Kitchen Cabinet Refacing is a Big Money Saver

We all face the same major decision at some point in our adult lives. What are we going to do with those outdated kitchen cabinets? Do we tear them completely out and replace them with new custom cabinets, or will refacing kitchen cabinets accomplish the goal. Whether you just purchased an existing older home or you have lived in your home for some time and the kitchen decor has become somewhat dated, the time will come when you will face this question. My wife and I purchased and moved into an existing home a few years back and lo and behold, the kitchen needed some serious updating. The rest of the home did too, but we will discuss that at a later date. Of course, the kitchen is always the focal point of any home since everyone seems to gravitate to that point when there is some type of gathering. Therefore, the first thing on my wife's agenda was a complete makeover of her newly acquired kitchen.


I recall standing in the kitchen not long after we moved in and discussing the major sticking point in the upcoming kitchen remodel. What were we going to do about the cabinets? This decision was going to be the major factor that would drive the remainder of the updated kitchen remodeling. The first thing to consider was whether the cabinet configuration was adequate for our needs. Thankfully, the answer to this question had been addressed some years ago and the necessary kitchen work triangle required in every kitchen had been considered so there was no need to completely tear out the cabinets to meet this need. There were two groups of base cabinets that separated the den and dining area from the kitchen that my wife chose to tear out and replace with an new island, but this was not too costly of an endeavor. These base cabinets were also reused and turned into cabinetry in the laundry room and a nice new bar on the back porch.

Now that the work area had been addressed, it was time to determine whether the cabinets were in good condition and aesthetically pleasing. Again, my pocket book lucked out since the existing cabinets had been custom built from solid oak material and had held up well throughout the years. However, the aesthetically pleasing question was definitely answered negatively for my wife and I. The cabinets had a dark oak finish that really made the kitchen a dark and dreary place. But, since the structural aspects of the cabinetry had all turned out to be positives for us, the decision was made to do a total kitchen cabinet refacing using all the existing boxes and doors. The only thing that would be replaced would be the hinges, cabinet pulls, and drawer pulls. This decision saved us the thousands of dollars that it would have taken to completely replace the entire kitchen cabinets and we were able to do the entire cabinet refacing project for about $500 dollars including a new island.


If, or when, you find yourself facing the same situation my wife and I encountered, follow this simple approach to analyzing your situation and you will easily arrive at the direction you need to take. I wish you luck and hope that the decisions your kitchen remodel results in will have the same favorable results as ours did. If not, my thoughts and sympathy lie with you.