Update handles and knobs on cabinetry – ensuring their finish and style match other hardware such as faucets. Replace kitchen cabinet doors – this is much cheaper than replacing an entire kitchen and can give your kitchen an expensive look very quickly.
Paint Your Cabinets
Remove your cabinet doors and hardware, sand down your cabinetry, and add a fresh coat of paint to the cabinets and doors. Choose a paint color that complements the rest of your décor and reflects your personality for a unique touch.
The differences to the consumer include price, convenience, and construction strength. Cabinets designed to be fully assembled in the factory are stronger and more durable. Factory construction methods join wood parts using dovetail joints, hot and cold glue, power fasteners, and other industrial techniques.
White oak is one of the most expensive cabinet materials on the market and can be roughly 40% more expensive than its red-oak counterpart. There are two key reasons for such a stark contrast in pricing. First, there are simply more red oak trees than there are white oak trees, making them readily available.
Paint is the most popular finish for kitchen cabinets because it's easy to clean and maintain. It also has a wide variety of colors to choose from, so you can easily find a shade that matches your décor.
White is the most timeless cabinet color of all, with popularity dating back over half a century. It's hard to beat the crisp, clean beauty of bright white cabinets. They lighten the entire room and lend a refreshing, airy feel.
Light greens, yellows, blues and even greys can work well too. Whatever colour you choose, try to make the cabinet doors and walls one consistent colour. This removes any visual barriers that cause the eye to stop short, thus making the room appear much larger than it actually is.
Colours such as creams and beiges can make a kitchen look elegant and expensive. If your kitchen is modern, you can use dark colours, such as blacks and greys, which can make it look lavish and extravagant. White reflects light and makes the space look bigger, so complement white with some wood and metallic highlights.
The use of particle board in cheaper cabinets
Instead of solid wood or plywood, cheap cabinets usually use particle board for everything from the shelves to the doors to the cabinet box. Particle board is made of wood scraps that have been recycled, including wood chips and sawdust.
Cost of Materials
Most brand-name stock options use cheaper materials so they can offer their products at a lower price point. However, with custom cabinetry, you have a variety of higher quality and more durable options. You can have cabinet boxes made with furniture-grade plywood or solid hardwood.
Painting and distressing cabinets will make your cabinets look older. You can even add glaze, burn marks, or dents on the cabinets for a vintage effect. Many custom cabinet providers work with artists to create a distinct vintage look on new cabinets, like aging and patina.
Arguably, the most timeless kitchen cabinet color is white. Bright white cabinets suit a variety of beautiful kitchens, including modern, contemporary, and farmhouse styles. Brilliant whites work to give kitchens a light and airy feel, and off-white options, like the White Dove shade, provides warmth.
Most real estate agents will tell sellers that neutral colors will appeal to the widest audience. While white is a very popular color for kitchen cabinets, other neutrals like gray, black, and beige are also good. Stained wood cabinets have an appeal, especially if they are of high quality.
Choose a classic backsplash
Subway tile is the most enduring choice for a backsplash. Avoid bold, trendy colors, and instead look for white or neutrals.
White. Few paint colors stand the test of time quite like white. "Honestly, the only color in my opinion that will never go out of style—in the sense that you can never really pinpoint when it was done—is white cabinets," says Shaolin Low, principal and founder of Studio Shaolin.
All-White Kitchens
For the past decade, we've been seeing white walls, white tile, and Carrera marble. People are tired of these muted palettes, and designers are bringing in color— which we love.” Most designers also agree that white-on-white kitchens will look dated in 2023. So what color will be the new white?
White is still the most popular kitchen cabinet color in 2023 and beyond. However, we are seeing a shift towards warmer and more natural tones. We cover the best colors for cabinets from Benjamin Moore and Sherwin Williams like Simply White, Dove White, and Chantilly Lace.
Reassuring Neutrals
Blank Canvas by Behr is Behr's Color of the Year, which their paint experts expect to flourish in kitchen designs. "Neutrals like white, cream, gray, and greige are trending in 2023," says Erika Woelfel, vice president of color and creative services at Behr Paint Company.
CONVERSION VARNISH vs LACQUER
For the best custom cabinet finish, our choice is Conversion Varnish (CV) over Lacquer, and here's why… The CV topcoat is extremely durable and easy to clean. It is resistant to heat, water, wear, solvents, acids, and alkalis.