Easy Cabinet Makeovers

Ugly cabinets got you down? Don't have the money to buy new ones—or the time, skill and tools to build them yourself? Put away that second-mortgage application, and give those unsightly cabinets a makeover. Whether it's a tired-looking set of kitchen cabinets, an old horror of a bathroom vanity, or a knocked-around set of built-in drawers, if you combine some readily available hardware with a little creativity, you'll give them a new lease on life.

New Hardware
To change or upgrade the appearance of cabinets that are still in pretty good shape, just change the knobs and pulls. Exchanging white ceramic knobs for modern wire-style pulls gives a country-style kitchen a more modern feeling. It works in reverse, too.

If the holes for screws in your new hardware are spaced differently than those in the old, you'll have to fill the old holes, sand and paint, and then drill holes for the new screws. If your cabinets are clear-finished wood, filled holes will be hard to hide. Your best bet is to cover them up with escutcheons—decorative backplates that you mount beneath the pulls. These are available in many styles for all modern hole spacings.

If the hinges show when your cupboard doors are closed, it's best to replace them with new hinges that match the style and finish of your new drawer pulls. Most cabinet hinges are available in many finishes: shiny brass, antique bronze, black, powder-coated, pewter, nickel and lots more. To replace most hinges, all you need is a drill and a screwdriver.

Plan to finish new moldings after you've cut them to length but before they're mounted on the cabinets. Staining the molding to match the cabinet wood is difficult; using a contrasting color is an easier approach.

Attach moldings with construction adhesive, backed up by brads to hold them in place until the glue sets. You can help make nail holes disappear by filling them with a wood putty that closely matches the color of the wood after it's stained.

Refinishing
Cabinets are either clear-finished (with or without a stain underneath the finish) or painted. If the old finish is tired but still in pretty good shape, you can often give it new luster and life simply by giving it a new topcoat. Using a tinted topcoat to darken clear-finished cabinets will help hide dents and defects, and restore richness to discolored or faded wood.

If you have ornamental molding that's hard to strip, you have three options: roll up your sleeves, hire a pro, or break out the paintbrush. If your cabinets are scratched or gouged, if you have plywood or very dark wood and wish you didn't, paint is your quickest route to significant improvement.

You'll have to take down doors, pull out drawers and remove all hardware. All these bits and pieces will look quite different when you're done, and it may be difficult to put everything back where it came from. Play it safe: be sure to label everything as you go. Make it easy by keeping a pen, masking tape and a stack of envelopes handy for things like screws and washers. (Used envelopes that would otherwise go into recycling or the garbage are good for this purpose.)

Renewing a clear finish. Start by scrubbing surfaces with mineral spirits, TSP or other strong cleanser to remove dirt and grease. Then scuff-sand with 220-grit sandpaper. If you know what the old clear finish is, use the same kind for the topcoat. If you don't know, use an oil-based clear polyurethane, which sticks to practically anything. For a darker finish, apply a staining varnish, which colors the wood and provides a tough, durable topcoat in a single step.

If the old finish is shot—peeling, cracking or bubbling—topcoating won't do the trick. The old finish will continue to peel off, and it'll take the new one with it. If the finish is beyond repair, it'll have to be stripped off before a new one can be applied. For large cabinets (or a large number of cabinets), this is a difficult and messy job that's best left to a professional furniture stripper.

Give all surfaces a thorough cleaning as described above. Then fill dents, dings and deep scratches with wood filler. Sand with 180- to 220-grit sandpaper, and then apply a coat of a shellac-based sealer. It will bond to any finish, and it helps new paint adhere.

While purists argue that durable oil-based paints are still best for kitchens and bathrooms, most modern "scrubbable" or "kid's room" latex paints perform well in kitchens and baths. Still, you can't go wrong with oil when it comes to scrubbability and to smoothing away your brush strokes.

If you're painting the cabinets yourself, you can use both brushes and rollers. (Most pros apply paint by spraying, and this method is best of all—if you decide to hire this job out.) If you have the traditional face-frame style cabinets (instead of the modern "frameless" style), consider a two-tone color scheme. You can use contrasting colors or darker and lighter versions of the same color: one color for doors and drawers, the other for the face frames and cabinet sides. As with any paint job, be sure to prepare a sample panel first, to see if your color choices really work.

A Complete Facelift
If you want a bolder, more complete transformation, remove and replace doors and drawers. New cabinet doors and drawer fronts come in dozens of different styles and materials, including solid hardwoods, laminates and composites. Cabinet casework (the sides and face frames) can be refinished, painted or refaced. Although refacing is best done by specialized pros, you can reface the casework with wood veneers backed by pressure-sensitive adhesive. These come in wide sheets and narrower rolls, for easy application to broad surfaces and face frames. Refacing with plastic laminate is another alternative—and another process best handled by a pro.

Sandor Nagyszalanczy has been a professional journalist for 15 years and is a former senior editor of Fine Woodworking magazine. With 23 years of experience designing and building custom furniture and cabinetry, Sandor is the author of six books on tools and woodworking published by Taunton Press.

Tools
• Screwdriver set
• Putty knife
• Drill
• Pen
• Paintbrushes for oil-based finish
• Paintbrushes for water-based finish
• Roller and pan kit

Materials
• Construction adhesive
• Brads
• Wood putty
• Masking tape
• Mineral spirits or TSP
• 220-grit sandpaper
• Polyurethane
• Staining varnish
• Wood filler (maple-colored)
• Shellac-based sealer
• Paint
• Cabinet hardware