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 Many homes have outdated cabinetry that is often an eyesore to its inhabitants after years of constant wear and tear.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.
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!
Refinishing kitchen cabinets or refacing them, instead of cabinet replacement, lets you upgrade your kitchen at a price you can afford and allows for the new custom look you desire. If you are planning to remodel your kitchen you have found out that it is not cheap and that a significant portion of the cost is for cabinetry. Also, new kitchen cabinets can be costly and time consuming to install. All is not lost though. As long as your cabinets are in decent shape, with these alternatives you can give your kitchen a fabulous new look quickly, without busting your budget.
The most visible and used elements of your kitchen are also the most abused, the kitchen cabinets. So it makes sense that after a while cabinets start to look tired and worn and so does your kitchen. The fact is that most kitchen cabinets are in good shape structurally and only in need of a new look. With many colors, stains and wood veneers refinishing or refacing kitchen cabinets is a surefire way to transform your kitchen from old and worn to a dramatically fresh new appearance, which is best for you.
The least expensive solution of the two, if you do not want to spend time and money on a big kitchen remodeling job, is refinishing kitchen cabinets. Kitchen cabinet refinishing is achieved by either painting or staining the cabinetry and cabinet doors. This is very inexpensive compared to cabinet replacement and can improve with dramatic effect the look of your kitchen. For the best results, a professional should paint or stain the cabinets. Great results can be achieved by a trained refinishing professional, inexpensively. However a DIY job is possible, if you have the time and tools you can easily refinish your own kitchen cabinets and save even more.
Refacing kitchen cabinets is more expensive than refinishing cabinets but still a fraction of the cost to replace them. Here is how it works, the old cabinet doors and drawers are removed, stripped, and inspected for damage then the door and drawer fronts are replaced with new surfaces ranging from new wood veneer to laminate. The cabinet frames and exterior surfaces are covered or refaced to match and the inside of the cabinets are cleaned and painted to complete kitchen cabinet refacing.
If the kitchen cabinet hardware is not damaged it can be cleaned and re-installed. But, this is a great time to choose new cabinet hardware, doing so will let you really add your personality to the kitchen and complete the stunning transformation of your new look, refaced or refinished kitchen cabinets, on the cheap.
The time required for refacing or refinishing kitchen cabinets depends on the size of the kitchen but usually can be completed within 3-5 days. This means that your kitchen will not be a unusable total wreck for weeks or even months that cabinet replacement requires.
Buying all new cabinets for a complete remodeling of the kitchen is not in the budget of most homeowners. But as you can see up dating your kitchen need not break the bank or be time consuming. Your kitchen and home can have a stunning new look by simply refacing kitchen cabinets or refinishing kitchen cabinets.
Get More information on kitchen cabinets click here Unfinished Kitchen Cabinets Also go tohttp://Countertops and Cabinets.Com. where you can get a fresh view of kitchen design ideas, product information, news.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Vera_Sang