To Refinish or Not Refinish Your Kitchen Cabinets
Do you watch HGTV and think, 'I can do that'? Well, you probably can if you have a little bit of direction and the right tools.
Just by refinishing your kitchen cabinets, you can give your kitchen a whole new look. Changing the cabinets can be done in a lot of ways but there are a few little steps you need to follow first:
- Take everything out of the cabinets first
- Take the doors OFF before you try to refinish or paint them
- Take the shelves out of the cabinets
- Cover anything that could get paint on it; counter, floor, etc
- Remove all hardware from cabinets and doors
- Fill holes
- Sand the faces and frames (don’t forget to pick up the dust; you don’t want that flying around while you are working)
- You can begin applying your paint or finish; cabinets from top to bottom and then the doors and drawers while they are not on/in the cabinet
- Apply multiple coats of paint/finish
- Let it dry WELL
- Put on new hardware to change appearances
- Put shelves back in and doors back on and you have a whole new look for your kitchen
Remember that you should always paint from top to bottom. It keeps paint and finish from dripping.
Painting or refinishing isn’t the only way to change your kitchen cabinets from old into new. You can also laminate them. Laminate is a material that is available in sheets from your local home improvement store. Sometimes the sheets already have glue applied to the back of the material allowing you to adhere it to the wood without applying anything else. Laminate can make your cabinets look entirely different. It comes in many different colors and designs. You can either laminate the entire cabinet or only the doors.
Some people like to replace the doors on cabinets to change the looks of the kitchen. You might choose to put doors on that have glass insets in them to give your kitchen a very modern and updated look.
You can also tile your cabinets. You will need:
- Tiles
- Tile cutter
- Grout
- Tile-on-wood glue
- Tape measure
You need to make certain that the portion to be tiled is clean and dust free. One tile at a time is the only way to do it. Put the glue on the back of a tile and press it to the cabinet. You will want to make certain that the edge of the tile is in line with the edge of the cabinet. Unless you are going to grout your tiles/cabinet, you do not need to leave a space between tiles.
This is an unusual way to change your cabinets. Tiles are usually used for back splashes or counters but they can produce a beautiful effect if you choose to use them.
|