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How To: 5 Fast and Inexpensive Ways to Refresh Your Kitchen Cabinets

by on Aug 22, 2012

Painting kitchen cabinets is great for a budget update, but not everyone relishes doing it, and for good reason. When you have 30+ door and drawer fronts laying all over your garage floor, you’ll understand why. It’s a lot of work, if you’re going to do it right. To make life easier, here are five easy, fast and inexpensive ways to refreshen your kitchen cabinets without all the bother and commitment to the painting process.

A few years back Danielle glazed the inside moldings of her wood cabinets for what she calls a ‘pinstripe’ effect. I agree with her assessment that the technique added both depth and character. Total cost for this quick makeover was $30 and took an afternoon from start to finish. Click here to see how you can do it too.

Danielle’s cabinets before glazing:

A kitchen has stainless steel and black appliances and ash color wood cabinets.

Danielle’s cabinets after glazing (and new hardware, which, in itself, can makeover your cabinets as well):

A kitchen with stainless steel appliances and wood cabinets.

Kristi’s cabinet makeover cost zero dollars ($24 if you count the added baskets) and took minutes to complete. 

Kristi’s cabinets before:

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Kristi’s open and breezy cabinets after:

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Brittany decided to remove her cabinet doors too, but instead of adding baskets, she chose to line the backs with a cheery red fabric. Cost? Under 25 bucks. Time? A couple of hours.

Kitchen racks with dinner set items both sides of the sink.

How about finding coordinating frames and mounting them to the centers of your cabinet doors? You might not what to do this to every door but attached to upper cabinets in more ‘esteemed’ spots, like over the stove for example, would certainly add unexpected interest. Photo Finish

 

A year after Andrea moved into her new house, her cabinets were still the same yellow and puce green. Yes, puce green. The plan was to paint them, of course, but the the job seemed too daunting. Instead, Andrea used wrapping paper and double-sided tape to give her cabinets a new and charming look. All it took was 30 dollars and a couple hours of work.

Andrea’s cabinets before:

Cabinets in the kitchen painted white, black, and yellow.

Andrea’s cabinets after:

Kitchen sink next to cupboards painted with flowers in a kitchen.

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