Kitchen Cabinet Design Ideas
Kitchen cabinets are the largest feature in your kitchen, so they're the first thing people see when they walk into the room. If the design of the cabinets you have just doesn't work for you, the money you spend on new cabinets is a smart investment that will increase the value of your home. But if your cabinets just need a little updating, it can be done fairly easily and will give your kitchen a whole new look. Does this Spark an idea?
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Function
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The first thing to be considered when looking to update your cabinets is their functionality. Do you need more cabinet space? Do you need pull-out shelves, lazy susans, or other special features in your cabinets that make the things you store there easier to find and more accessible? Do you need specialized cabinet space for things like spices, gourmet cookware or other items? Look at your life, your habits, your needs and desires and make sure the design of your cabinets is serving those.
Finish and Color
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After the functional aspects of cabinet design, determine if you want stained wood or painted cabinets. If they are to be stained, will they be dark wood like walnut or as light as birch or something in between? If they will be painted, select the color.
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Primary Features
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Different cabinet designs can give your kitchen a traditional feel, a contemporary look or something entirely different, depending upon these features: the doors can leave a "frame" all around them, which is a traditional look. Or they can cover the entire face of the cabinet, which is typically the way cabinets are made in Europe. Study cabinets in magazines, websites and home improvement stores to see which is right for you.
Effects
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The design of the door of your cabinet is what will set them apart. If your cabinet doors are plain and flat, and you want to spruce them up a little without buying new, you can add a molding frame in the center to look a little like an inset without the cost. Or you can buy or make new doors without replacing the cabinets themselves. A common door design features insets of wood. Doors with insets of glass can be everything from frosted glass, to leaded glass to stained glass to paned glass.
The Final Touch
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Hardware is the finishing touch that can make or break your look. Carefully select your hardware and take it home to see how it looks first before installing, if you need to. You can always return the hardware to the store if it just doesn't give the cabinets the look you're after.
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