Kitchen Cabinet Refacing and Resurfacing-a Better Home and Garden Option

11-2_1361906135After having just finished the main floor of our old farm house and surrounding gardens with big changes in storage, paint, landscaping, and furnishings, we really felt we were on our way to having that “better home and garden” vision we had always dreamt of.  Even our tired old kitchen seemed a bit refreshed with the new paint color.  Excited to be able to comfortably invite extended family into our home gave us a sense of calm amongst the chaos of entertaining larger crowds during the series of family celebrations planned for the year.

Standing back, however, and despite our much improved looks, it struck me how much going forward with the planned remodel for the kitchen still made so much sense.  Despite the wall color change, it was clear that our strategy of refacing the kitchen cabinets, and changing the layout with adding to the space was really what we still needed, and wanted to do.  There was no way around the fact that our cabinet doors and drawers definitely needed replacing, refacing, and resurfacing, as well as upgrading of the hardware.  Our doors might have looked appealing thirty years ago, but now they just looked beat up and in need of a change.  The countertops also needed to be part of this change—so cabinet refacing was a good strategy to get the most project done for our budget—and to be able to include the upgraded countertops.

Cabinet Refacing Pros

Cabinet refacing is not a new strategy either, and I am no stranger to DIY projects, but I can still say it is best left to the pros.   Though we had always felt comfortable doing a lot of our renovation work ourselves, we wanted our “new” kitchen cabinets to be refaced by an experienced team that is familiar with this kind of flexible remodeling and kitchen cabinet refacing expertise.  This is a skilled technique that can work beautifully with the right team of knowledgeable and experienced pros doing the job.  I wanted the refaced kitchen cabinets to look and perform like new, and I wanted this done within a week—my patience with the excitement and upheaval of re-decorating was wearing thin, and I still had another celebration to host at our home just a few months away.

We took the challenge, assembled our team of experts that could help coordinate, provide replacement cabinets, countertops, and hardware, as well as the cabinet refacing skills necessary.  This team also had the ability to provide new cabinetry to completely match our new space.  Within a month we had a newly constructed space ready to be connected to the old, and then with only a short time of disruption, under a week in our case, we had our new, larger, and beautiful kitchen as the old were blended with the new, and refacing the old took place.  The 30 year old cabinets were reused, we didn’t waste our time, our money, or these old originally well- made cabinets.

Busy living and calm in the remodeling storm

As organized as I can be, it was still a delightful surprise that it really is possible to add a small addition, prepare to connect the spaces, and then have down time in under a week to reface and install the new look to the kitchen cabinets.  All the selections and planning in advance made all the difference.  Having experts that knew how to coordinate their own work on site as well as manufacturer relationships that got our orders in on time, as well as coordinating the replacements of the countertop, sink, plumbing, and hardware was a big plus as well.  Bottom line?  We have the beauty of our 100 year old home that no longer looks dated but both rich in character but functions like new.   To have this all fit in within our busy schedules and ambitious entertaining plans was a wonderful plus.  I am now a convert to the beauty, efficiency, and cost savings that comes with kitchen cabinet refacing.

So now, amazingly, our family easily survived the upheaval of remodeling and adding much needed space to our kitchen with very little disruption, while still completely changing the look of our kitchen by going the cabinet refacing route and changing the doors and countertops and adding cabinets in the new addition.  We were also able to extend our budget to include some much needed improvements to our outdoor entertaining spaces as well, and tackle the redecorating needs on the main floor which included new furnishings and a lot of new paint.

Better Homes and Gardens

Our home (and garden) is completely transformed, we are more in control while we efficiently and happily entertain, and our budget stayed in the realm of realistic.  I can only consider this comprehensive project doable because we didn’t get caught into the “all new” trap of expense and downtime—my kitchen remodel was truly a Better Home and Garden transformation!

And be sure to research Kitchen and Bathroom Remodeling Costs – Tips to Keep Your Remodeling Project Under Control if you do plan to do a cabinet refacing project.

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