Homeowners who wish to restore the look of their kitchen or
bathroom cabinets, need to consider re-staining or painting.
Cabinet Resurfacing - Stains, Paints and Finishes
There are a wide assortment of stains, paints
and finishes to choose from. For example,
matte, high gloss or satin finishes, just to name a few.
Cabinet Restoration
The restoration process would involve your Cabinet maker /
Joiner sanding the existing cabinet doors and frame, before applying a fresh
coat of stain in your preferred colour(s) and finish. It’s important to note that if your current
cabinets have layers upon layers of stain or paint, the Cabinet maker should
remove all the layers and sand the cabinet doors and frame right down to the
clean wood surface, before reapplying a new coat of stain / paint to give a
fresh, updated look. The process of
removing the old layers and sanding down to the original wood is both time
consuming and requires additional effort, and as such may result in a higher
cost. However, the end result is well
worth the additional money you would have paid, and would still be
significantly less than what it would cost to replace your entire kitchen/bathroom
cabinets.
Cabinet Reuse
Depending on the style of your existing cabinets, you may
wish to reuse the existing door with some modification. For example, if you have a slab cabinet door, this can easily be converted into a shaker style door. Similarly the insert of a raised panel door
can be removed to convert it into a glass panel door, thereby creating a new
cabinet door style for a fraction of the cost.
Cabinet Replacement
So, when do you know it’s time to have the doors
replaced? Here are a few signs that will
help you decide:
- Cabinet doors or frame show signs of mould or
termites.
- Cabinet doors shows signs of rotting.
- Cabinet doors have dents/scratches that can’t be
easily hidden/repaired.
- Shoddy installation previously done, that can’t
be easily repaired.
- Cabinet doors and drawers are falling apart
(Safety hazard for young children).
- Bad kitchen layout, lack of function and flow.
So in a nutshell, if your cabinet doors have seen better
days, then it may be best to replace with new doors or in some instances,
replace the entire kitchen. Replacing
the doors or kitchen is the most costly option of the three, but gives you the
opportunity to create the dream kitchen you always wanted. There are a variety of cabinet door styles to
choose from.
Maintaining the overall style of
your home is also important. For examples,
if you lean toward a more traditional style, then raised panel doors may be
more appealing to you. If you have a contemporary
style throughout your home, then shaker style doors works best. If you have a modern, minimalist style, then
flat panel or Slab doors with floating shelves work best. In some cases, you
may wish to mix and match styles to create something with a little more character. Your Cabinet maker / Joiner should be knowledgeable
on various styles, to guide you in selecting the one that best fits you.
We hope these tips were helpful. In the coming weeks, we'll share more homeowner tips on kitchen and bath renovations.
If you need help renovating or implementing a custom kitchen or bathroom design, please contact us at:
Tel: (868) 774-7770
Email: mipwooddesigns@gmail.com
Website: https://www.mipwooddesigns.com
