Cheap Ideas on Kitchen Remodeling & Refacing
- Refinishing cabinets with paint or stain is one cheap way to dramatically change the look of your kitchen. Remove the doors, drawers and hardware, but make a note of which door or drawer fits which opening. Tape a number to the back of the door that corresponds to the opening in the cabinet. Lightly sand the surface of the old finish if you are staining over old stain, painting over old paint or painting over old stain. To stain painted cabinets, you must remove every trace of paint from the surface by sanding or by stripping. Apply two to three coats of the new finish, letting the surface dry between coats, and then reattach the hardware, doors and drawers. This refacing project is not expensive, but it can be time consuming.
- Give your kitchen a new look by remodeling the cabinet doors. If you have panel doors already, remove the center panel and insert a sheet of copper, stained glass or punched tin. Metal flashing works, or you can purchase rolls of copper, brass and aluminum craft foil to make the inserts. To make a decorative punched metal insert, cut the metal sheet or foil slightly larger than the panel opening, tape a pattern onto the top and hammer finishing nails along the design outline. If your kitchen cabinet doors are made with a single panel of wood, draw a dotted design outline, drill through the dots and attach a sheet of glass or metal on the backside of the door for a peek-through effect.
- Adding a backsplash is another cheap way to remodel your kitchen. Create a do-it-yourself mosaic design using ceramic tiles or install metal tile panels onto the wall between your upper and lower cabinets, as well as behind the sink and the stove. You also can create inexpensive glass bead panels to fit the space using flat-back glass marbles and an acrylic sheet, cut to size. Cover one side of the acrylic panel with the marbles using clear, one-part epoxy adhesive. Wait 72 hours and attach the panel to the wall with the same adhesive.
- Reface your existing kitchen appliances to update the look of your kitchen. Epoxy appliance spray finishes are available for refrigerators, dishwashers and other indoor metal surfaces. The sprays are available in a variety of neutral colors, including white, black, cream and stainless. This type of epoxy paint is not designed to paint heated surfaces, such as stove tops.
