Easy Ways to Update Your Kitchen Cabinets Without Replacing Them

Home renovations can get extensive, and prioritizing the most important remodeling efforts is important.

People spend over a thousand hours each year in their kitchens. Because of this, a well-organized and aesthetically pleasing space should be at the top of your list.

Homeowners looking to transform their kitchen while saving money may want to update kitchen cabinets without replacing them. Here, we’ll discuss:

• How you can make this happen
• What upgrades make your kitchen look modern
• Enhancing beauty when you reface kitchen cabinets
• Converting solid doors to look more open and inviting

Read on to learn about hanging-out cabinet doors, glass doors, open shelving, and beyond.

1. Refresh Cabinets with a New Coat of Paint

Repainting your kitchen cabinets is a cost-effective way to refresh their appearance.

If you don’t plan to revamp your entire kitchen interior design scheme, choose a color that complements your kitchen.

Consider a monochromatic color scheme where you use multiple shades of the same hue across your space. Neutral colors like black, white, gray, and beige can serve as trim and accents.

If your walls are blue, for example, paint the cabinets navy and give them a white trim.

Analogous color schemes are also popular options. They combine three colors that sit directly beside each other on the color wheel.

For example, if you have yellow walls, consider making your cabinets mint green and robins-egg blue for a cool color scheme. You could also use dark red and deep orange for a warmer look.

Once you choose a paint color you like, the following steps will get it onto your walls:

1. Take off all knobs and other hardware
2. Remove the cabinet doors
3. Clean the surface thoroughly to remove dust and debris
4. Apply primer to help the paint stick better
5. Paint the cabinet one area at a time
6. Wait for all surfaces to dry
7. Reattach the hardware and put your cabinet back in place

Following these directions ensures a long-lasting, smooth finish.

2. Upgrade Cabinet Hardware for a Modern Touch

There are a few types of basic hardware on your cabinet, including:

• Knobs for cabinet doors
• Drawer slides
• Latches
• Hinges that hold the doors in place

This hardware is usually made from metal. However, plastic hardware also provides a sleek and contemporary aesthetic.

The first thing to consider is the size of your cabinet door. You need the hardware to be the appropriate size for your cabinet.

Usually, a drawer pull should be about 1/3 the length of the drawer. A cabinet knob should almost always be between one and two inches in diameter.

Once you determine what size hardware you need, think about the style you want. If you want a modern-looking kitchen aesthetic, a knob made from sleek, polished brass or steel is a great choice. It can be spherical or geometric with clean, sharp lines.

Colored glass and clear or tinted plastic are also great alternatives. It all depends on your tastes and preferences!

Once you choose new hardware:

1. Remove the old, pre-existing hardware
2. Measure and mark their locations
3. Ensure that you want the new hardware in the same place (this will usually be easier assuming that everything is the same size)
4. Mark the locations for new screw holes if need be
5. If you’re using the same screw holes, insert the new screws into them instead
6. Line the new hardware up with drill holes 
7. Push the fastening screw into the new hardware

Screw everything together

3. Add Crown Molding or Decorative Trim

Crown molding is a type of cabinet finish that adorns the space around cabinets. It goes at the top of the walls where they hit the ceiling.

Basically, wood or plaster in ornamental shapes goes in the upper corner of the walls. Sometimes, people also use other materials like plastic or polyurethane to create crown molding trim when renovating small kitchens.

Curved concave designs are perfect for kitchen cabinet remodeling. They offer a delicate way to make a seamless transition between your wall cabinets and your ceiling. Evenly-spaced block patterns are another minimalist option for homeowners who want simple cabinet trim.

If you’re looking for something more ornate, egg-and-dart crown molding is inspired by Greek architecture. It showcases half-ovals that dip down to touch the bottom of the trim in the center. Between them, small triangular shapes may have intricate patterns carved into them.

To attach crown molding to kitchen cabinets:

1. Measure your cabinets
2. Attach pine boards to the top of their surface
3. Cut your crown molding with a miter saw
4. Install the molding with nails every inch or two across the surface

If your cabinets aren’t high up enough for crown molding, that’s okay – there are other decorative trim options you’re sure to love!

Consider:

• Corner molding that shapes the cabinet seamlessly and eliminates gaps at the corners
• Base molding for cabinets that sit on the floor
• Light rail molding that works with cabinet lighting
• Toe kick molding that goes underneath the lower cabinet base to create more space

You can use several of the same design types regardless of the trim variety you choose.

4. Install Under-Cabinet Lighting for Enhanced Ambiance

If you want to illuminate your space with unique lighting, consider putting light strips underneath hanging-out cabinet doors. This is an especially good idea for cabinets installed underneath kitchen countertops. 

You might like:

• Bright white LED lights for maximum brightness
• Colored lights that set a unique ambiance
• Flickering soft lights for a more antique or vintage aesthetic

To install lights underneath cabinets, you should:

1. Ensure that the cabinets are close to a power source
2. Plan a path to wire the lights to that outlet
3. Drill wiring holes underneath the cabinet
4. Cut the LED light strip into the appropriate lengths for under your cabinet
5. Solder wires onto the ends of your strip
6. Stick strips into the right place
7. Cut cabinet joints
8. Run wires and connect the fixtures

Many LED light strips allow you to turn the under-cabinet lights on and off from a remote or your smartphone. Try to get lighting that uses this technology to make illumination easy! Sometimes, you can even use remote sources to dim the lights or change their colors.

5. Convert Solid Doors to Glass for an Open Feel

Removing your wood or metal cabinet doors and replacing them with glass is a unique way to update kitchen cabinets without replacing them.

Glass cabinet doors:

• Look sleek and modern in your home kitchen
• Let you see what’s inside the cabinet
• Reflect light to make the room more spacious
• Add individualistic contemporary appeal

To do this, you will need to remove the cabinet doors. This simple step-by-step process is still less expensive and easier than replacing the whole cabinet.

To switch your old doors out for glass ones:

1. Measure the height and width of your doors
2. Get glass ones in the appropriate size
3. Remove the existing cabinet doors by their hinges
4. Get rid of existing drawer fronts (though you can leave the drawer boxes in place
5. Measure and mark where hinges need to be
6. Install your new glass cabinet door hinges
7. Snap the new doors into place
8. Install knobs, drawer pulls, and other hardware

Clear glass doors are beautiful in their own right. But if you want some added flair, you can also consider using tinted glass or stained glass that matches the rest of your kitchen color scheme.

6. Reface Cabinets with New Veneers or Panels

A wood veneer is a thin, decorative covering for a cabinet. They’re made from extremely thin natural wood layers.

These layers were peeled in sheets from a log. To reface kitchen cabinets, you can bond them with adhesive to all sides of the stronger wood that makes up the cabinet structure.

Wood veneers come in several varieties, including:

• Maple
• Oak
• Pine
• Ash
• Birch
• Cedar
• Cherry

The possibilities are limitless! Wood veneers are also exceptionally easy to install since many come with peel-and-stick backing. Those that don’t are easy to secure with screws.

Your cabinet will look like it’s made of completely new wood! It costs very little and your kitchen will have a completely new vibe.

7. Switch to Open Shelving for a Contemporary Look

Another affordable kitchen renovation option for those who want to keep their cabinets is to simply remove the doors. Then:

• Remove the hinges and other hardware
• Paint, sand down, or add veneers to the inside of the cabinet
• Organize the items inside in an aesthetically pleasing configuration

This new open shelving looks contemporary and interesting. It also:

• Lets you show off dishware and cooking utensils
• Makes room for decorative items
• Allows you to express yourself with different item layouts

Plus, everything will be easy to reach and access while cooking or cleaning!

Beyond How to Update Kitchen Cabinets Without Replacing Them

Now that you have some ideas for how to update kitchen cabinets without replacing them, it’s time to start renovating your cooking space.

LX Hausys is committed to providing you with tips on how to reface kitchen cabinets. Beyond that, we also offer products like custom cabinetry and high-quality quartz countertop slabs. We aim to help you design a flawless kitchen that you’re excited to spend time in!

Contact our team to discuss your next project. Whether you’re installing hanging-out cabinet doors or new veneers, we’re happy to talk about how we can meet your individual needs.