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A year ago, our kitchen looked like this:
After doing a lot of research about the best type of paint for cabinets, we took the plunge and painted the cabinets. It brightened up the kitchen so much!
This was a major improvement on what we previously had but it still wasn’t as functional as we wanted. Six months later, our kitchen has once again been transformed.
We had no plans to completely re-do our kitchen, but thought it would be interesting to entertain a quote from a Home Depot representative to try to sell us on “refacing” our cabinets.For anyone who isn’t aware of kitchen cabinet refacing, it’s a much more cost effective solution than completely gutting a kitchen and starting from scratch.
From Home Depot:
Cabinet refacing is a cost-effective way to give your kitchen a whole new look by replacing cabinet door and drawer fronts and veneering the exterior of the cabinet boxes. Your kitchen layout stays the same and the cabinets stay in place, so you avoid the inconveniences associated with major renovation and demolition. Enhancements like organizers, shelving, moldings and other accessories add the finishing touches.
Kitchen Product Recommendations For You
We couldn’t believe that the quote for our kitchen was less than what we had spent to overhaul our bathroom. AND with 0% interest for 24 months it was an offer we apparently couldn’t resist. We signed on the dotted line and had the measuring guy at our house 3 days later.
My main concern was making the kitchen more functional. You might remember the cabinets that (1) I couldn’t reach and (2) that wouldn’t even open:
We decided to extend the length of the cabinets above the stove so that they matched the length of the other cabinets. We also decided to add a breakfast bar where we previously had the Ikea table and chairs.
The cabinet doors that we decided on were a white shaker style with a beadboard accent:
Kitchen Cabinet Refacing: The Process
Four weeks later, the construction company (actually one guy named John) was ready to begin work. Before John could start, all the appliances had to be removed from the kitchen.
Day 1: Two hours after John began work….much to our surprise, we ended up getting an entire wall of new cabinets:
I guess I didn’t listen very well when the blue prints were being explained to me! ha!
The breakfast bar was also quickly put in place:
Day 2: Countertops arrived and were installed. The countertop we chose was Wilsonart’s Deepstar Slate:
The veneer was cut to fit the cabinet boxes and glued on:
Day 3: John attached the cabinet doors and hardware, and trimmed, caulked and siliconed until everything looked beautiful and finished!
Day 4: We had a electrician come in to install our new stove and over-the-range microwave, and we put the fridge back into place:
Kitchen Cabinet Refacing: The Finished Product
Here’s the before and after:
I’m still amazed that it only took a total of 4 days for such an an amazing transformation. We now have a fully functional kitchen that I actually enjoy cooking in! I’m happy to entertain guests and no longer have to store the “good dinnerware set” in the linen closet!
We still need to get a pair of stools for the breakfast bar and EVENTUALLY replace the floors…but I’m exceptionally happy with what we have right now!
Have any of you refaced your cabinets? Maybe if you’ve been eager to update your kitchen this would be a good option for you!
**Update** The following additions have also been added! Check out the Home Tour page to see the FINISHED kitchen!
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New Pendant Lights | 
Peel & Stick Backsplash |
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Hi Jenna, what kitchen flooring are you thinking of doing next?
Cris
Cris, we WERE planning on tiling but never got around to it. We are currently in the process of selling our house so I guess we will never know what we would have chosen!!!
Did they replace the drawer slides?…. I’m interested in talking my husband into something like this, but we have a couple of drawers that are just crap and the tracks they side in/out on need replacing… we also have one drawer in which just a new front won’t cut it, it would need the entire box thing as well as sliders….
Hi Jessica,
All the drawers were completely replaced (not just new fronts)!
Hi there. Your kitchen looks absolutely amazing. We’ve been wanting to reface our cabinets and thinking home depot is the way to go. I have a question about your microwave. Does it vent outside?
Hi Crystal, yes it does. We originally had a vented hood and kept the same vent which runs through the cabinet above the microwave.
I did not go through all of the comments to see if someone had already asked… but what wall coloring do you have in there? ;) Thanks!
Hi Kristen! It’s Natural Gray by Behr :-)
It looks like they ,HD, did a good job. I just got an estimate for a similar size .kitchen…priced out initially at 16000. poly doors …kept .dove tailed drawers and dropped extended slides. with promo just over 14K…..curious to know your total running distance top and bottom ..thanks..
This looks great Jenna! I love the new style of cabinets and the handles too. What a beautiful job! I bet you are loving it every single day. Thank you so much for sharing!
I am loving it!! Thanks for stopping by to check it out!! :-)
Can I ask how much this eneded up costing. We have a simlar kichen to yours and were thinking about maybe refacing it the price is right.
Just under $10,000! Keeping in mind, we had quite a bit of custom cabinetry done. Refacing alone would be a good deal cheaper!
May I ask the estimated price of refacing alone? We are looking to remodel a very similar kitchen. Did you reframe the window or just paint it? Thank you!
Hi Lesa,
Because we had a lot of custom work done along with the refacing (an entire new wall of new cabinets plus a breakfast bar) the cost was close to $10,000 including the countertops and new sink/faucet. We just painted the window. If you just do refacing alone it will be significantly less.