Your kitchen cabinets are looking tired and worn and you decide it’s time to put them to rest by upgrading to new cabinets. Here are a few tips to get you started with your upgrade.
Upgrade Your Kitchen Cabinets: Check Availability
Take some time to go to your local home center or cabinet store. Peruse the variety of cabinets that are available to get a feel for what suits your personal taste. Most cabinet displays found at local stores will include a number of different styles, finishes, and sliding rails affecting their price. The displays will also include countertops and other accessories typically found in a modern kitchen to provide you – the customer – with an accurate feel for the cabinet styles.
Check the displays as most will have a free kitchen cabinet design sheet to help you determine your cabinetry needs and kitchen layout.
Upgrade Your Kitchen Cabinets: Decide on a Finish
Kitchen cabinets come in a wide choice of colors and finishes – from plain, white cabinets to the wood grain in a dark finish and everything in between.
Upgrade Your Kitchen Cabinets: Styles
Cabinets also come in various styles. There are four typical styles of cabinet doors.
Beaded inset doors feature the doors set into the cabinet frame with a bead that has been cut into the frame edge. This style is generally the most expensive.
Flush inset doors are similar to beaded insets with the doors inset flush inside the frame. There is no bead cut into the frame edge with flush inset doors.
With a regular overlay door, the door is actually positioned on top of the cabinet frame. This style of cabinet door exposes the cabinet frame around the doors and drawer heads. This particular style is probably the most common and the least expensive.
Full overlay cabinet doors are similar to regular overlays in that the doors and drawer heads are on top of the cabinet frame, fully covering the frame. The edges of each door and drawer head will almost touch.
Upgrade Your Kitchen Cabinets: Cost
Costs will vary based upon the style of cabinets you choose. The more detailed the cabinet door and drawer head, the higher the cost will be. Decide on a budget and choose cabinets that fit within that budget.
Upgrade Your Kitchen Cabinets: DIY or Hire Out?
While you are choosing your cabinets and staying under budget (hopefully) you will need to decide if you will attempt the installation yourself or hire out the job to someone else. If you have some experience with home improvement projects or are willing to learn, installing kitchen cabinets is a good DIY project in my opinion. Check your local library for home improvement books and resources that will explain the process and give you pointers.
If you decided to hire out the job, you should check with the home improvement or cabinet store where you purchase your cabinets. The stores often have lists of reputable cabinet installers they can recommend.