DIY | Home Decor | Home Maintenance | Kitchen | My Projects | Projects | Tutorials

Change The Look of Your Kitchen Cabinets On a Dime

kitchen Before dishwasher    kitchen Before it all WM

The kitchen is the heart and soul of the home.  Update Old Kitchen Cabinets on a Dime - Toolbox DivasSo when you have a kitchen that is old and worn out or outdated, like mine was, it’s like your home has no life.  For me I was just sad every time I stepped foot into my kitchen.  The worst part of it, with limited funds, it was hard in the beginning pushing through the ugly to see it’s full potential.

kitchen AFTER WM
My Kitchen Today. The kitchen I Love 🙂

But with trial and error, a lot of patience,  I gained a kitchen I could be proud of.   Here are a few ways in which you can easily update your dated cabinets on  a budget.

Paint.  One sure fire and quick solution to updating those old cabinets is by painting them.  Paint is easy and very inexpensive.  Typically it requires less than a gallon of paint to paint all the cabinets within a kitchen. That’s roughly $36 for a gallon of paint.  You can transform dated laminate cabinets like mine.  Yes, you can paint laminate. Like wood cabinets, give the doors a light sanding, apply a good quality primer like Glidden Gripper Primer Sealer, then paint using the a color that speaks to you.   Take my word for it,  you do not have to stick to the traditional white cabinets to achieve the kitchen of your dreams.

Basic Cabinet Before    Blue Door

Old Wood Cabinets BEFORE  wood door after If you are one of the lucky people out there with real wood cabinets, your options are limitless.  You can paint or stain your cabinets.

Glaze. Perk up the mood or feel of your kitchen by glazing your cabinets.  It’s very affordable and packs a wow factor for sure.  Consider Rust-Oleum’ s Transformations Java Brown Cabinet Decorative Glaze. For about $15 you can transform old boring cabinets in minutes.  It is probably the fastest and easiest transformation you can do to your kitchen.

Good But Boring BEFORE   Glazed door

Trim. Are you among the millions of us, myself included, who kitchen is filled with flat panel 1980s cabinets.

My 1st try at updating my kitchen ended in a big flop!
My 1st try at updating my kitchen ended in a big flop!

Maybe it’s real wood….maybe its real fake.  Well, don’t fret there is hope for us after all.  You can add trim to those flat panel doors by using inexpensive scrap pieces, like I did in the demo, or your more expensive decorative moldings.  One thing I would say to consider when adding molding or trim to the door, stay away from the edges of the door.  Adding trim to the doors’ edges actually makes the doors thicker which affects the hinges.

Flat Laminate Door BEFORE   Add trim, wood filler   Sand    Door with trim added - Toolbox Divas

Hardware. Probably the simplest way to add visual interest to boring or dated cabinets is by adding new hardware.  Depending on the type of hardware you go with it can be a little costly.  Consider taking on pulls found on discarded furniture. Or you can find lots of options at a local Habitat for Humanity Restore Center.  You can update the old with spray paint.  Don’t count it out simply because it isn’t exactly the right color because there is always the right color spray paint. 😉 Go crazy with hardware.  You can go ultra model with artsy with unique decorative pulls.

20161203_105307 Arrow pulls Knob changes Spray Paint it gold antique pull drawer pull modern drawer pull

Let your kitchen be an expression of who you are.  It is the center of your home.  So don’t be afraid to be afraid to allow your soul and spirit to shine through.

Similar Posts

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *