hen you just look at your kitchen cabinets and think, “Wow. These things are old.” If you have, we’ve got just the thing for you. Upgrading your kitchen cabinets is an easy project that anyone can do. Just pay attention for a couple minutes and we promise you will feel confident enough to tackle this project yourself.
Before you start tearing cabinets off the wall like a buffoon, you have to have a plan. Go to a Home Depot, IKEA, or shop for cabinets online, either way, you want to look for the style that fits you best. Don’t know what you want? Well, I don't know what to tell ya. Kidding, we have some ideas to throw your way. You can always go the eco-friendly route. I know what it sounds like, why would you want a bunch of recycled crap mashed together as a cabinet, but hear us out. Some of the designs, like IKEA’s Kungsbacka cabinets, are super sleek and look extremely modern. You can also go the grey route, which is a classic look. If you add some gold hardware handles on those, the cabinets will look pretty clean.
Not into those options? Well aren't you you’re picky? Alright, what about all black? All black is an easy consistent look that will never go out of style. Or, if you're feeling funky, you could go the hippie route and get some green cabinets with beige or gold hardware. If you have white granite countertops, a walnut wood pattern on your cabinets would a match made in heaven, let us tell you. As we mention all of these cabinet and hardware combinations, you could always go with a flat front cabinet. This style of cabinets can be so dope as long as the color of your choice matches the rest of your kitchens asthetic. You good now? Make up your mind? Ok great, now on to…
You might have to skip this step depending on what your cabinets look like now. If you don’t know what crown molding is, it’s that fancy-shmancy lining crap along the trim of the ceiling. Some places have it and some don’t. The point of it is to fill leftover space between your cabinets and the ceiling. If you don’t have crown molding, skip down to step three. If you have crown molding, remove them carefully since they can be reused easily. To remove them you want to use a razor blade or some kind of thin blade to slide behind the crown and pry it off the caulk. It’s easy, but it might take a couple years. After you get it off, pick a color and revamp that crown in any way you want. Simple, right?
For those of you with high ceilings and want to add cabinet space on top of your existing cabinets, you’re going to have to add trim on top of the existing cabinets. For this task, you have to take some measurements to make sure you buy the right size trim, any Home Depot would be able to help you out with this. Once you have the trim, those things go right on top just using wood glue and finish nails. Make sure everything is level before you do so, but after that, you are good to go.
Here is where you’re really going to start to see your project come together. This step is kind of a two parter, but just roll with it. First, you're going to take those new cabinets you bought and set them on top of that trim you just installed. Be real careful. Use a proper step ladder to maintain balance when you are putting them on top of your other cabinets. You will want to secure those new cabinets to the wall with 2.5 inch screws. You may need to use fillers for the back side of the cabinets if they are not flush along the wall. When that’s done, time to get all matchy matchy. Whip out those new cabinet doors you got, remove the old ones using a screwdriver, and pop those suckers on. You see how it's coming together? Nice, right?
Again, skip this step if you do not have crown molding. Even if you had it before, you might not have enough space anymore to reinstall it, and if you don’t, who cares. Crown is just an aesthetic way to fill space, if you have already filled the space with cabinets, then that's better anyway. However, if there is a little space left that you want filled, just trim it down and install it after. Now, If you are one of the people that has the space to reinstall the crown and wants to, you are in luck, installing it is even easier than removing it. Secure it to the top of your new cabinets with a brad nail gun. Then, caulk and fill in the remaining holes. Done and done.
If you decided to go with the flat front cabinet design, you are done, enjoy your upgraded cabinets! If not, time to install your cabinets’ handles that you picked out. Use a Kreg cabinet hardware jig to make sure you drill the holes for the hardware perfectly. It would really suck to ruin your brand new cabinets out of laziness. Afterwards, drill those puppies on and you are all set.
We hope the project is just as easy as we made it seem it would be. When it is done, you will be able to host guests with confidence and they will be jealous of your gorgeous new kitchen. Then you’ll say, “Yep, did it myself.” You’ll be the new hot shot in town. Neighbors will be talking behind your back saying, “Oh my god, did you see what so-and-so did to their kitchen. It looks amazing.” Plus, giving yourself a personal house project is good for the soul. That’s all we’re sayin’.
If for some reason you skipped the whole article all the way to the bottom to see if there is a bulleted list summarizing the article, here you go:
Main image courtesy of House Beautiful.
