How to Reface Kitchen Cabinets

If you're on a budget but you're dreaming of a new kitchen, you can give your kitchen cabinets a fresh new look by re-facing them by yourself. It's not a difficult process, but it can be tedious. It's worth it though--your kitchen cabinets will look beautiful and professionally done.

Things You'll Need

• New screws
• Re-facing material such as paint or laminate
• A sander
• A drill
• Wooden dowels
• Tack cloth
• New hinges
• Wood glue

Instructions

1. Empty all the cabinets and drawers.

2. Take the doors off the cabinets and remove hinges and all screws.

3. Take the drawers out of the cabinets.

4. Sand down the doors and faces of the cabinets.

5. Route the edges of the doors to square them off if needed and you are adding a laminate or edging to the surfaces. Don't take off too much and don't do this if you are painting.

6. Fill in the screw holes with a wooden dowel coated in wood glue to strengthen the frame.

7. Decide on the finish you want to have on your cabinets (paint, new laminate, etc.).

8. Use a tack cloth to get all the dust and debris off the surfaces of the cabinets.

9. Add new finish to your cabinets.

10. Mark off where your cabinet doors are to be hung and where the hinges and screws will be placed on the frame.

11. Add new hinges to your doors.

12. Hang your cabinet doors back up using new screws.

13. Put the drawers back in the cabinets and refill them.

Tips & Warnings

• Make sure you clean up before you begin to reface your cabinets--you don't want debris lodged in your cabinets.

• If you aren't handy with a sander, a drill and general refinishing and refacing techniques, it may be best to call in a professional to do the job.