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Charlotte Cabinet Painters Compared: Simpli Painted vs. A1, Carolina Renew, and Carolina Cabinet Pros
Four Charlotte cabinet painters, one honest side-by-side. Coatings, warranties, pricing, and who actually does the work, pulled from each company’s own website.
When you search for the best cabinet painters in Charlotte, four names keep coming up: Simpli Painted, A1 Cabinet Painting, Carolina Renew Painting & Finishes, and Carolina Cabinet Pros. Instead of making you dig through four websites, here is what each company publishes about itself, side by side.
Everything below comes from each company’s own website or an official listing, as of September 19, 2026, with a link to the source on every row. If you run one of these companies and something is out of date, email simplipainted@gmail.com and we will correct it.
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Simpli Painted | A1 Cabinet Painting | Carolina Renew | Carolina Cabinet Pros | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Founded / years in business | Opened 2016- 26 years in the trade, trained in nuclear coatings; BBB-accredited since 2019 (source) | “35 years” of marine and automotive spray experience; cabinets exclusively “for the last 10 years” (source) | 2023 (source) | Founded by Rex Perkins in 2015 (source) |
| What they paint | Cabinets only: kitchens, bathroom vanities, built-ins | Cabinets only (source) | Cabinets plus interior walls, exterior, drywall repair, decks and fences, flooring, commercial (source) | Cabinets only: refinishing, refacing, painting, staining (source) |
| Cabinet coating | Sherwin-Williams Gallery Series Waterborne Topcoat (see coating comparison) | Sherwin-Williams catalyzed lacquer (source) (why lacquer fails) | Sherwin-Williams Emerald Urethane Trim Enamel (their stated top choice), conversion varnish, or UV-cured (source) | Conversion varnish; no brand named (source) |
| Where doors are sprayed | Off-site in our shop | Off-site in their shop (source) | Off-site (source) | Off-site in their shop (source) |
| Warranty | 2 years against paint failure, including peeling, blistering, yellowing, and fading | Not published | 3 years on UV-cured finishes; 6 months on standard painting (source) | Not published |
| Published pricing | $3,000 – $8,000 for most kitchens (cost guide) | Not published (source) | $2,500 – $6,000 cabinet painting (source) | Not published |
| Google reviews | 61, 5.0 rating | 91, 5.0 rating (source) | 30, 5.0 rating (source) | 18, 3.8 rating (source) |
| Reviews across all platforms | 400+ across Google, Facebook, Nextdoor, Houzz, and Angi | 175 across Google and Nextdoor (source) | About 200, mostly Thumbtack (source) | Not published |
| BBB | A+, accredited since 2019 (source) | Claims A+; no BBB profile found | None listed | None listed |
| Awards | Nextdoor Neighborhood Fave 2021 and 2025 (source); Best of Houzz 2024 (source) | None published | None published | Angi Super Service Award 2025 (source) |
| Who oversees the work | Ronald, NACE-certified nuclear coatings inspector; coatings work on the V.C. Summer nuclear reactor | Owner Peter, 35 years of spray experience (source) | Owner Stan Putilov, “owner on every job” (source) | Owner Rex Perkins (source) |
The Coating Matters More Than the Brand Name
All three companies name Sherwin-Williams, but they are not using the same product, and the price per gallon tells you a lot about what you are getting. A1 uses catalyzed lacquer. Carolina Renew’s stated top choice is Emerald Urethane Trim Enamel. Simpli Painted sprays Gallery Series Waterborne Topcoat. Sherwin-Williams’ own product pages show the difference:
| Simpli Painted Gallery Series Waterborne Topcoat | A1 Cabinet Painting SW Catalyzed Lacquer | Carolina Renew Emerald Urethane Trim Enamel | |
|---|---|---|---|
| What Sherwin-Williams designed it for | Kitchen cabinets, interior doors, and shelving; “designed specifically for professional spray application”; brush and roller not recommended (source) | Kitchen and bath cabinetry and general wood finishing; solvent-based, spray applied (source) | Doors, trim, drywall, masonry, and metal; brush, roll, or spray (source) |
| Resin | Single-component waterborne acrylic cabinet coating (no hardener to mix; not a polyurethane, not a lacquer) | Nitrocellulose lacquer with catalyst (solvent-based) | Urethane-modified alkyd (waterbased) |
| Dry to touch | 30 minutes | Minutes | 1 hour |
| Recoat | 45 minutes | Not stated | 4 hours |
| Meets KCMA cabinet standards for hardness and chemical resistance | Yes | Not stated | Not stated |
| Approximate cost per gallon | About $130 retail (source) | Not published online; typically $35 to $60 | About $80 to $100 retail (source) |
| Known weak point | Only works sprayed, so it takes more equipment and skill | Ambers and gets brittle with age; chips at edges (why lacquer cabinets fail) | A trim paint pressed into cabinet duty; slow recoat, softer film |
Emerald Urethane is a good trim paint that can be brushed onto a door. Gallery Series is a single-component waterborne acrylic built for cabinets. It is not a polyurethane and not a lacquer. It only works sprayed, cures far faster between coats, and is rated to the same KCMA standard cabinet manufacturers use. That is the glassy finish you see in our photos, and it is why we do not brush anything. Lacquer is a different story, covered in why lacquer cabinets fail.
We spray Gallery Series on every job because we know exactly how it behaves, but it is not the only option. If you would rather have a product from Renner, Milesi, ILVA, ICRO, or another professional brand, tell us at the quote stage. As long as we can source it, we can spray it, and the prep, priming, and shop process stay the same.
What About Conversion Varnish?
Two of the shops Charlotte homeowners compare us against list conversion varnish as their cabinet coating, so it is worth explaining what it actually is. Conversion varnish is a two-component, acid-catalyzed, solvent-based finish. It is what large door manufacturers like Conestoga and Merillat spray at the factory, it passes the same KCMA cabinet standard we hold our finish to, and it resists yellowing well (source). It is a real professional coating and we are not going to tell you otherwise.
The trade-offs show up when it is sprayed on cabinets that are already in somebody’s house rather than on bare doors in a factory booth.
| Gallery Series what we spray | Conversion varnish | |
|---|---|---|
| Mixing | One component, no catalyst to mix (data sheet) | Two components; an acid catalyst is added before spraying (source) |
| VOC content | 175 grams per litre, 1.46 lbs per gallon (data sheet) | Around 500 grams per litre on a typical cabinet-shop product; the U.S. category limit is 725 (source) |
| Formaldehyde | None added | Acid catalyzed and contains formaldehyde. Solvents flash off in days; formaldehyde keeps off-gassing for weeks to months (source) |
| Cure conditions | Normal household and shop temperatures | Needs roughly 70°F or warmer to cross-link properly (source) |
| Repairing one door in year three | Scuff and recoat the damaged door | Cannot be spot sprayed. Finishers put it plainly: “You can not spot spray with CV. It will always show.” The whole piece gets recoated (source) |
| Meets KCMA hardness and chemical resistance standard | Yes (data sheet) | Yes (source) |
If a shop is finishing brand-new doors in a spray booth before they are ever installed, conversion varnish makes sense. We refinish cabinets that are already in your kitchen, so we would rather hand you a finish rated to the same KCMA standard that goes on at 175 grams per litre instead of roughly 500, does not off-gas formaldehyde in an occupied house, and can be repaired one spot or one door at a time three years from now.
Best Cabinet Painters in Charlotte: Which One Fits Your Project
A1 Cabinet Painting
A cabinet-only specialist like us, based in Waxhaw, with a strong Google review count. The differences are the coating (catalyzed lacquer versus Gallery Series) and what is put in writing: A1 does not publish a warranty or a price range, so ask for both before you sign.
Carolina Renew Painting & Finishes
A general painting company that also does cabinets. If you want walls, trim, and a deck done in the same visit, one crew is convenient. It is a newer company (2023) with a smaller Google footprint, and its cabinet finish depends on which of its three systems you choose, so confirm the product and the warranty that applies to it.
Carolina Cabinet Pros
A cabinet-only shop founded in 2015, and like us they finish doors off-site rather than in your kitchen. The difference is the coating: they spray conversion varnish, so the section above applies — hard film, but it off-gasses formaldehyde while it cures and cannot be spot repaired later. They do not publish a warranty or a price range, and their Google rating is 3.8 across 18 reviews, the lowest of the four here, so read those reviews and ask what happens if something goes wrong.
Simpli Painted
Among the best cabinet painters in Charlotte, this is the fit if you want a cabinet-only crew, a stated 2-year warranty, a published price range. Simpli Painted has refinished more than 4,000 kitchens across the Carolinas, Florida, Tennessee, and as far out as Texas, and every painter on the crew has been with the company between six and eleven years painting cabinets only. The company is run by a NACE-certified nuclear coatings inspector. Read more about our cabinet refinishing services or the full process.
Get a Written Quote Today
Send three or four photos of your cabinets through the contact page. You will usually have a written quote the same day, and you can hold it next to any other quote from the best cabinet painters in Charlotte.
