If you’re thinking about updating your kitchen, the cabinets are most likely one of your top priorities. Many homeowners think they need to replace worn-out cabinets, but that isn’t necessarily true. It’s often possible to save money by simply refacing them or replacing the doors.
Reasons to Reface Your Kitchen Cabinets
Refacing is popular with homeowners who want to beautify their kitchen while sticking to a budget. New doors, drawer fronts, hinges and pulls can be installed to update the appearance of a kitchen at a fraction of what it would cost to install new cabinets.
Cabinet refacing requires much less work and is much less disruptive than replacing entire cabinets. If you reface your kitchen cabinets, you would not need to have appliances removed. That means your family would still be able to use the kitchen while contractors were working on the cabinets. If you were willing and able to tackle a DIY project, you could replace the cabinet doors yourself to keep the overall cost of the kitchen remodel down.
If you decide to reface the cabinets, you can choose from a wide range of styles and colors. You might install new doors made from a different wood species or you might choose glass doors that would allow people to see the cabinets’ contents.
When to Replace the Kitchen Cabinets
Sometimes it makes more sense to pay for new cabinets than to reface the existing ones. If the kitchen cabinets are old and worn out, or if they were not of good quality to begin with, new doors wouldn’t do anything to address structural problems. It would be better to remove them and install new, higher-quality cabinets.
If your existing cabinets are in decent condition, but their size and layout don’t suit your needs, it may be a good idea to replace them. You could choose new cabinets based on how you use the kitchen so you could utilize the space more efficiently. If you’re planning a major kitchen renovation, you may want to completely rethink the way the room is designed and make changes to match your family’s lifestyle.
Replacing the old cabinets would cost a lot more than refacing, but it’s not a project you should try to handle yourself to save money. The old cabinets would need to be removed carefully to avoid damaging the counters and floor. If you didn’t have the necessary training and experience and you made a mistake, it could dramatically increase the overall cost of your kitchen remodel.
When to Try a Combination of Approaches
Some of your kitchen cabinets may be in better shape than others. If that is the case, your best option may be to replace some and reface others. A contractor can inspect the condition of each cabinet and make a recommendation.
