Different Ways to Make Old Cabinets Look Modern
Do you have a kitchen that feels like it’s from a bygone era but you don’t have the kind of resources it would require to mount a full-scale kitchen remodel? Not to worry, you don’t need to re-do the entire kitchen, just focus your funds on your cabinets at the moment. After all, it’s your cabinets that take up the majority of the real estate in the room. With so much of your wall space dominated by your cabinets, it’s no wonder they are the main component that is affecting the look and feel of the space.
The work you do on your kitchen cabinets can have a big impact on your kitchen and bring it into the modern age. Here are the main factors you must consider as you start to mount this project and the things to look out for:
Assessing Your Cabinets
First things first, be sure that your cabinets are a good candidate for cabinet refinishing. You need to determine their current condition. Are they in acceptable working order? Any issues with functionality need to be addressed before you do anything. Broken cabinets are not worth updating, they must first be repaired and if that ship has already sailed, replacement is the best choice. That is going to cost more, sure, but you can’t go fixing up cabinetry that is falling apart as that’s just wasting your money instead.
Consider Your Current Materials
The materials with which your cabinets were manufactured may be an indication as to when they were built and installed. Perhaps you chose a look and a material that was hip and trendy at that point in time. This is one of the reasons why you don’t always want to follow those trends because the cabinets that were cool and fashionable at that time will look severely dated before you know it.
So, depending on what type of materials you picked at the time, your modernization task may be a small job or a huge endeavor. One that could have you making big changes.
Updating Your Look
Now that you’ve determined just how much work is necessary, let’s go over the things you can do to bring your kitchen into the 21st century. Should you paint kitchen cabinets to make them look more modern? Do you need to just swap out the hardware attached to everything? The answer to those (and other) questions is all about knowing what it is you want to do to your cabinets as you update their aesthetic.
Do It Yourself Options
So, here is the part of the article that you came to read. How to do the work yourself for as little money as possible. Fortunately, you have a multitude of options at your disposal with little work required. There are refinishing options that don’t require sanding, all you need is one of the materials that can make refinishing a cinch. Try a wax, a glaze, a chalk-style paint, or a gel stain. All of these can make your cabinets feel like they belong in this decade instead of the past.
Get creative with your cabinets but just don’t do any work that is beyond your capability. Nothing screams shoddy workmanship like overly complicated and underdeveloped game plan for beautifying your cabinetry. If you want to apply patterns and do some ornate detail with paint, be sure you have a steady hand and at least some skill at handling the task. Otherwise bring in someone who can deliver the look you want, someone with greater expertise at doing that particular work.
Paint and Staining Your Cabinets
If those finishing options are not to your liking, then you can do a standard repaint or refinish. However, there is more work that must be done in order to achieve the objective you want. That means sanding the surfaces of your cabinet facades and then applying your paint or stain over the smoothed surface.
Just be sure you are selecting a paint color that is going to stand the test of time and not become dated all over again in a few years.
Cleaning Up Your Cabinets
We’re not talking about the inside of your cabinets and drawers. That’s a problem you are going to need to handle all by yourself. Organizing and purging what you have stored inside is beyond our expertise. We are referring to the scuffs and scrapes that have adorned your cabinet exteriors over time. You may want to reface the doors instead of replacing them entirely.
Refacing means placing a veneer over the facade of the door to give it an entirely new and fresh look. Free of the dings and dents of your lifestyle and the wear and tear they create.