When the time comes to give your kitchen cabinets a whole new look, you have a few options from which to choose. After all, your kitchen is one of the most well-populated rooms in the house and those cabinets are going to be utilized multiple times each day. That’s a lot of wear and tear over the course of five or ten years.
The more people living under one roof, the more people turning to those kitchen cabinets day in and day out. Doors slam, edges get nicked, hardware becomes loose, cooking grease and smoke gets everywhere and, before long, your cabinets are looking dull and dingy. You’re going to want to boost the appearance of those kitchen cabinet doors.
But you don’t have to live with your cabinets in that condition. Not when you have so many interesting and exciting options at your disposal. Whether that means repainting or cabinet refinishing or even adding a little flair to your existing cabinetry, all of these are great choices that you can turn to in the hopes of revitalizing your kitchen.
So before you start to hang a cabinet door in an effort to give your kitchen a whole new look, here are the most common actions you can take to accomplish that goal:
Assess the Condition of Your Cabinets
There is one thing that will immediately get in the way of your boosting the appearance of your kitchen cabinet doors: damage. Any kitchen cabinet door that isn’t working properly or has sustained excessive levels of damage probably isn’t a candidate for repainting or refinishing. This is more applicable to the former rather than the latter, but any work you’re going to do towards revitalizing your kitchen should only be performed on doors that are in good working order.
You should look further than the doors and turn your attention to the entire cabinet while you’re at it. There’s not much sense in giving your cabinet doors a whole new appearance if the interior walls and shelving of your storage boxes are in disrepair. Cracks, fractures, broken hinges, doors that don’t shut completely, all of these things should be addressed before you get to work. Otherwise, you’re just throwing good money after bad.
But if your cabinets are in good working order, you’re ready to proceed with your options.
Repainting the Doors
So, if you are seeking out an easy, quick, and affordable choice for boosting the appearance of your kitchen cabinet doors, you would do well to paint them. You have a myriad of colors available and even if you can’t find the color you want from your home center, you can have the exact shade or hue that you want custom mixed.
It’s all about taking a look at your current kitchen décor and working from that as your basis for decision-making. Whether you decide to match or complement the current color of your kitchen is up to you, but just make sure you don’t select a color that clashes with the overall interior design you’ve previously established.
After you’ve come to your decision, the task of performing the work is relatively easy. You only need your paint, your brushes and rollers, sandpaper, paint stripper and some cleansers to get started. If you’ve never painted cabinet doors before, there are all kinds of online resources to access for some tutorials and helpful tips to do the job right. Of course, there is always the alternative choice of hiring experts to come in and take care of those cabinet doors for you.
Refacing the Doors
Sometimes paint just won’t cut it. You need something a little more significant when it comes to giving your kitchen cabinet doors a whole new appearance. There’s the alternative of putting new veneers over your existing cabinet frames. What’s great about veneers is that you can drastically alter the look and feel of the kitchen without spending a whole lot. Yet when you’re done it will look like you put some real money into the project.
Since these veneers are layered over the exterior of your doors, you don’t have to ensure that your doors are completely free of damage. You just need to be sure they still functional correctly and there is no rot or major structural problems. This also goes for the hardware as well, you can decide to replace it or keep what you have, but only if it’s in good shape. So, give your handles, pulls, and hinges a close look to see all is well.
