Replacing Kitchen Cabinets with New Ones

Replacing Kitchen Cabinets on a Budget

Anyone who has ever looked at replacement cabinets for their kitchen knows what an expensive project it can be. Most people wander through the kitchen showrooms without realizing that it would cost them thousands of dollars to install those same lovely cabinets in their own kitchens. Many people who price them decide their old cabinets aren’t so bad after all. Others look for less expensive ways to update their kitchens that will still look nice but won’t break the bank.

There can be a couple of problems with taking them up on their offer, however. First of all, you never know what kind of condition the cabinets will be in after they’ve been removed. Sometimes cabinets can be severely damaged by the techniques used to remove them from walls and floors. This is especially true of cabinets made of MDF. You may run into a second problem when the homeowner tries to hold you to your deal even though the cabinets have been smashed to smithereens.

You can read through listings on Craigslist and find kitchen cabinets that people are advertising absolutely free. It sounds like a godsend, but it could be your worst nightmare if you don’t consider a few problems in advance. Most of the people who are advertising free or inexpensive used cabinets are only looking for someone to haul them away for free. Having the old cabinets removed from the premises is just another expense in any kitchen remodel, so it is to their advantage if someone wants to take the cabinets away for them.

Buying Discount New Kitchen Cabinets Online

It used to be that your only choices when it came to buying new kitchen cabinets were either to go to a showroom and select from the cabinets they offered or to call a contractor to come in and custom-build your cabinets. Admittedly, you could get beautiful kitchen cabinets using either method; however, the cost was quite high. Homeowners are now turning to the 21st century method of buying replacement cabinets for their homes by buying discount kitchen cabinets online. This method gives them a huge selection that they can view from the comfort of their own homes and better prices because of the amount of competition there is online.

Just because you buy cabinets at a discount doesn’t mean that what you’re going to get is cheap and poorly made. After all, the word discount doesn’t necessary mean cheap. What you’ll find online are selections of high-quality cabinets from well-known manufacturers at lower prices. Online stores offer discount pricing for many reasons. As mentioned earlier, they often do it to challenge the prices of their competitors and, thereby, get your business. They can also charge less because they don’t have the overhead that brick and mortar stores do. While they still offer most of the services you get from a local store, they don’t have a building to maintain, utilities and insurance to pay, or a large staff to pay. The money they save in these ways can then be passed on to the customer.

You will find lovely cabinets made of fine hardwoods online. There are beautiful cabinet lines in maple, oak, cherry, hickory, and birch. Other options include melamine finish and thermofoil. Cabinets come assembled and pre-finished, unassembled but pre-finished, and unassembled and unfinished, so you can pay for only what you really want and do a lot of the work yourself if you’d rather. Within each of these styles you will find a complete line of all the cabinets you could want to design your perfect kitchen. Standard base and wall cabinets are available as well as pull-out pantries, oven cabinets, utility cabinets, and others.

Some of the online stores will allow you to purchase sample cupboard doors in smaller sizes so that you can see if the colors, styles, and construction is everything you wanted it to be. These samples cost less than $10 and will help you get a better feel for the cabinets you are considering buying. These shops also offer designer services to help you determine the ideal layout for your kitchen as well as online design tools to help you picture what the cabinetry will look like in your own home. Buying discount kitchen cabinets online can be an easy project which is also easy on the budget.

Choosing Kitchen Wall Cabinets

Kitchen cabinets are one of the most visible part of kitchen. For that reason, manufacturers of fine cabinetry produce many different styles of doors for wall cabinets so that all kitchens don’t have to look alike. Commercial cabinets are also being fitted out with more than just shelves these days to give them more functional uses. When it comes time to choose wall cabinets for your kitchen, you’ll have plenty of decisions to make.

There are Choices to Make when Hanging your Cabinets

Some experts will advise you not to make your cabinets any higher than you’ll be able to reach, but the choice is actually up to you. High shelves can be used for additional storage of items you seldom use. There’s also controversy about whether it’s best to just hang the wall cabinets at the standard height leaving the tops open or to build a bulkhead to hang them from. Personally, I don’t like having to climb up to clean the tops of open cabinets and prefer having them built in at the top.

Some kitchen wall cabinets come with glass doors, and they can be very attractive. However, if you don’t want to keep the interiors of your cupboards totally neat and immaculately clean at all times, everyone is going to be able to see the mess through the glass panels. In addition, when you install cabinets with glass doors you’ll be sentencing yourself to years of cleaning fingerprints off the glass. If you’ve ever had glass tabletops you’ll know what I’m talking about. You need to consider how much extra effort you’re going to want to make if you install cabinets with glass doors.

Most wall cabinets come with some type of raised-panel design. Traditionally these have been either rectangular or curved at the top. There is a machine available now, though, that actually carves patterns into the raised panels of kitchen wall cabinet doors which has vastly opened up the field of design. The days of simple, square-paneled doors may well become history as we make room for modern technology.