Restore, Reuse or Replace your Cabinet doors

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