Cabinet Refacing Tips for Your Kitchen
Stretching low and high across your kitchen cabinets and walls plays an important role in determining how the kitchen looks and works. Therefore, when your kitchen walls appear outdated and begin to wear out, you must begin to think about the most appropriate facelift.
You may think of refacing and not replacing the whole kitchen cabinets. Cabinet refacing will not only save you time and money but also the environment. As you reface your kitchen cabinets, lower and upper kitchen cabinet boxes stay in place and you will not dump them in the landfill. However, you can remove drawer fronts, cabinet doors, and modeling details and replace them with plastic laminate, wood, or RTF (rigid thermo foil) versions that will satisfy your finish, color, and style preferences. Before you install the new elements, you have to cover the exposed area of the box with wood or synthetic veneers that match the finish you have chosen.
Cabinet refacing can run for two to four days and will cost you close to 50 percent the cost of installing new ones. However, the amount of money you are going to spend varies depending on the materials you choose and the number of cabinets you are refacing.
- Replace or Reface
When is it ideal to replace or reface your kitchen cabinets? If you are happy with the current layout of your kitchen and have no intentions of remodeling, and the kitchen boxes are sound structurally, refacing can be an excellent option. However, if your priority is to remodel the kitchen and the cost of new cabinets are within your budget, you can think of replacing them. Replacement is also the best option when the cabinets are damaged and poorly constructed. In such instances, you will discover that refacing will not be a viable or cost-effective option.
- Selection of Style
You will have a broad range of choices when dealing with artificial and natural materials that are available for cabinet refacing. You can find replacement drawer doors and fronts available in maple, oak, birch, and cherry woods and also laminates in all wood tones and a restrictive number of colors.
Apart from altering the color of your cabinets, refacing will also allow you to select various door styles that will change the overall character of your kitchen from a county to a contemporary look, traditional to transitional, and vice versa. You can also change the hinging of the doors and choose new hardware to achieve your preferred style or design.
Even though cabinet refacing can be a DIY project, it can be quite tricky to apply the veneer and would rather be assigned to professionals. Get bids from a minimum of three cabinet refacing companies and check with their references before you bring one of them on board.
- Inexpensive Options
You can decide to just replace the doors of your cabinets with new ones that match the current finish of the kitchen cabinets instead of refacing the whole cabinetry. Are you energetic? Thoroughly clean your kitchen cabinets to remove any embedded oils and dirt and check whether it will improve its overall view before you decide to buy new cabinet doors. You can also refinish scruffy coatings by stripping and staining drawers, cabinet boxes, and doors. Perk up any timeworn cabinets through the application of paint, glaze, and/or primer to create kitchen cabinets that have a custom appeal.
