Kitchen Cabinet Refacing: A Way to Save Money on Your Kitchen Remodel

by Kirk Bangstad
Face Your Kitchen Columnist

The National Kitchen and Bath Association recently sponsored a study that evaluated modern kitchen needs. The results of the study showed that an average family needs storage space of approximately 800 kitchen items. Because families need kitchen space more than ever, they're looking for ways to make a remodel work in place of an add-on. One way to save money on kitchen expansion is to rethink the kitchen and dining spaces you already have.

To create more kitchen storage space today, many people combine the kitchen and dining room into one large space, and then add more kitchen cabinets. This is a great idea, but can be quite expensive if you decide to invest in a whole new set of matching cabinets.

The Alternative: Kitchen Cabinet Refacing

An alternative to buying a whole new set of cabinets is to reface the ones currently in your kitchen to match the extra cabinets you buy for your expansion. Cabinet refacing is a procedure that adds either a thin wood or laminate veneer over the surfaces of your kitchen cabinets. This veneer can be made from the same material as your new cabinets, but of course doesn't cost nearly as much.

Cabinet refacing achieves a look of uniformity for about a third of the cost of buying new cabinets. Although you'll know that your cabinets aren't exactly what they appear, anyone looking at them wouldn't suspect a thing.

Cabinet Refacing Services Abound

There are a number of home centers or kitchen designers that sell new kitchen cabinets and also provide cabinet refacing services to match. Working with such a company will help ensure that your kitchen cabinet refacing job will seamlessly blend into your new cabinets.

So relax. Even though the number of household items you have to store has doubled that of a family in the 1950s, you can affordably double your storage without doubling your expenses. With kitchen cabinet refacing, adding the cabinets your need to the kitchen cabinets you already have shouldn't be financially painful.

Source

• Modern Kitchen Trends

About the Author
Kirk Bangstad is an artist manager and singer working in Chicago, IL. His previous experience includes consulting for technology companies in the Silicon Valley and serving as a field director and publicist for a statewide political campaign. Kirk holds a B.A. in government from Harvard University.