top. It would have been cheaper to replace the stone too.

Figure $500 an opening for for refacing, and you can go up or down from that. Most refaces are using Thermofoil these days as their basic offering, not wood.

DIY isn’t done much because the products are expensive, the process difficult, the measuring is tougher than you think, and the mistakes are high, with no returning anything. It doesn’t change what’s underneath either.

It's tough for me to wrap my head around everything that was said here. The company said I could just measure my current cabinet doors (they have a 1 inch overlay and you can't see the box underneath). Yes, the hinges are for sure the most complicated part. There is the option that they come pre-bored so I'm just trying to match them to what I currently have. So say I get all that right - then I can just paint the boxes (or have them professionally done, yes I know it's a process), and have them attached? I was thinking a handyman could do this.

There's clearly so much I don't know. I may be back to my original plan of having them professionally painted ( they are a stained cherry). The cabinets are in great shape, but they read orange and its impossible to proceed with all our other updates as is. Also - we did go out of order and put the pretty stone on top.

I would never trust myself to DIY paint all my cabinets. But I would consider doing the boxes. So here's one of several examples of people doing it themselves - it seems to be the process I'm describing. Not sure what I'm missing.

DIY Kitchen Cabinet Refacing- The Easy Way to Transform Your Cabinets (rockycanyonrustic.com)

I’d rather reface than deal with chipped paint. The factory finish will be more resistant to water damage and chipping.

Second the FB group-there is a huge wealth of knowledge there.

Naomi - I clicked on your link and found it too vague. Although it was interesting to see they referenced taking the dimensions to HD for their DIY refacing program. (I had heard they were phasing it out.) Whenever I called the company that provided the refacing materials they were very helpful. That company had excellent step by step materials in great detail that could be downloaded. It was interesting that the downloadable brochure they emailed referenced the Martha Stewart Picket Fence door style. That was one of the door styles that was available through the company that HD had. And unfortunately, I don’t remember the name of the company.

Thanks for the recommendations on the facebook group - I'm already addicted.

I am definitely new to this and appreciate all the feedback. I'm hoping someone can help me more specifically so I understand. And just to be clear I am NOT be doing veneers. The basic steps as I understand them are:

Measure doors and drawer fronts correctly (my current overlay is good so I don't think I need to do any math here, but I will measure multiple times).

Order the correct prebore for hinges - I think what I have are the traditional screw in hinge with the 3mm distance from the cup. Order matching hinges. I'll admit this is the most confusing part - I will need to call the company and have someone walk me through this.

Sand, prime, paint cabinet frames and boxes

Everything arrives

Have my painter paint the doors/drawers. Unless I order them pre-painted. Not sure which I should do here.

.Attach hinges. Attach to cabinet boxes (can I just use the current hinge holes in my boxes to line this up?) Attach new drawer fronts.

Drill for hardware

What am I missing? This is all very overwhelming, thanks for your help!

Do not rely on the new bores for your doors to line up with the old doors.

Is there a reason you can’t use the current doors? I maybe missed it if you already said.

I got Milesi paint and redid our cabinets-it’s been a dream on the ones that are done. We don’t have a lot of money so the cabinets are just the unfinished ones from Menards (I detest them), but the one thing I’m happy with is the paint. I’ll be a Milesi groupie forever now.