Kitchen Cabinets - to Refinish /Reface or to Just Buy New?

I don't like my cabinets, either, and I would just assume buy new ones because ours are almost as old as yours are. I'd also like to reconfigure the cabinets and I want large drawers for the bottom cabinets; soooo much easier for pots and pans and you don't have to bend down and dig your items out of deep cabinets. Also all the new lazy susan/spice rack, etc. options are appealing to me.

When I convince my husband that we need a new kitchen, I am going to most definitely consider IKEA cabinets first. I've seen many reviews of them, including here on this site, and the reviews are excellent. I even read that a former Home Depot employee that worked in the kitchen section said that the IKEA cabinets are actually made better than Kraftmade, etc. and have higher quality hardware/hinges than what is sold at the big box stores and Home Depot. And they are a fraction of the cost. Something to think about...

We spoke to the kitchen remodeler at Home Depot who said refacing a "standard/medium" size kitchen would cost $15,000 (on avg). There is a TON of "labor" charged for refacing, so in my opinion I would go for new cabinets. We priced out new cabinets for our kitchen - and adding a huge pantry and 3 other cabinets it came out to be just under $14,000. Hence, new cabinetry was actually cheaper!

You can save funds by going to IKEA or purchasing standard sizes from home depot or another cabinet store and installing yourself?

I did refacing once and it was a waste of money. It didn't last, it was pulling up, it was awful - never again! At my mom's house we repainted the cabinets and got a new countertop and sink. This was actually better than refacing if you don't want to spend the money for new cupboards. I had a friend that did half and half. She added some moulding to the doors of the old cabinets, added some new unfinished ones, added glass doors on some of the upper cabinets then had it all painted white. It looked nice. Her painter did a really good job and the new cabinets were on a different wall so you didn't notice the slight difference.

Well, you could try refinishing them yourself and if you don't like it, then go for all new stuff. If they ARE real wood, all you'll need to do is sand down the existing finish and then stain or paint them however you like. Doing it this way can be very cost effective. BUT if you can afford it, go new. IKEA is great and they have on-line kitchen planners. Also, take your kitchen measurements (include where windows, outlets, existing appliances are) to whatever home improvement stores you have around you and see about estimates. A full kitchen remodel can get out of control fast though, so set a budget, then allow for at least $2000 in extra expenses - I know, I've been there!

refinishing is a huge job, whatever size the job, any defects mismatching of staining is very noticeable and you won't like living with it.If you are going down that route paint instead. If your Kitchen is fairly small then replacing may be your best option. Off the shelf standard sizes the type Lowes and Home Depot do would be the cheapest, then semi custom followed by custom. For a 10 x10 kitchen anything from $3,500 - $ 8,000 depending on choice of wood and style. The options are endless, don't forget your extras, lighting, sink backsplash, countertops etc. Make sure your doors are on piece of wood not three pieces glued and nailed together.We live in a dry climate and a friend who had that done the wood shrank and now it is splitting.
Set a budget, get Lowes and Home depot out to give you a quote, it doesn't hurt to get a benchmark, you may even find they are on the higher end of the quotes. Ask around about local reputable companies/builder.
You must know someone who has had a kitchen done. Go to your local home show, watch the HTGV channel, there are loads of kitchen makeover shows. I watched all these shows and had quotes from Home Depot, 2 local companies and Granite Transformations( not sure if they are as far east as you, but huge company in California now Utah), before going with refacing our Kitchen. We have a large Kitchen and office area that was done for over half the price a new kitchen would have cost, for us it was worth doing it and I love the result. It may not be for you.
Do lots of research, it is time consuming but worth it. Good Luck!

We took a look at this also but still holding off. Like already mentioned, the IKEA cabinets look great and I have heard they hold up really well. One thing to consider is the type of walls you have. If these cabinets are from 1966, you most likely have plaster walls. No matter how you do it, make sure you budget for some damage to the walls. We have a 2 flat and when we took out the sink/cabinet that was up there to put in more modern and just plain more cabinets, we ended up replacing the walls. It was not expensive but it was a good thing we planned extra.

You could reface cabinets yourself... tons of info online and fairly easy to do, though it may not be the professional finish you are wanting if it's your first time. Or you could also just buy new cabinet doors to put on the existing cabinets and save on the labor.

If you want fairly nice and cheap, you can do the whole IKEA thing. Call around, Home Depot is pretty good.

http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/categories/departments/...