December 30, 2010

When it Comes Time to Re-Surface Kitchen Cabinetry

There's no doubt that kitchen cabinets take a beating. Think about how many times someone in your family opens a cupboard to discover a break, get out a glass, or take out ingredients to prepare the next meal. Naturally, every opening means a closing, and some of these are less than delicate. Couple this with the fact that a kitchen environment is stuffed with grease, moisture, and heat, and you can see why even the best hardwood cupboards start looking tacky over a period of time. If this occurs to you, and you don't need to go to all of the cost of replacing the cupboards, you might need to consider the choice of refinishing your kitchen cabinets.

When it comes to refinishing kitchen cupboards, there are several strategies available. The simplest is probably to paint the cupboards, and lots of people are doing that these days. It does take a little time to do a good job, but there are plenty of different paints that will hold up under use and give your cupboards a clean, modern look. You will have to start by removing all of the doors and hardware, then cleaning the surfaces completely. Your new paint isn't going to paste as well to built-up layers of kitchen grease, so you need to remove it with a strong degreasing agent prior to painting. In addition, you may need to lightly sand all surfaces, especially areas with scratches and damage.

If you'd wish to retain the wood-grained look of your original cupboards, you can strip off the old finish, sand the cupboards, and then re-stain and varnish them. This is a lot of work, but it will all pay off when you see the wonderful thing about glowing wood and freshly-polished surfaces. You will have to decide if you wish to refinish the cupboards the same color as they have been which is a wise choice if they match the rest of the woodwork in your home. You can also select a different shade of stain to give them a new look. Buy quality products for quality results.

A third way to refinish your cabinets is to have a veneer put over them. This will probably have to be done professionally, unless you have some superb skills, but these people will know what they're doing and be in a position to provide you with the new cupboard surfaces you're trying to find. There are some other options you can select from, too. For example, you can decide to have the doors resurfaced, or you can buy new doors and have them fitted to your cupboards. Regardless of what way you select to refinish your kitchen cabinets, you're certain to love your new look.
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