Are you tired of the look of your kitchen cabinet doors, but can’t afford to purchase all new cabinets? In these tough economic times, it may seem as though a costly kitchen renovation is beyond your reach: however, it is possible to transform the look of your entire kitchen at a fraction of the cost!
The exciting new possibility is replacing the kitchen cupboard doors. Many homes have outdated cabinetry that is often an eyesore to its inhabitants after years of constant wear and tear. Whether you are looking for kitchen cabinets that are modern in style or more traditional, there are many options that can meet your needs.
Functional cabinetry is a must in every home, and is particularly important in the kitchen – the ‘heart’ of any home. Whether your style is modern or traditional, replacement kitchen doors are an economical way to transform your kitchen and the look of your home. Often, professional designers including those on TV, will use this ‘trick’ to save money on an otherwise expensive renovation. Replacing kitchen doors is also an environmentally sound choice. Instead of wasting perfectly good cabinets, simply change out teh cabinet doors and drawer fronts.
Whether you choose to replace a portion of the cabinet doors, or give your kitchen a complete makeover, you will be surprised at the difference this one change will make both to the look of your kitchen and to your pocketbook. The incredible results speak for themselves. Whether you like more ornate styling or prefer a simpler shaker style there are many options to choose from. Perhaps you are looking to create a ‘farm-style’ kitchen or would like the modern polished look to match today’s modern appliances. Both of these looks, and many others, are available as replacement doors.
During these difficult economic times you can come across the perfect opportunity to purchase or acquire things like quality used kitchen cabinets. Many people or businesses are willing to take much less for items like these to improve their cash flow and put a few bucks in their pockets.
Whether you go the route of utilizing the internet, browsing in person, or scanning the old-fashioned newspaper classified ads, these are all great ways to find used kitchen cabinets.
Online, eBay and Craigslist are two very useful tools for finding used kitchen cabinets. EBay is great because it is an auction site and many items can be bought for much less than the “real” value if there aren’t many bidders and the seller is willing to take almost anything. Many sellers look at it from the perspective that anything is better than nothing. They could have thrown the cabinets out and received nothing if not for an offer on eBay. Many buyers come out on top with these transactions and high quality kitchen cabinets can be acquired for pennies on the dollar compared to buying the product brand new. Kitchen cabinets are items that does not attract many speculators or people buying items to resell them for profit, so the competition in the auctions should not be as fierce as high demand items like electronics, jewelry, or collectibles.
Craigslist – if it covers your town or city – is also a goldmine for quality used items such as kitchen cabinets. Many people who are hungry for cash or trying to get rid of items they have no use for anymore turn to Craigslist. Some people are simply concerned with getting rid of valuable items not for the money but to clear out space. There is even a free section on there where people give away items for free and such items can include things like kitchen cabinets and other home components and accessories. Craigslist can almost be viewed as an online flea market with plenty of diamonds in the rough.
When you go searching in person, thrift stores are an excellent option to find minimal priced kitchen cabinets. Many cities and even small towns have thrift stores that specialize in household components and furnishings and cabinets will almost surely be there. The thrift store owners or personnel pay minimal prices for these cabinets so they can pass the savings on to shoppers who are looking for discounts. Many of these items will be in decent shape, although others will need work to make them fit to use. You’ll also need to do some juggling to make them fit your space, and you might have to buy several batches of cabinets to get everything you need to complete your kitchen layout.
Even though traditional newspaper classified ads have been overtaken in many places by online equivalents (and even in small towns the newspaper classifieds themselves may be online), don’t forget to check them out in your search. Other options include the Freecycle online sharing network, your circle of friends, and used building materials stores like Habitat for Humanity’s “ReStore” chain.
These are all great ways to save on quality used cabinets and the savvy shopper would take advantage of these options before paying top retail price.
Do you have kitchen cabinets that are beginning to look their age? Don’t rip them out and throw them away; if they are well built and functional, they can be modernized by refacing. Refacing kitchen cabinets is one of the best ways to update your cabinets without having to go through extensive remodeling. As well as saving cash over replacing your cabinets with new ones, you are helping the environment! By not throwing away your old cabinets you reduce waste going to the landfill, and save the environmental impact of manufacturing new ones.
There are two methods to go about refacing kitchen cabinets: you can do it yourself, or you can use the tried and true approach of hiring a professional. Even if you choose to hire someone to do the job, you should really know how your contractor will carry out the refacing. Refacing (as opposed to refinishing) involves gluing a wood or laminate veneer over the existing surfaces of your cabinet boxes to change the finish completely. It may also involve veneering the door and drawer fronts, or you might choose to buy new doors and drawer fronts.
The first step of any kitchen refacing is to choose the finish that you would like your ‘new’ cabinets to be. Your local building store should be able to show you a wide variety of veneers and stains for your cabinets. It’s a great idea to take some samples home and try out different stains and finishes to make sure you will end up with what you see in your imagination.
If you’re going to be doing the work yourself, while you are at the store you should also pick up some wood filler, to fix dents and scrapes in the cabinet’s doors, and some sand paper to remove bumps and roughen the surface of old paint. If you are going to put veneer on your cabinets you may also need thin plywood to resurface any paneled cabinet ends or other areas which are neither frame surface or doors/drawers.
To add the veneer, first glue plywood to the exposed ends or sides of your cabinets, this will give you a base to work from. The plywood can be secured with glue or small finishing nails, glue being the best. Make sure all edges are sanded flush with the adjoining frames.
After the plywood has been secured to the cabinets, you are ready to install the veneer. To do this remove the paper on the back of the veneer to reveal the sticky side. Stick the veneer to the plywood, being careful not to leave any air-bubbles – start at one end and roll the veneer into place so that as little air as possible is trapped, then use a roller to press the veneer firmly against the base. Trim any excess veneer hanging off the side of the cabinet, using a small utility knife. Once the larger end and side panels have been veneered, the face frames also have to be covered. This is quite a painstaking process and too long to describe here, but I highly recommend the book Refacing Cabinets: Making an Old Kitchen New by Herrick Kimball which gives very complete instructions.
Now that the veneer has been applied to the cabinet you have another choice to make. Are you going to refinish the doors of your old cabinet, or buy new doors? Although your first thought may be to keep the old cabinet doors, and that’s definitely the greener choice, it really depends on the style and condition of your existing doors. In some cases it may make more sense to replace them with newer doors. Several companies specialise in making doors for existing cabinets.
The last step is to hang your doors. A drill is recommended for this process, as well as a helper to hold the cabinet doors level while you screw in the hinges. Keep holding the doors until both hinges have been installed to prevent the doors from sagging. Finally, you can attach knobs to your door. Then feel free to stand back and admire your handiwork!
Whether you’re building a new kitchen or updating an old one, there are many ways to improve your storage capacity by customizing your cabinets. That doesn’t mean you necessarily need custom cabinets – even stock cabinets come with a variety of accessories which can be added. And there are many accessories which can be retro-fitted to existing cabinets to make them work more efficiently for storage.
The traditional form of storage in base cabinets is a door with shelves behind it, often with a drawer at the top. The only easy access items in cabinets like this are in the drawer or on the upper shelf, at the very front. For everything else, you have to get down on your hands and knees on the floor and dig around in the cabinet. It’s hard to even remember what’s back there, let alone get it out and use it!
There are three main ways to solve this problem.
A pantry needs different treatment depending on whether it’s a walk-in or step-in separate closet, or a cabinet in the main kitchen.
For the closet (or small room) type of pantry with a closable door, the usual storage fittings are open shelves, since the closed door will keep much of the household dust at bay, as well as hiding the hodge-podge of items on the shelves. Some walk-in or step-in pantries include base cabinets, counters, wall cabinets, even sinks and countertop appliances – almost like a second small kitchen! Butlers pantries especially tend to be this wey. Open shelves have the potential to have storage accessories of their own: bins hung underneath like drawers, hanging or standing wire shelves, etc.
The pantry door also has storage potential if it’s not glass: there are many hanging racks which will fit on the back of the door to hold small or light objects. Watch out for can racks though – you’ll need a solid door and good fasteneings to hold the weight.
Cabinet pantries are usually fitted with pull-out or roll-out shelves as described above, but you can also create a pantry with drawers below and pull-outs above, or use a set of unfolding narrow shelves which make every part accessible but take up rather more internal space than the wire pullout racks.
The backsplash area is in the range of easiest access for most people, right in front of us as we work at a counter. So, it makes sense to use it for storage, not just for pretty. There are many systems of rails which you can attach to the wall, then hang accessories from (hooks for utemsils, shelves, baskets, paper towel roll hoders, etc) but you can also install shallow shelves, hooks, and racks for specific items. In the prep area, for example, hanging your knives on a magnetic rack and your cutting boards right next to them is very convenient.
The inside of cabinet doors is another prime, but often ignored, storage location. While you need to be careful about adding too much weight (depending on how strong your doors and hinges are), there are many light items that can be stored on shallow shelves or racks inside a door, such as spices, wraps and bags. A cookbook holder is another possibility, assuming you don’t mind leaving the door open while you use the cookbook, while information sheets like first aid reminders, lists of what’s in the freezer, or weight and volume measure conversions for recipes are all very convenient but normally out of sight when posted inside a door.
Spices are awkward to store because they come in small containers, you want them easily accessible, you often need to use them in more than one location, and the mixture of containers can look quite messy if it’s out in the open. Consider a drawer next to the range or baking center (you can buy inserts so the spice jars can lie sloping on their backs and the labels are easy to see), a narrow pull out in the base or wall cabs, a separate spice rack on the wall or backsplash, or a rack inside a cabinet door. And don’t forget that if you use your spices in more than one place, you can split the collection and have your baking spices where you bake, and your cooking spices by the cooktop. If you buy herbs or spices in bulk, you probably only want small quantities out for daily use, so a spot in the pantry for storing backup supplies may be needed too.
There’s wasted space in most kitchens behind the toekick at the bottom of the base cabinets. If it’s done right, toekick storage can be great for keeping large flat items out of the way – anything from big platters to paper for kids crafts to a small stepladder. With a new kitchen you can make sure that the area under the cabs is clean and sanitary and will stay that way, but retrofitting to an old kitchen may be a bit more difficult.
The underside of your wall cabinets is another potential place for storage accessories, from shallow drawers to drop-down knife racks and cookbook holders. The main thing to watch is that if you have undercabinet lighting, your accessories don’t cover it up or come too close to hot halogen bulbs for safety.
If you’re getting a custom kitchen, then you can have your cabinetmaker build exactly what you need to make best use oif all the odd corners, nooks and crannies. Don’t give up if you have to use stock cabinets, though: it’s often possible to use accessories, storage items from other sources, or pieces you build yourself to get the best use of your space.
Unfinished kitchen cabinets are a great choice in several situations:
These cabinets in general are face-frame construction, with hardwood face frames and plywood or MDF panels. They are intended for you to finish them yourself with paint or stain and clear coating. Generally, they come fully assembled.
Unfinished cabinets are fully assembled, but the wood used in the construction is raw and ready for you to paint or stain. Often, the interior is already finished with clear finish (not paint or stain) and you just have to do your own custom finishing to the outside. Unfinished cabinets are usually of face-frame construction.
RTA cabinets are normally completely finished, but they come in pieces, flat-packed in a box so they are easy to pack into your vehicle or have shipped. All the pieces are cut to exact size and shape and pre-drilled for fasteners, and normally the special fasteners are included in the package. RTA cabinets are usually of frameless construction.
The best kitchen cabinets for your kitchen project are those that meet your needs for function, style and budget. They may not be the same as the ones your neighbor or your sister-in-law installed, as those people have different needs; nor are they necessarily the ones promoted in the latest shelter magazines or internet ads. You’ll need to research what’s available to you and the pros and cons compared to your own situation, before you can decide.
There are several factors to consider when you’re trying to decide which are the best kitchen cabinets for your kitchen, whether you’re building a new home or remodeling an existing kitchen. The important thing to remember is that the cabinets should work for you, never mind the latest style!
Here are some different factors to consider:
DIY – build them yourself from scratch
RTA (ready-to-assemble): these are cabinets that you buy in flat pack form, and build yourself using the parts and instructions supplied. They are not usually very hard to build, but if you’re outfitting an entire kitchen with them it can be quite time consuming. Quality varies, as does price. Availability is usually instant: you go to the store, pick them up and take them home.
Stock cabinets are pre-built by the manufacturer and delivered from stock in a warehouse. They are built in a limited number of sizes, so you may not be able to fill every inch of possible space in your kitchen – but they are reasonably priced and can be good quality if you choose wisely. They are normally available very quickly as they don’t have to be built just for you.
Semi-custom cabinets are manufactured to order, and come in a much wider range of sizes than stock cabs, but are not made exactly to fit your individual kitchen space. You can usually get a better fit and finish than with stock cabinets, and you’ll have a wider choice of finishes that may include more trendy ones as well as classics.
Custom cabinetss are exactly that – made to fit your exact space, and finished in the exact way you wish. You can get a unique look, excellent quality, and exact fit. Everything depends on the quality of your cabinetmaker’s work, though, so be careful choosing who you want to do the job! It sometimes happens that getting a small local shop to build custom cabinets for you works out cheaper than buying semi-custom cabs from a manufacturer, so don’t assume that custom is automatically out of your price range.
There are two main construction methods for cabinets: face-frame, where the cabinets have a structural frame of (usually) hardwood filled in with thinner sheet materials, or frameless, where the panels are thicker and stronger and make up the structure without needing a separate frame. European cabinets are almost always frameless, whereas North American cabinets can be either. Face frames give you the option of having inset doors, which you may want for historical accuracy in an older home.
Materials for the cabinet box vary but apart from the frame in face frame construction, consist of sheet materials like particleboard, MDF or plywood, with masonite used for some parts like backs or drawer bottoms. You’ll see some talk that plywood means better quality, but that’s not always the case: good quality MDF can hold its own in the quality stakes. One issue to be aware of when choosing sheet materials is the glue used to create the sheet, whether plywood or MDF. Glues containing formaldehyde can “off-gas” into your home’s air which may be bad for your family’s health. You can choose to buy cabinets which use only materials with no formaldehyde, and even panels made from wheat straw instead of wood.
Door materials include solid wood (stained, clear finished, or painted), and particleboard or MDF which has been covered with thermofoil, laminate, paint, or lacquer.
Many internal fittings and attachments are available, and you’ll want to know exactly which ones you can use in the cabinets you choose, and which ones you’ll need to make your kitchen function well. There’s a huge range of interior fittings for both base and wall cabinets. Most important are corner base fittings, if you have a corner in your design.
Ah, now we come to the fun part – the door and drawer style and color. Currently, the most common finishes are wood (medium light tone, usually, but sometimes dark) or white painted. That doesn’t mean you can’t get other finishes, everything from glossy bright orange to heavily distressed and antiqued moldings, but white and wood are the two biggies at the moment.
Freestanding or built-in: one fashionable look is of separate pieces of furniture, but often they are actually regular cabinets. This look is often meant to give the impression that the kitchen furniture has been built up gradually over the years, but you can also get freestanding pieces which match each other so they don’t have that look! It all depends on what you want. Obviously, even with freestanding-style cabinets, plumbing and wiring will attach at least some of them to their places.
For most people, the objective is to get the look and function they need, at a price they can afford. You can come at this from either end: set your budget first, then price out cabinets to see what you can afford: or price out several types of cabinets, then see how much you need to budget. Bear in mind that cabinets are harder to change than almost anything else – flooring, counters, backsplash, appliances can all be changed out while keeping the same cabinets, and the cabinets themselves can be refinished several times during their lifetime. So, don’t fall for false economy: get the best quality cabinets you can afford.
As you can see, there are many factors to consider as you work out which are the best kitchen cabinets for you. But you won’t regret the time spent researching and checking, when you get to spend many years getting full use and enjoyment out of your kitchen.