Refacing Your Kitchen Cabinets

by Miriam Kasdan
Face Your Kitchen Columnist

Giving your kitchen cabinets a facelift may be an inexpensive solution to updating this much-used room without undergoing a complete remodeling. All you need is a little elbow grease and creativity.

Simple Ways to Reface Your Kitchen Cabinets

There are several ways to go, depending on the time and money you want to invest. Refacing may be the best option for an updated look if you don't need to change or modify your kitchen cabinets to accommodate a new appliance. Follow these steps to achieve a whole new look.

• Cleaning. Getting rid of the residue left by heat, water, grease, and food with a good scrubbing may be enough to make kitchen cabinets look good as new.
• Updating Cabinet Hardware. If you've removed the kitchen cabinet doors to clean them, you can also remove the kitchen cabinet knobs, pulls, and hinges to clean the hardware. This would also be a good time to buy new ones, if you want to give the cabinets an updated look.
• Adding Moulding. Drab kitchen cabinet doors can be dressed up with decorative moulding, adding a contrasting finish or color.
• Stripping and Refinishing. If cleaning the kitchen cabinets doesn't do the trick in changing their look, then refinishing, though time-consuming, may be the way to go. You can replace non-wood cabinet doors with wood ones, or update the style in other ways. This method works if you already have enough room for your cookware and dishes.

The many options are up to you, but regardless of which you choose, in the end you will most likely be pleasantly surprised at the results of your hard work.

Sources:

• http://www.lowes.com
• http://homerepair.about.com

About the Author
Miriam Kasdan has been writing and editing marketing and technical materials for almost 20 years, and specializes in home improvement features. Miriam earned a B.A. in Sociology from the University of California at Berkeley.