Sometimes a kitchen needs to be gutted and remodeled, especially in older homes where there may be hidden damage. More often though, the end goal is simply to improve a kitchen\u2019s look and utility. If your countertops and cabinet boxes and frames are still in good shape, replacing kitchen cabinet doors and refinishing the cabinet faces can be a very viable option, costing a fraction of a full remodel. Here are some tips to make the process go more smoothly for you, and to help ensure you\u2019ll be happy with the end result.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Nothing is worse when ordering new cabinet doors and facing, than getting them and realizing they\u2019re not quite the right size. To order correctly, you\u2019ll need to determine what kind of cabinets you have. In either case, making a drawing of your cabinets, and labeling each door and drawer both in the drawing, and on a piece of masking tape on the actual cabinet pieces themselves, will go a long way toward making sure you have every piece you need.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Framed cabinets are the most common, and include what\u2019s called a face frame, a finished wood frame that can be seen in between the doors, which the doors and drawer slides are mounted to. To measure framed cabinets, measure the space between the two sides of the frame, for each opening. Framed cabinets give you a little leeway thanks to the overlay, the part of the door that overlaps the face frame. A typical overlay is \u00bd\u201d, meaning the door itself is 1\u201d wider than the opening in the face frame, but if you want less of the face frame to show, you can order doors that are wider, for a larger overlay. Our kitchen design experts can help you determine the best options in that case.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In frameless cabinets, doors mount directly to the sides of the cabinets, usually with concealed hinges. The good news is that there\u2019s a lot less resurfacing and refinishing to be done with frameless cabinets, but it does mean the door measurements have to be very precise, as there\u2019s usually very little room for error. The best way to measure doors for frameless cabinets is to measure the existing doors themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Especially with framed cabinets, it\u2019s usually considered very important for the doors and the face frame to have identical finishes. There are two main ways to go about this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n