Fixing Up Your Kitchen Cabinets Without Replacing Them
If you were to list the rooms in your house where you spend the most time, the kitchen is probably going to be at the top of your list. Even if you’re the type of person who uses their oven for storage and orders take-out for every meal, you’re probably still going to spend time in your kitchen every day. When you spend so much time in a room every day, it’s totally understandable that you might want to change up its appearance every now and then.
Unfortunately, full kitchen remodels are simply too expensive for the average person to be able to do every few years. But there are lots of ways to dramatically change up the look of your kitchen without having to tear everything out and start over. Your kitchen cabinets are a great place to start. They’re a major focal point of any kitchen, but having them completely replaced is typically one of the largest parts of any kitchen renovation budget. For many people, there’s nothing functionally wrong with their cabinets, which makes it hard to justify spending the money on new ones, they’re just starting to look a bit dated.
The least expensive way to give your kitchen cabinets a facelift is to paint them and get some new hardware. Painting them can be a little labor intensive and can take several days to do the job properly, but the results can bring new life into your kitchen. First of all, be sure to remove your cabinets, wash them with a product like TSP, and sand them down. Kitchen cabinets are typically painted with a glossy finish to make them easy to clean, so taking the time to sand them down will make it easier for new paint to stick. When you remove the cupboards from the hardware, be sure to label where each piece goes.
Once you’ve removed your cabinet doors, you might want to bring one of them to the store with you when you go to pick up your paint, primer, and other supplies. The best tools for the job might vary depending on what type of materials your cupboards are made out of and an employee at the store could be able to make some good recommendations for you and potentially save you some frustration. Since kitchens tend to be areas that get dirty easily, you’ll want a paint with a gloss or semi-gloss finish since they are easier to clean than paints with more matte finishes. And don’t be tempted to skip the primer. Taking the time to prime your cabinets first will make sure you get the best results from your paint job.
If painting your cupboards seems too time consuming for you, you might want to consider having your cabinets refaced. With cabinet refacing, the workers simply replace the cabinet doors, drawer fronts, and hardware and place a new veneer on top of the existing cabinet boxes. Cabinet refacing is more expensive than painting them yourself, but it’s much less expensive than having them fully replaced and it’s faster and less disruptive than painting them or having them replaced. You don’t even have to remove the appliances from your kitchen so you won’t have to worry about not being able to use your kitchen for days at a time.
Whether you decide to paint your cabinets or have them refaced, you have two great options to change the look of your kitchen for a fraction of the cost of having your cabinets replaced!
