Kitchen Cabinet Refacing
by Jonah
When you consider Kitchen Cabinet Refacing, you must weigh variables such as time, money, effort and your own experience and construction competence. Be honest about each of these variables. No space in your home affects your appraisal value more than your kitchen and no room will be as heavily used by your family. So you want to get it right.
I encourage people to consider kitchen cabinet refacing simply because it provides a tremendous return on investment. However, if you’re not up to completing the task properly, it is a significant enough endeavor that you may be better off paying for a professional to handle it.
You also need to investigate whether your existing kitchen cabinets are solid enough to handle the remodel. I’d hate to see anyone wasting time or money on cabinets that just plain need to be replaced.
And one last point before you get started: refacing kitchen cabinets assumes you like the current structure and layout of your kitchen. If what you really want is to expand your space or redesign your kitchen, you might do a little more research and planning before beginning any kind of cabinet refacing job.
The Benefits of Kitchen Cabinet Refinishing
To help you get started or even evaluate whether you want to get started in the first place, let’s discuss some of the benefits and limitations of refinishing your existing kitchen cabinets.
If you still like your existing space and you just crave to liven it up, a kitchen cabinet reface is an excellent option.

Kitchen Cabinet Refacing - Before
If you live a busy life and you have limited time to accomplish your kitchen remodel, kitchen cabinet refacing may be your only option. A cabinet reface job can often be completed in just a couple days whereas a complete kitchen remodel may take several weeks if not months.

Kitchen Cabinet Refacing - After
If you have limited funds to invest in your kitchen, you’ll be thrilled to learn that the kitchen cabinet refacing cost will be a tiny fraction of the cost of completely removing and replacing your exising cabinets.
You can often not only improve the superficial appeal of your cabinets, but improve their functioning as well. Even though you’re keeping the core infrastructure, it can be easy and inexpensive to implement new kitchen cabinet hardware (hinges and drawer runners) and even entirely new kitchen cabinet doors.
A cabinet refacing job can be more environmental as you’re reusing many of the core materials. Even if you choose to tear out the old cabinet infrastructure, I encourage you to take them out with care and offer them up on Craig’s List or something similar. You’d be surprised how many people are looking for older cabinets to squeeze into a basement, garage or workshop.
Some people enjoy the creativity that is catalyzed by limitations. I know it may seem like your imagination can run more free if you remodel your kitchen from scratch, but working with the existing kitchen cabinet infrastructure and its inherent space limitations encourages you to more proactively think and problem solve.
And on the flip side of that last point, you’ll find some of the limitations a relief. A kitchen remodel may often mean moving or at least working around electrical and plumbing. Trust me, this can be a real pain and incur surprising costs. Plumbing in particular is often an incredible pain with unforeseen consequences.
Kitchen Cabinet Refacing Costs and Limitations
However, implementing a kitchen cabinet refinish isn’t for everyone. You must have the patience to plan and prepare and you should have the appropriate tools and materials to complete the job properly.
While it may only take a couple of days to perform the actual labor involved in a kitchen cabinet reface job, you must properly plan in advanced, and this can take a few weeks. You must measure (and measure again) and patiently consider your colors, textures and materials. You may need to order materials so you want to plan all these aspects well in advanced.
You also need to make sure you have all the necessary tools. It can be disheartening to have your kitchen cabinets emptied and the mess spread out only to realize you’re a specific screwdriver short of proceeding. With this site I will try to provide comprehensive lists of tools and materials to have on hand for any kitchen cabinet refacing job.
Kitchen Cabinet Refacing Doors and the Cost of Kitchen Cabinet Refacing
Will you want to resurface and refinish your existing doors or will you want entirely new kitchen cabinet doors? Will you use existing hardware or do you desire a kitchen cabinet design with a different look and style of kitchen cabinet hardware? Do you have all the tools already or do you need to make a shopping list for your local hardware store? These are just some of the questions you must tackle and answer when you consider the overall cost of kitchen cabinet refacing.
With this site I hope to provide you with a good foundation on this fun and rewarding project. I’ll help you prepare with the appropriate tools and supplies and I’ll help you explore different kitchen cabinet refacing ideas. If you have the time, diligence and confidence to accomplish this job, you’ll be well rewarded with how a kitchen cabinet refacing project can freshen and enliven your home.
