Kitchen - DIY Cabinet Reface

Honestly, I would have never thought that the same week Denise tackles her kitchen is the same week I tackle mine! Haha!! Take a look at this picture!!! This is one old fashion 1970’s outdated kitchen. I can’t look at these U-G-L-Y – Ugly brown laminate cabinets any longer! Honestly, would you be able to cook in this kind of environment? Wow! What were these builders thinking????


Don’t let this print fool you, it may look like wood, but it’s not! It’s this plasticy laminate adhering to some ply wood! As we know, kitchens are so expensive to redo, and because all my savings went into purchasing this house, I had to get smart. So, I google searched “painting brown laminate cabinets” (yes, so creative). After hours of searching I came to the conclusion that I should paint my cabinets white, this should brighten up the room and bring this kitchen to its proper decade! But, that just was not enough for me!!! I wanted to update the flat boring cabinet doors! I decided to add some molding! Where? How? I had no clue! So on to Home depot and Lowes I went! I bought a 8 foot piece of EverTrue 1-5/8"W x 8'L Primed Composite Chair Rail and a miter box with a saw.

I went to work –I primed the cabinets and measured 3 inches from each side of the cabinets...I decided to create a shadow box with in the molding on the cabinet door. I cut my 45 degree angles and nailed the molding to the door…I liked the way it looked, but I just wasn’t convinced.

I ended up taking a trip to a local molding store…I got a smaller molding CASING 1-5/8. I went home and cut the 45 degree angles and decided to nail the frame on the outside of the cabinets...I fell in love!!! Talk about a DIY cabinet reface, I saved myself a few $$$...

With a fresh coat of semi-gloss ultra white paint, the kitchen lookes fabulous! I ended up painting the walls a shade of brown to make the cabinets stand out. I know, I know, I need new appliances, but that is going to have to wait for now.

The kitchen still needs some work; re-grouting the tile on the countertops, adding the hardware to the cabinets, tiling the floor…so much more to do!