Monday, June 13, 2011
By Keith LoriaWhen walking into a kitchen, the eye is almost immediately drawn to the cabinets, so if your home has dated or worn-out cabinetry, it could be a big negative to home buyers.
The challenge is that installing new cabinets can be expensive. Luckily, there are other options to starting anew.
If you’re getting tired of looking at your old kitchen cabinets but don’t have the inclination or the budget to undertake replacing them, painting can offer an attractive alternative.
“Wooden cabinets can easily be freshened up with color and a new stain and it makes the kitchen seem brand new,” says Peter Jannovich, a home-interior painter in Fairfax, Va. “Whether the existing cabinets are a dark stain or are already painted and in need of some refreshing, with the proper materials, some time and some patience, you can make quite a difference in a fairly short time. I have worked with more people in the past year on simply painting them than I ever have before.”
You can also keep the wood look by having the cabinets stripped, bleached and refinished.
Another popular option is to reface the cabinets, which involves applying a new wood veneer to the cabinet bases and installing new doors and drawers. There are many companies that specialize in this and it improves the look dramatically.
“We remove all existing doors and drawer fronts from your cabinets. All visible cabinet surfaces are then refaced with our exclusive double lamination system in the color of your choice,” says Robert Harrington, a kitchen remodeler from Westchester, New York. “Beautiful, new matching doors with brand new hinges and hardware of your choice are installed. If desired, we can replace your countertops, backsplashes and sinks as well. We also build and install additional cabinets or islands.”
Since most of what you see when you look at the cabinets are the doors, re-facing does an amazing job of transforming the kitchen, experts say. Meanwhile, the interiors stay the same.
Another strong fix is adding dovetail joints, which generally last longer than butt joints, and metal draw glides instead of plastic. Next, you may consider purchasing quality, ready-to-assemble units because such units come in standard sizes that will allow you to avoid the expense of getting professional help.
By using a standard cabinet size and a good plan of your kitchen space, you will be able to provide this space with a great design all by yourself.
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