Many projects that are satisfying to do yourself are the kind that requires little to no effort aside from loving the creativity and DIY process. If you’ve ever thought to improve and upgrade your cabinets, these ideas will steer you in the right direction. This isn’t so much a how-to article for giving the instructions, but rather some great ideas on how to restore and upgrade your current cabinet’s condition.
Why restore old cabinets
One of the biggest reasons to restore old cabinets is to preserve and upgrade the value of your cabinets in general. The second reason is functionality if the hinges, knobs, and hardware is starting to show their age. To improve and add value to your home, restoring and fixing cabinets is one of the most appealing selling points. Newly refinished and restores surfaces aren’t difficult to handle either, and you can take on this project yourself.
There aren’t too many tools or equipment that you’ll need and most home improvement projects like this don’t take more than two weeks or two weekends to complete. The tools that you’ll need are simple and can be purchased at any hardware store. Here is an example of what is the most important.
Tools You’ll Need
Cordless drill and attachments
You could use a standard screwdriver, but your wrist would get really tired with all those little screws that attach to your cabinets. A cordless drill speeds up the work and practically does all the hard work for you. Just have a set of drill bits that can be switched quickly when screw heads often vary in size.
Sanding block and paper
If you’re going to fix up the outside or refinish cabinet surfaces, this job is easy using a sanding block with a variety of sandpaper. You can invest in an electric sanding machine that’s great for flat surfaces and cabinet fronts. At some point, using the sanding block will be a must for removing old paint or stain on old cabinets.
Paint roller and paint brushes
Sooner or later, you’ll need to add new color, stain, accenting, or creative effects to your cabinet’s surface. The best rollers to use are foam rollers instead of rag rollers. Paintbrushes will work in some cases while rags are better for adding stains. You can get great results without professional equipment.
Drop sheets and tack cloth
Sanding and cleaning out old cabinets will have a fair share of dust debris, so laying down plastic drop sheets is good for keeping your floor clean. The edges can be taped down with a bit of masking tape and these plastic sheets can be thrown out when the job is finished. Tack cloth is used to clean dusty surfaces before painting and especially after there’s been sanding.
Paint/Stain/Lacquer
A trip to the paint store or hardware store will provide you with many options for changing the color of cabinets. Adding new stain colors and varied layers of stain colors to bring out accents in the cabinet design. When any of these are completely dry, the final coating that helps to seal these painted surfaces news a good lacquer to resist scratching and everyday wear and tear.
Vacuum cleaner/cleaning tools
A shop vacuum is the best to use for cleaning up sanding dust, so don’t try using a regular vacuum. The filters that you’ll find on a shop-vac are better suited for large debris and especially dust that might contain toxic paint. Cleaning tools including dust masks are a recommended must.
What to restore on your cabinets
Change the color
Collect paint swatches that you can collect for free at the paint store if these are colors you think will work in your kitchen. The best step is to choose a color best for cabinets that will work with your kitchen style.
Switch to a similar kitchen theme style
Your current kitchen cabinets can be changed if you buy new cabinet doors, but with just a new change in color, it can appear totally different. You’ll want to determine which style your kitchen is currently and find a similar style that will best match. Not all styles are easy to change so this task will take the most time to decide.
Switch the hardware
Cabinet hardware is one of the easiest tasks in replacing handles, knobs, hinges, and hardware since hardware stores have a wide selection of styles. Even if the old pieces don’t fit exactly the same, old holes can be filled in with wood putty. Just changing the handles can make the outside appearance look totally different at a glance.
Change old cabinet slide drawers
There might be the need to add upgraded cabinet slides that use bearings. This will make drawers slide in and out easily instead of sticking or squeaking. These cabinet slides are not very hard to install and come in kits that are also easy to mound and install once the old cabinet slides are removed.
Add inner shelves and cabinet additions
New inner shelves and divider systems can be placed into older cabinets which don’t maximize space. Some of these dividers help stack dry goods or organize spices and small items that otherwise become crowded unless they have a storage space to help store them best.