It didn’t make sense to gut their entire kitchen and start investing big bucks to modernize it. “We are retired and live in a townhouse that is 20 years old. The kitchen cabinets were in good shape and made of solid wood. But they looked 20 years old and dated, I wanted a more modern look.” So, the couple decided to give their cabinets a facelift — or should we say a refacing lift. Rather than replace their cabinets, they replaced the doors and drawer fronts with another surface. The result? In only four days and for about a fifth of the price of new cabinets, the couple had a kitchen that looked brand new. Refacing is exactly what it sounds like – the existing boxes of the cabinets are used, which makes the whole process environmentally friendly. Matching veneers or wood cover the exposed frames and ends of the cabinets to make them look cohesive and new. Installing new hardware such as the hinges and knobs add a further update to the finished cabinets.

They chose a contemporary-style door with a light-colored wood from the hundreds of available choices. The look was completely opposite from their former dark cabinets. It opened up the kitchen to make it seem brighter and bigger, “I am very satisfied. It was a good choice for us because a few years ago we had a bathroom gutted and reconfigured. We knew what construction would have been involved in our kitchen. We didn’t want to go through that again,” Donna says. “It’s beautiful.” Before Before While an economical alternative to replacing your cabinets, refacing is still catching on, Brennan says. “Home values aren’t climbing up fast. So folks are hesitant to put an investment into their homes if they won’t get it back in a few years,” he says. Read More