If you choose to refinish kitchen cabinets instead of replace them, you'll save thousands of dollars on this improvement. From replacing cabinets at a cost of $3,000 to $5,000 to refinishing them for a few hundred, it's easy to see why this is a popular remodeling decision. Of course, you must have wood cabinets in order to be able to refinish them at all.

1. Remove the draw pulls knobs, hinges and other hardware.

2. With 100-grit sandpaper and a random orbital sander, sand the cabinet frames and doors. Use about 60-grit sandpaper for small areas. Be sure to retain sharp edges and don't sand down any detail or round off edges or corners.

3. Using wood putty, overfill any dings, nicks and dents then smooth it over with a flat surface like an edger or a flat tool. Once it's dry, sand it until smooth and the clean the wood with a damp cloth. After it's dry, you're ready to refinish kitchen cabinets with paint or stain.

4. You'll either want to apply stain at this point, if you want a wood look, or you'll use a primer to prepare for painting. Choose an oil-based primer. And don't scrimp on the brand. Spending more on great quality primer is worth it when you won't have deal with cabinets that are peeling or flaking down the road. If you have stained cabinets, particular from anything oily, and it won't come off, opt for a primer that doubles as a sealer to keep the stains from seeping through and showing in your paint job. Oil-based primer is more expensive and much messier to use, but oil-based primers and paints are much more durable than latex.

5. Using oil-based paint and long, smooth strokes, apply one coat of your choice of paint, starting at the backs of the kitchen cabinets to avoid dragging your arm through wet paint later. Choose an oil-based paint in semi-gloss or full-gloss to get a professional looking finished result. Let dry and apply a second coat.

6. Depending on the look you're going for, you can paint the trim and molding a different color than the base of the cabinets or the doors. If the doors have framing molding and they're square, then painting the open area on the doors can give a dramatic look, especially if it's vastly different that the framing molding.

7. Once everything is dry, reattach the cabinet doors and then reattach the draw pulls and knobs. While your cabinets will look brand new even with old pulls and knobs, now is the perfect time to make the change to really put the finishing touches on your cabinets.

If you've wondered whether you should refinish kitchen cabinets or reface, your budget and the type of cabinets you have may be guide. Refinishing might cost about $200 where refacing runs around a minimum of $1,000. If you don't have wood cabinets, you have to reface or replace. But if you opt to refinish kitchen cabinets you should be able to restore them to their natural beauty.

Photo Credits: raleighwoman

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Categories:

Cabinets, Handy Man, Kitchen, Refurbish

Tags:

cabi, dents, different color, dry sand, edger, finished result, flat surface, grit sandpaper, kitchen cabinets, knobs, nicks, oil based paint, paint job, primers, random orbital sander, scrimp, sharp edges, wet paint, wood cabinets, wood putty