How to refurbish old out dated wooden kitchen cabinets?
Question:My kitchen cabinets are dark wood. They are old and outdated. What can I do to spruce them up?
Answers:
Are they solid wood? If so, don't trash them. New cabinet doors are not as good as the old.
Do you want a wood cabinet look or a painted cabinet look?
If wood, clean the wood with an old terry cloth and mineral spirits. OPEN THE WINDOWS FIRST. Scrub with the terry cloth, changing cloths until you think the cabinet is clean. If it's still not clean enough, get very fine steel wool and denatured alcohol. Again, the stuff is strong, open the windows and wear gloves. Scrub with the alcohol until you get a clean, uniform surface. Do not throw the discarded steel wool in the household trash. Leave it outside in a can of water. It's flammable.
When the cabinets are "clean" see if you like the color. They will be lighter in tone no matter what kind of wood you have. You can then go for a soft oil finish, like Danish oil, or you could put a satin finish of polyurethane, 2 coats. True wood cabinets are beautiful if finished nicely. And some people pay tons of money to custom cabinet makers for solid wood cabinets.
If you want a painted finish you still have to clean the cabinets because they certainly have absorbed dirt and cooking oils over time. In that case, just do the mineral spirits cleaning, finishing with a damp cloth when you have wiped the dirt off. When painting, preparation makes the difference between a "home-made" job and a professional job. Run your hand over the wood and see if it feels smooth. If not, use a very fine sandpaper to smooth out the surface. Then wipe the sanding dust off with a TACK CLOTH (available in any hardware store). Vacuum the cabinets for double protection.
Get a first class primer (latex is fine) such as Benjamin Moore's (benjaminmoore.com) and put two coats of primer on the cabinets. Then paint. Again, use first class paint. I think Benjamin Moore is not only a great product but also has such beautiful colors that you are sure to find one you like that goes with your decor.
The next thing is the "jewelry", that is, the knobs. Home Depot or Ikea ( if there's one near you) have a wide variety from polished brass to satin nickel to glass and ceramics.
Whatever you choose, the cabinets will look better than new because of the time and effort you've put into the project.
You did not mention the inside of the cabinets. If you don't like the way they look, you could paint them or wallpaper them (with a strippable wallpaper) or stencil them. It all depends on what kind of look you want to achieve.
My cabinets are old, plain, and unattractive too and I plan to scuff them up with sandpaper and paint them a grey stainless steel color and put on new chrome or black hardware. I have black appliances so the contrast should be sleek and modern looking. I want to remove my outdated wallpaper too and paint the old paneling a very pale turquoise. I saw that color scheme in an old Lowe's advertisement and fell in love with it.
I gave mine a bit of sanding and then painted them. You can also sand them a bit and give them a fresh coat of verathane or other poly based top coat to bring back their luster. It will make them look brand new. If you can't take the fumes though, look in your phonebook for cabinet refinishers or handy men and get estimates on it. Don't give them money up front though as they could take it and run. Don't forget to check them out with your Better Business Bureau because you don't want to have to hire someone to fix a shotty job and do the job correctly.
First clean them very well. Then consider painting them a lighter color. If you use a primer first, like Kilz it will block the heavy color. Of course you'll want to change the hardware and especially change the hinges if they are exposed. If there is dated molding on them it can be pried off and sanded before you paint. So many people trash their cupboards and get new ones when you can do a face lift for far cheaper.
Most of the kitchen cabinets use "veneer" so if it needs sanding don't assume it is real wood. You can replace the veneer with new veneer - it comes in rolls. You could use new hardware, and truthfully you could even make your own doors if you want a change in style. Maybe take the wood panel out of the door and replace it with smoked glass or decorative glass panels. Those panels generally come off from the back of the door. Take one with you so they will know what thickness to cut your glass.
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