What is Involved with Refinishing Kitchen Cabinets?

Refinishing your kitchen cabinets can cover a large variety of options that will change the finish of your cabinets without changing the layout or structural elements. Refacing, staining and painting are all different ways of refinishing your cabinets. These options come with different levels of difficulty and versatility.

Refacing your kitchen cabinets is the extremely versatile but also the most difficult. Since you are changing the surface material of the cabinets you can drastically change the color or material with ease. The end result is usually a wood grain finish made of either laminate or veneer. The down side to this process is that it is the most difficult and often requires a professional to be done properly and allowing the end result to really shine.

Staining your kitchen cabinets allows for you to bring out their natural color or go to a darker tone. You can also create a more expensive appeal by selecting a less expensive material and staining it with a well-known color, like cherry. Staining your cabinets provides the least amount of versatility, as you must already have a wood finish on your cabinetry and it can be difficult to go from darker to lighter or make two drastic of a change. Staining will also not change the wood grain of the cabinetry so while the color may change the texture will not.

The big difference between the previous two options and painting your kitchen cabinets is that the end result will be a standard color instead of a wood finish. Refinishing your kitchen cabinets through painting is the most versatile and simplest way to create a drastic change. You can select from a wide range of colors giving your kitchen a new and interesting appearance. With this option it is easy to play with the colors or even do two-tone kitchen cabinets to keep things interesting!

The most important question to ask yourself when refinishing your kitchen cabinets is, what would I like the end result to look like, paint or wood? If you would like a wood finish then you must decide between staining and refacing your cabinets. If you would like to enhance there natural beauty or make them a darker richer color then try staining them. If you would like to go lighter or change the material from a paint or MDF to a wood grain laminate or veneer then refacing is the way to go.