Homeowners considering the look of their current kitchen may have many questions as to how best update the faded or outdated appearance of this popular room of the house. They’re usually left with an assortment of options that can make it tough to decide on the best direction to go for giving the kitchen a brand new look.
At the end of the day, it almost always boils down to one thing: Cost. Most homeowners are all too eager to give the kitchen a much-needed makeover, however, the expenses are usually the biggest sticking point that prevents them from pulling the trigger on a full-scale remodel. But does that mean you are stuck cooking and eating your meals in the 1980’s?
Not entirely. For those of you who are reluctant to spend a lot of money on a complete and total overhaul of the kitchen, you might turn to your cabinets as a way to get that new look without breaking the bank. Even more encouraging, you may not even need to spend a lot of money on all new cabinets.
You can choose instead to go with Cabinet Refinishing in Corona and give the kitchen an updated aesthetic by just focusing on that one component of the room. Why is that? Because your cabinets take up a significant amount of space in the kitchen and opting to concentrate on giving them a makeover alone can have a tremendous impact on the look and feel of the rest of the kitchen.
Now comes the tough choice to refinish kitchen cabinets or replace them and buy new ones. There are certainly pros and cons to both but many homeowners are opting for the former with more regularity as of late.
Making the Choice
For most folks, the choice to go with refinishing or refacing is an easy one mainly because of the cost to perform the work. One of the main reasons why homeowners choose to work with what already exists in the kitchen is because it can be much cheaper than tearing it all out of the room and purchasing all new cabinets.
Going with refinishing or refacing is an effective way to revitalize your kitchen at a lower price. But there are some things to consider as to whether or not you can refinish the cabinets that you have now because while refinishing is often easier to perform and more cost-effective in comparison to a full replacement, you need to be sure you can actually get the work done first.
Reasons to Replace
Sometimes you have no choice but to replace your cabinets as refinishing them is not going to work. While you have many options when it comes to refreshing the appearance of your cabinets and improving the aesthetics of the room in which they reside, you have very few options in terms of functionality.
Simply put, you cannot refinish, reface, or even repaint your cabinets if they are not working properly or if they are damaged. So before you do the work or hire a professional to do it for you, be sure to test out your cabinets to see if they open and shut fully and correctly. Check the drawers as well. They must open and close without obstructions.
Don’t forget to inspect the boxes either, make sure there is no damage to the cabinets and that all the shelving is level and there are no detectable holes or cracks.
If everything is in good working order, then you can feel free to refinish your cabinets with veneers, repaint them as you see fit, even accessorize by swapping out the current knobs and handles for all new options that help to provide your kitchen with a fresh new appearance.
Why Refinishing is the Better Alternative
We mentioned cost earlier and that is still one of the best reasons why it’s best to refinish and not replace. A replacement job that ends with your kitchen being outfitted with all new cabinets can cost as much as $25,000. Even the low end cost is still in the five figures and for some homeowners this options is simply too cost-prohibitive.
That cost doesn’t just cover the cabinets, you’re paying for a skilled contractor to come inside and do the work for you. Which brings us to another reason why refinishing is a great alternative: inconvenience.
A replacement of your cabinets takes much longer and it’s a whole lot messier than a simple refinishing or refacing job. You have workers literally tearing up your kitchen, ripping out the old cabinets. Then, they have to install the new ones. It’s a job that could take a couple of weeks. But depending on the extent of your refinishing job you have in mind, that work can be finished in a weekend and you can possibly even do it yourself.