Kitchen Cabinet Makeover on a Budget

By Carmen Fontana

As the world sits firmly entrenched in a recession, homeowners might be thinking that this spring is hardly the ideal time to be contemplating a kitchen overhaul. As the heart of the kitchen, kitchen cabinets most often come to mind when it comes to a room makeover. Unfortunately, brand new, custom-made kitchen cabinets are expensive and fall outside the budget of most of today’s recession-anxious homeowners. Fortunately, however, many affordable alternatives exist.

The Daily Journal recently tackled this topic in its spring home improvement section with an article titled, “Cost-effective ways to rejuvenate one of the busiest rooms.” That room of which the publication is speaking, of course, is the kitchen. So what ingenious ways did the newspaper and its expert sources come up with to take the financial sting out of a cabinetry overhaul?

1. Consider refacing your kitchen cabinets over replacing them. Your local home improvement center can give you a good idea about what new door fronts will cost you. Such a supercenter can also give you a glimpse into all your cabinet door options in one convenient place. The wide variety of wood species, door shapes and finish options may at first overwhelm you. The retailers’ staff, however, can help you make sense of all your choices so you select the right door fronts to fit your needs and lifestyle. As long as the basic construction of your cabinetry is in solid shape, refacing is a great money-saving option. It isn’t, however, always the least expensive route.

2. Look into assembled and ready-to-assemble kitchen cabinets. One of the homeowners highlighted in the article “assumed it (kitchen cabinet refacing) would be less expensive than pulling out the old cabinets and starting over. The price [for such refacing, however,] was not cheap. Ultimately, the homeowner was able to remove all the old cabinets, replace them with semi-custom wood cabinets, install Corian countertops and install a tiled backsplash for $4,000 less.” With so many options to choose from, stock cabinetry is fast becoming comparable to custom designed, yet it’s much more wallet friendly.

3. Consider the fact that maybe your actually cabinetry doesn’t need any work at all. If you’re looking for a quick and easily update that will give your quality-constructed existing cabinets a brand new look, perhaps a simple and inexpensive upgrade in your hardware is all that is needed. “If the cabinets are made of wood and are in good, working condition, buy new hardware, knobs and hinges for a lot less money than replacement cabinets,” one expert recommended. Decorative accents put the finishing touch on your cabinetry. These enhancements customize your cabinetry for a look that reflects your personal style … and doesn’t put a strain on your bank account.

4. When all else fails, you can’t go wrong with a new coat of paint. “A homeowner can get a brand new freshening up on their existing cabinets without all the project mess and inconvenience, using a washable oil-based paint in semi gloss, and the cost will range between $1,200 to $1,500.”

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Economical Budget Kitchen Remodeling

In the last century, kitchens have gone from being very small spaces with one purpose only to becoming the central area of a home. The average person today spends an estimated total of 3 years of his life in the kitchen, which is no small number.

If you’re the type of person who loves looking at new kitchen appliances and have always dreamed of starting a kitchen remodeling project but haven’t had the money to be able to do it, here are some tips on simple economical ways to remodel your kitchen.

1) Replace the lighting. New lighting makes a world of a difference and can give a room a completely different look. Pendant lights which hang over-head have become extremely popular in the last several years. Built-in lights which are housed in the ceiling or on the walls are also quite popular, but make sure you set up separate light switches so you have the ability to change the mood of the room without having all the lights on or off.

2) Replace kitchen cabinet knobs or handles. Knobs and handles become tarnished easily in kitchens and switching our the knobs or handles can give the affect of all new cabinets without the hassle involved in buying new cabinets.

3) Refinish your kitchen cabinets. Kitchen cabinets are not too expensive but you’ll save money refinishing them yourself. There are many DIY (do-it-yourself) websites which can give you simple instructions on a DIY project such as doityourself.com’s wide range of projects.

4) Repair your appliance exteriors. Metal ovens and fridges get a lot of use and can become discolored and stained. In most home repair stores and even in car repair shops you can find heavy duty metal cleaner which can handle the majority of the stains.

5) Paint the walls. A fresh coat of paint can make your kitchen look years younger.

6) Install new flooring. Laminate flooring or tiling can be quite cheap and modernize kitchens which haven’t had a kitchen remodeling project in fifteen or more years.

7) Change your kitchen decorations. A new set of kitchen towels, oven mitts, a table cloth, salt and pepper shakers, plates and silverware may be the last thing you think of when you think of kitchen remodeling, but these accessories are used daily and new modern accessories can change the feel of a kitchen easily.

www.LKNcabinets.com   offers all wood cabinetry at affordable pricing in the greater Charlotte area of North Carolina

How to Install Cabinet Door Pulls

Once you finish a cabinet remodel you still need to install the new cabinet pulls. There are a few simple tricks to use to ensure the job goes quickly, smoothly and will look great. So here’s a quick guide on how to install cabinet door pulls.

The first thing you’ll need to do is figure out just where you want to put up the new door pulls. Use a little bit of paste to tack the first cabinet pull up onto the cabinet door. You can adjust the pull up, down, left or right until it looks just right.

Now go to the furthest cabinet and stick up another knob in the same general location. Adjust it until it’s in line with the first handle you stuck into place.

Grab a chalk line and a buddy.

Snap the chalk line across the row of cabinets above and below the two knobs you stuck up with the paste. This gives you a reference point for the height of the door pulls. You won’t have to worry about them sitting uneven on the door fronts.

Now you can just measure how deep the door pull is from the edge of the cabinet and you have the measurements you need to install all of the cabinet door pulls.

Now you’ll want to construct a quick template so that all the pulls go up in the same location.

Grab a piece of wood and mark off the offset you just measured.

Drill holes through the wood that line up with the cabinet door pull and attach bolts.

Now you can take the template and hold it up to cabinet door. Stick a pencil through the door and mark the front of the cabinet.

Next use a cordless drill to put holes in all the cabinet doors at the same time. This will save you time from having to switch out between screwdriver and drill after each cabinet.

Once you drilled out all the pilot holes grab one of the bolts from the cabinet and use it as a test fit. Increase the size of your drill bits until you reach the size of the bolt.

Go back and enlarge all the holes to the same size.

Now you can put down the drill and switch to the screwdriver for good.

Slide each bolt through the back of the cabinet doors. Use the screwdriver to tighten the cabinet pulls to the door facing. You don’t want to crank down too hard on the screws you’ll risk stripping the screws and warping the door pulls.

All that’s left to do is clean up all the saw dust from the drilling. Just vacuum it all up and you’re finished!

Hopefully this guide on how to install cabinet door pulls will make your remodeling job a little easier. These are but a few tips to make the job go smoothly. Just snap a few chalk lines make a template and you’ll have new cabinet pulls up in a few short hours.

Author Jennifer Akre is an owner of a wide variety of online specialty shops including that offer both items and information on how you can easily furnish and decorate your space. Whether it is knobs for your bathroom or cabinet hardware for your kitchen there are many tips you can use to make those spots both functional and beautiful. Click today and indulge your senses.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jennifer_Akre

www.LKNcabinets.com can handle installing cabinet pulls and knobs for clients if you so choose.