Affordable Kitchen Update – Cabinets

Having family and friends for the holidays and not too happy with the state of your kitchen? Here are some quick, easy and relatively inexpensive updates you can make to your cabinets to give it a fresh, new look.

1. The easiest change you can make by far is updating your cabinet hardware. Go drastic. Are your current knobs old fashioned and country? Try modern and funky. Don't have hardware? Just drill holes into your cabinet and add them. You'll be surprised what a difference this will instantly make.

Antiqued painting technique with stencil on doors contrasts with dark wood cabinets

2. Paint your cabinet doors – yes just the doors. It requires a little bit more time and effort (sanding and priming are essential steps), but the results can be dramatic. If your cabinets are in the otherwise good shape, painting them can boost their appeal instantly. The contrast with the rest of the cabinets can be striking. The opposite is also true – if you paint only the cabinets you can achieve a similar look. 

Mirrored upper cabinets add sparkle - House Beautiful

3. A few other tricks to try with your doors – If they are paneled you can paint just the inside or outside of the panel - you can do this on all or just upper or lower cabinets. For limited upper cabinets only - you can also remove the panel and add glass, mirrors or chicken wire. If they are flat doors you can easily add a simple molding to give it a more finished look. You can even paint the inside panel with chalkboard paint! 

Tutorial on how to paint your cabinets

4. If you have the time and inclination, paint the entire cabinet. Pick a color that compliments the style and look of your home. Right now, anything goes. But light, creamy ivories are a good bet. They will instantly brighten your kitchen and will go in just about any style home. And feel free to use two colors – one on the upper cabinets and something complimentary with maybe more color or a deeper color on the bottom.

No upper cabinets - just a few shelves

5. Remove upper cabinets altogether. Clear out all of you unnecessary kitchen items. You may find you don't need all of that storage. Removing upper cabinets can dramatically open up a kitchen. In some cases, you may be able to replace some of the cabinets with open shelving. You can display your dishes and glassware there – or even neatly stacked dry items. You can also hang pots and utensils on the wall – which makes it visually interesting and functional.

Some tips for painting:
Make sure you remove the doors before painting. Wipe down, sand, clean and then prime cabinets and doors before painting. Make sure you use at least an eggshell or semi-gloss paint. Please arm yourself with good tools and do some research. Talk to experts – Lowes and Home Depot are great resources.

Good luck and enjoy the process! And post your comments and pictures too.

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Copyright 2013, Cristina Mullins Interiors.