Even when they have found a great home, many home-buyers have plans to change things once they actually get the keys and move in. After all, a house really isn’t your home until you have stamped a little of your own personality on it. And one of the priorities on many a new homeowner’s decor to do lists is a kitchen update.
Kitchen cabinet refacing is an affordable, convenient alternative to kitchen cabinet replacement that is increasingly popular with new homeowners. Rather than have their kitchens out of action for weeks as it might be if they opted for kitchen cabinet replacement, homeowners who choose to reface rather than replace can get a whole new look for their kitchen in just a matter of a day or so and at about half the price ( another plus, considering they’ve just gone through the home-buying process!)
The options available in terms of both design and function when it comes to kitchen cabinet refacing are wide and varied. The deceptively simple act of changing doors and drawer fronts can make a monochrome kitchen come alive with color, help a smaller kitchen look bigger, add extra functions and organization that simply did not exist before and even make a kitchen a little more eco friendly! Here are just a few kitchen cabinet refacing ideas to give you a small taste of what is possible:
Open Up a Smaller Kitchen
Heavy, clunky cabinets can make a small kitchen look even tinier than it really is. By replacing solid cabinet doors with glass fronted ones the room “opens up” instantly and has a lighter, airier feel. You do not have to replace all of your solid doors with glass – keeping all of your kitchen cabinets clean and tidy enough to be on display can be hard- but even the addition of just a few glass fronts can make a huge difference.
Another alternative is to replace darker colored cabinet fronts with models that are lighter and airier. The shabby chic look – which in the case of a kitchen cabinet would feature deliberately distressed wood painted in pastel colors – is very popular at the moment and can give a smaller kitchen space a huge amount of added charm.
Add Extra Storage
Whether the space is big or small, many homeowners bemoan the fact that there is simply not enough neat, functional storage space in their kitchens. If that is an issue for you, consider using new cabinet doors with built in wire shelving – a very popular option at the moment as the shelves add function without taking anything away from the kitchen’s overall style.
Go Greener
More and more of us are concerned about the impact we have on the environment around us in terms of our carbon footprint, and are seeking practical ways to reduce it. Kitchen cabinet refacing can be a great way to do just this. Many modern kitchen cabinet doors and drawer fronts are made from MDF – a cheap but eco unfriendly material – that may give off formaldehyde fumes (that is because formaldehyde is in the resin it is bound with) that can cause headaches for all in the home and even worse.
Replacing these doors with a beautiful – and very green – alternative like bamboo will solve that problem while adding an attractive natural wood look that will suit any decor (even though bamboo is a grass!)