Pricing on custom cabinets

We're in the process of doing something similar for some friends. My wife does painting on the side. Long story of how she got into it, but she does a few projects here and there throughout the year if she has the time. Mostly for friends. We painted the upstairs at our house almost two years ago. One of my wife's friends refinishes furniture, and this one lady asked if she also painted walls, ceilings, and bathrooms. She told her that she doesn't, but she had a friend that had done so recently and that my wife might be interested. Turned into a much bigger project than she anticipated once she took it on. It was two bathrooms, meaning their cabinets, walls, ceilings, and trim, along with a couple of bedrooms attached to those bathrooms. Also all doors and trim. We bought a couple of sprayers and she figured out how to use them.

This latest project, one of her friends wanted their old stained kitchen cabinets cleaned and painted. But the more they talked, it ended up being more than a paint job. She wanted an enclosure for her fridge to slide back into, with a bookshelf along the outside. She also wanted the cabinet above the stove, which held a mounted microwave, removed and us to build a hood vent cover. We went with MDF, primed with Shellac primer, and painted to match the cabinets.

I forget how my wife priced it all exactly, but she charges so much for painting based on the number of doors and drawer fronts, and they buy the paint. Also a separate price for painting the cabinet boxes, just depending on how big they are and how many.

She calculated the same price for painting these pieces we are building, the cost of the MDF, and added some labor costs. It turns out to be roughly twice the price of the materials for the build, and then painting costs on top of that. We had to buy 3 sheets of the 49"x"97" MDF and had them cut at the store. Putting it together was fairly simple. I have a compressor and nail gun, so we just used finish nails and staples to hold it together. She primed everything first, then we put it together, and she patched the tiny holes and painted two coats on top of that. Most of the time involved is the painting, and that is mostly where she makes her money. If you're just looking to help him out and not make a bunch on the build, maybe see what a similar size cabinet sells for and add a little to that, since it will be a custom build and install.

My cousin is a home builder, basically building 2 or 3 elevation spec homes. He figures $150 per cabinet. Some will be more, some less, But that is what it averages out to buy from his cabinet maker.

Do you know how much time it will take you? I would back in to an hourly rate that fits you. If it takes 2 hours to build it and you want $50 an hour, put $100 on it and roll.