Easy Way To Update Kitchen Cabinets – Want to give your outdated or factory cabinets a designer look without the high price tag? Before you spend a fortune to rip them out and replace them, try a few of these tricks for a custom, luxe look on a DIY budget. Most of them you can solve yourself in a long weekend!
We’re currently in the middle of building our Hacienda Hideaway kitchen, and I’ve spent the last year gathering all the dreamy inspiration to take my design to the next level. I thought it would be fun to share with you the best ideas I found—most of which I’m incorporating into my future plans.
Easy Way To Update Kitchen Cabinets
There’s no revelation – a fresh coat of paint is always the best bang for your buck. Most cabinet surfaces can be repainted with a high-quality primer and special paint. I’ve had good results with Benjamin Moore Advance and Sherwin Williams Urethane Enamel, both designed for cabinets and highly recommended by professionals/DIY.
How To Update A Kitchen In 15 Simple Ways (without Remodeling)
If you don’t want to commit to a full color makeover, try painting just the upper, lower, or island cabinets. Introducing a different color will add visual interest and help keep the space from feeling too one-dimensional. Even going a few shades lighter or darker than your existing cabinets will give your kitchen a more personal feel.
Check out my step-by-step guide to painting cabinets like a pro and my paint roller test results. The power of color cannot be emphasized enough!
A quick fix that can go a long way in updating the look of your cabinets. Hardware is the ‘jewel’ of your kitchen, so you can add some personality here!
Today, there are endless options at every price point, suitable for any design style. This is one area where you don’t have to splurge to find something that looks and feels premium. Sites like Amazon, Love’s and Home Depot, and even Etsy have a great selection of affordable cabinet hardware (these are my top picks on a budget).
Easy & Inexpensive Ways To Update Your Kitchen On A Budget * Hip & Humble Style
Options 1 and 3 are the easiest, but they limit your choice of substitutions. Option 2 requires additional work. You can also opt for a solid rod handle style like this one that will cover the old holes.
Pro Tip: Use a hardware tool to drill perfect holes and save time! Let’s use this one for our upcoming hardware installation:
This is the biggest investment (both in time and dollars) on this list, but you may need it to make the biggest impact. If you’re happy with the overall layout of your kitchen, but have outdated or damaged doors, it’s worth considering moving your cabinets.
There are several companies (local and online) that can create custom door and drawer fronts to match your existing cabinets. With a little extra modification, you can even upgrade your doors to drawers, which is often a more efficient use of space.
How Would You Update This Kitchen And These Cabinets?
We are working on new cabinet doors for our Hacienda kitchen remodel, and so far the process has been very simple. Door installation starts this week—you can follow my stories on Instagram!
If completely replacing the doors/drawer fronts isn’t an option, consider updating them with moldings. This is one of my favorite easy DIY tricks for any size door (see my easy DIY door upgrade guide).
This process is ideal for plain slab or shaker style doors when you want to take it to the next level. We’ve upgraded our shaker cabinet doors with slim moldings to give them an elevated, custom look. The magic is in the details!
You can also experiment with other forms of molding such as groove work, as we did below with this DIY ribbed Ikea cabinet door:
Painting Kitchen Cabinets White
Another idea to consider: add moldings along the bottom edge of cabinet boxes for a more polished look.
Cabinets are another (often overlooked) opportunity to customize your kitchen. This can be a simple DIY with skirting boards or thin floorboards such as bead board.
Islands are the perfect place to add more details and help define the style of a room. In our Hacienda kitchen, we decided to cover both sides of the cabinets and the island in a vertical layer:
You can also make a patterned statement on the back of the island with wallpaper or tiles:
Diy Kitchen Update: Painting Kitchen Cabinets
This custom detail was at the top of my wish list for our Hacienda Hideaway kitchen. After gathering inspiration on Pinterest, we found a curved toe design and made it for our closets (full tutorial coming soon!)
Most people don’t even realize that there are more options than the standard toe kick break, and that’s one of the reasons why they make such a statement – it’s very rare! You will notice them if you study the projects of top interior designers. This kitchen from Warmington & North was a big inspiration for our toe kick design:
In our own kitchen, we added individual legs to the bottom of the cabinets, which is the easiest way to dress them up.
In our Riverside Retreat kitchen, we installed a flush toe butt, which only required additional 2×4” blocking to extend the toe butt face, which was completed with a quarter turn.
How’s That Project Holding Up
Any of these non-standard options will make your cabinets look more like built-in furniture and create a sense of thoughtful, thoughtful design.
If you have plenty of indoor storage space and like the idea of displaying your favorite dishes or drinkware, consider replacing one or more upper cabinets with open shelves.
We opted for an entire wall of open shelving in our own kitchen and love how easy it is to access our everyday dishes. Although our kitchen is not large and we could use some extra hidden storage, open shelving makes the space feel larger and offers more character than a wall of cabinets.
I also went this route for the Riverside Retreat kitchen and replaced the old upper cabinets with two sets of shelves.
How To Update Old Built Ins Cabinets And Shelves
A simpler (and less permanent) alternative to open shelving would be to remove the doors of your upper cabinets for an “open” feel. I like the idea of painting the boxes the same color as the wall so they blend in and feel less like cabinets. You can have fun by adding wallpaper, or even peel and stick tiles on the back wall.
Here’s an alternative to removing upper cabinet doors: add glass inserts instead! This will still allow you to display your favorite dishes without any dust on them. A local glass company should be able to modify your existing door and replace the inner panel with glass (hinged doors may require additional customization).
Feel free to be creative and consider using reeded, leaded or colored glass or using a stand insert. Take it a step further with unique options like cane straps, wire netting or an antique mirror.
This is a great area to add your own personal style to your kitchen and experiment with something new.
How To Update Kitchen Cabinets Without Replacing Them |
Empty space above upper cabinets is one of my biggest design pet peeves, but luckily it’s a relatively simple fix! Filling in that void will instantly make the room feel taller and more finished.
There are several ways to go about this, and lots of good before/after tutorials online. The quickest solution requires framing the void, attaching filler, crown molding, and painting to match your existing cabinets.
While you’re at it, consider installing a cabinet for your refrigerator. Covering the edges of an open fridge will instantly make your kitchen feel more polished.
This is my personal favorite kitchen design trick. I used two vintage pieces in our kitchen – this wooden stand that houses our drinkware, microwave and toaster:
How To Update A Kitchen With Wood Cabinets [without Painting Them] — Designed
Vintage pieces can be easily refinished to your taste (both of mine were) and are often much more affordable than wardrobes. They add a lot of character and will separate your kitchen from the basic kitchen.
I try to include at least one antique piece in every room, and the kitchen is no exception. I found a used $50 kitchen table at Riverside Retreat, painted it and put it up on wheels and turned it into a mobile island:
Consider replacing one of your closets (upper or lower) with an antique piece, or simply add an old loft if there’s room.
And there you have it—ten designer-approved ways to transform your kitchen cabinets. Do you have a favorite? We hope this has inspired you to get creative with your existing cabinets if you don’t have the desire or budget to replace them. You might be surprised at the difference one small detail can make!
Easy Ways To Update Your Kitchen Without Starting From Scratch
As we continue to work on our Hacienda kitchen cabinets, I’ll be checking Instagram stories for our progress. Next week: the new Heights house makeover!
Hi, I’m Jenna and I’ve been designing and working my way through homes since 2008. Join me as I learn, share my experience, and hopefully encourage/inspire you along the way!
Get instructions for my most popular beginner DIYs that you can do with limited tools and a budget (in one weekend!) Want to update your ugly kitchen, but a remodel isn’t in the budget? I will show you how to successfully paint laminate cabinets!
This style of laminate
Easy Kitchen Update For Wood Cabinets.
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