May 25, 2015

Staring at your old, damaged cabinets and trying to get your head around a solution that won’t break the bank? Relax, there are many tips and tricks available that will give your cabinets that much-needed facelift.

Thinking of changing up your kitchen cabinets, or any cabinet for that matter can be daunting.  Knowing what your neighbour paid for their kitchen renovation is enough to have you walking to the fridge with your eyes closed. Many small, inexpensive things can be done that will give your cabinets a breath of fresh air. Many do-it-yourself solutions will cost you more time than money, but taking on this project requires some bravado and trust in your abilities. While some cabinets in your home may only need a good cleaning or refinishing, some are downright damaged. You shouldn’t be able to see the junk in the junk drawer.

Aligning Cabinet Hinges

Cabinets provide storage and in most homes are crucial. They are also expensive and often permanent.  Doors and drawers are under near-constant use and sometimes will show their age. If your cabinet door is sagging, unaligned or loose, the good news is that these issues are very easy to fixed. Most hinges will allow you to make adjustments. Experimenting with the screws and what they do on each hinge will have your cabinet in alignment in no time at all. If your cabinet door is falling off its hinges, longer and thicker screw are in order. If this option is not available to you, try moving the hinges. If you’re moving or replacing hinges, you might consider investing in self-closing hinges. Your cabinets won’t know what hit them.

Cleaning your cabinets might seem like an obvious option when trying to bring them into this century, but proper cleaning is not always so easy. Try removing the shelf paper that was installed with love decades ago. Just like shelf paper’s sister, wallpaper, you will want to spray it with warm or hot water while you peel it away. Leftover residue can be removed with any number of chemical solutions, but vegetable oil will likely do the trick.

Repairing a Chipped Cabinet

If your otherwise intact cabinets have chips, a little plastic wood will do the trick. Your local hardware store will carry a good selection of colours to match most cabinet finishes. If the damage is in a highly visible area, the blending of colours might be needed to find the right match and achieving a perfect match might be too much to ask. Spot sanding will remove most stains from your wood cabinets.

Your repairs might only be a bandaid solution until there comes a time when new cabinets are on the horizon. But, until then, easy and cost-effective repairs might just be the trick to keeping your cabinets in fighting shape.

And when the time comes to call in the professionals, Trends Wood Finishing can help assess your situation and see if you are a good candidate for refacing, refinishing or a brand new set of cabinets.

Email: trendswf@gmail.com | Head Office: 647.776.5514 | Cell: 416.844.0948 | Fax: 647.436.7628
Address: 2050 Speers Rd, Unit 1, Oakville, ON, L6L 2X8
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