Remodeling Your Kitchen Cabinets

Laminate is economical but still can look classy in a patterned finish or trimmed with wood edging. You should put your money into the hardest-working and most permanent features of the kitchen, especially the cabinets and countertops.

There are two basic cabinet styles: European-style (frameless) and face-framed cabinets. Either can be ordered from custom or semi-custom cabinet-makers or from stock supplies. Each style has a variety of door, wood and finish options.

Some cabinet hardware features simulated finishes or surfaces that look and perform like the real thing. Brass-plated knobs can substitute for solid brass, and some plastic pulls mimic the look of solid surfacing.

Installing cabinets in a remodeled kitchen require some basic finish carpentry skills. Before starting any installation, it's a good idea to mark some level and plumbing reference lines on the walls so everything lines up properly. Most stock cabinet layouts won't fit perfectly within a given wall space, but cabinetmakers provide narrow filler pieces to fill in the gaps between cabinets.

The most efficient way to start installation is with the wall cabinets, since the base cabinets would get in your way if they were already in. It is better to put the corner units in first, squaring them and moving toward the center of the wall where you have more leeway for making adjustments.

If your budget is tight and you want to give a new look to your kitchen cabinet, you have the option of re-facing, which involves replacing or veneering the parts of the cabinet that are visible all the time. Therefore, the cabinet boxes -- called the cases -- stay in their current layout, but get a new finish with veneer. Other parts, such as drawer fronts and cabinet doors, get completely replaced.