The better news is kitchen cabinet refacing does not have to be a large or daunting project. In fact, most of the time, refacing your kitchen cabinet is something that you can do yourself. If you just follow these simple hints, you should be able to take on your kitchen cabinet makeover without any problems!
As you take the doors off of your kitchen cabinets, you will want to make sure to label them. This will save you a lot of time later, after the doors have been refinished and you won’t have to spend a lot of time trying to figure out which door goes to which cabinet. Take care that you do not accidentally paint or finish over your markings until the door has been reattached to the cabinet!
Before you get all hung over with your stripping material, make sure that you clean your cabinets completely-top to bottom, inside and out. Use a strong cleaner because dust and residue that build up over a long period of time can be hard to remove, and even though we all like to think that we clean our cabinets thoroughly, the truth is that we also adjust to the look of dust and residue as it coats our cabinets, so what looks clean to us might not be very clean at all! Don’t forget to wear rubber gloves as you clean the cabinets.
Even though it is not required that you take the cabinets off of the walls during your kitchen cabinet makeover it is a good idea. Kitchen cabinet refacing is far more difficult if the cabinets are still attached to the walls. After all-would you rather be perched precariously on a step stool or ladder and trying not to drip stripping chemicals and refinishing chemicals all over yourself or would you rather be able to stand over the cabinets as you perform these tasks and make sure that they are thoroughly taken care of?
When you are shopping for a cabinet refinishing stripper choose a stripping chemical that works with the type of finish that is currently on your cabinet. The salesperson at your home improvement or hardware store will be able to help you figure out which type of finish is currently on your cabinets if you do not already know.
Finally, when you work on a kitchen cabinet makeover, it is very important to work slowly and to pay attention to the little details. Fix any nicks or scratches before doing your kitchen cabinet refacing. Make sure that the new finish is applied evenly and thoroughly. It is always better to be slow and steady than it is to rush through your kitchen cabinet makeover and, only after you have put all of your cabinets back in place do you notice all of the mistakes that were made!
