Make your kitchen welcoming by refacing your cabinets in a warm, rich color. You want you and your guests to feel relaxed and feel good about being in your kitchen. People tend to congregate in the kitchen area so why not make your kitchen desirable and workable while you’re entertaining.
There are several benefits to refacing your cabinet verses replacing. Some such benefits are that the refacing process takes only approximately 5 days to complete. This is great since you won’t be without your kitchen for weeks or months (as I am sure you’ve heard of homeowner horror stories), you can still use your kitchen during the construction process and refacing is more budget-friendly than replacing your entire kitchen cabinets. Cabinet modifications can also be made with a refacing project. Space-savvy planning is a must for any kitchen and can be accommodated with a refaced cabinet project. This is usually done with the removal of the area or cabinets that is changing and combining refacing the area or adding 1-2 custom cabinets to make the modification. If you are lucky enough to have room for a kitchen island, this can also be accomplished within a reface project. Custom built islands provide plenty of storage, seating (sometimes) and work space. The trend is to have your island stand-out from the rest of the cabinetry by either being a different color wood (either much darker or much lighter than the other cabinets) or painted. Green or white seem to be the most popular paint colors. Of course, if you install a new kitchen island you will also need to install a new countertop for the island. Again the trend is to choose a different color or material for the island separate from the rest of the kitchen’s countertop. Butcher-block is one of the popular choices people are making these days.
Cabinet refacing involves removing and replacing all existing cabinet doors, drawer fronts and drawer boxes (unless your current drawer box slides are working perfectly well). New material is then applied to your cabinet boxes. They are basically wrapped with new material. The drawer boxes, drawer fronts and doors are then installed. Decorative crown moulding is a must in any reface project.
Glass-inserts, knobs and handles and custom finish colors really make the “new” cabinets pop! Clear (or natural), stain, or stain with a glaze are a few of the finish choices available. But please note that the finish that is used on any refaced cabinet (or custom for that matter) is so very important. Whether you choose natural or stain, be sure the finish includes conversion varnish since this finish will hold-up for many years. It is the best cabinet finish on the market today. This is so important since the finish is usually the first thing to go wrong on cabinets. Not the doors falling off their hinges or drawer boxes not working properly, it’s the lacquer finish that fails and starts to flake off. This can be a big problem down the road, although there are remedies for this problem, mainly cabinet restoration.
Door styles are another important choice when refacing your kitchen cabinets. Make sure when you choose to reface your cabinets that solid wood doors are what you are getting. Solid wood material is of better quality and easier to restore if needed years from now. Along with door style, hinges or the quality of the hinge are important. All metal hardware is preferable. Slow-close mechanisms on drawer boxes and door hinges are an upgrade on refacing projects and should be requested since the use and feel of your newly refaced kitchen is determined by your use.