How To Update Metal Kitchen Cabinets

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Upgrading cabinets can be a great way to give your kitchen a new look while staying inside a upkeep. It can also increase your options for storage and organization. Choose lite, bright colors to brand your kitchen look bigger, and add uniqueness and sophistication with some pocket-sized merely well-chosen accents. Use versatile additions like sliding shelves and retractable racks to increase your storage infinite, and yous'll be well on your way to creating your dream kitchen!

1
Cull a lite-colored paint to make your kitchen look bigger. To create a more than open, spacious feel, look for paints in paler shades. Avoid glossy paints, as these will show whatever painting imperfections more visibly.^[1]
- Acrylic, or water-based, paints typically create fewer fumes and are easier to clean upwards than oil-based paints.
- Make your upper cabinets a lighter color and the bottom cabinets darker to make your space look more trendy. Brand certain the 2 colors are complementary to one another.
2
Accept your cabinet doors off their hinges. To make painting easier, remove your chiffonier doors and lay them on a flat surface, similar a worktable or sawhorses. You can remove the doors by using a drill or screwdriver to accept out the screws that hold the hinges in place.^[2]
- Make sure the area underneath them is protected with paper or cloth.
- Label your chiffonier doors so you know where they go when you put them back.
- Remove the hinges before you lot paint your cabinets if you plan on upgrading them as well.
- If you lot are painting the shelves or exterior of the chiffonier also as the doors, you may desire to cover your countertops with newspaper to protect them from paint drips.^[3]
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3

Clean all surfaces to exist painted with a degreaser. Kitchen cabinets tin become grimy from built-up food grease. Even if your cabinets appear make clean, use a dry rag and a degreaser such equally dish soap or a trisodium phosphate (TSP) product to clean any surfaces you will be painting.^[iv]
4
Make full whatsoever holes or dings with spackle. Audit your cabinets advisedly for whatever visible holes or cracks. If you find any, fill up them with spackle and use a putty pocketknife to smooth the spackle downward.^[5]
- Cheque the instructions on the spackle to meet how long it should dry.
5
Sand the cabinets past manus with 100-grit sandpaper. Roughing up the surface of the cabinets will give the new pigment something to concur onto.^[6] Sand the doors and any other surfaces yous program to paint by paw, and clear abroad the dust with a vacuum.^[seven]
- Information technology's a skilful idea to vesture a dust mask or respirator while you work, to prevent sawdust from entering your lungs.
- If your cabinets are already painted and they're in proficient status, you don't need to sand them.
6

Prime the cabinets with white primer paint. Use a mini-roller or paintbrush to apply a coat of primer to the doors and whatsoever other surfaces you program to paint.^[8] If any castor strokes are visible afterwards it dries, sand them out with 220-dust sandpaper.^[9]
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Employ 1-2 coats of paint. Once the primer has dried completely, use a mini-roller or paintbrush to encompass the surface with paint. Piece of work slowly, become with the grain of the wood, and avoid piling paint at corners and edges.^[10]
- You tin can fifty-fifty use spray pigment.^[11]
- When painting the doors, let one side dry completely before flipping them and painting the opposite side.
- It can be helpful to have a smaller paintbrush on hand to even out piled-upwardly pigment or to reach small corners.
- Use a two-in-1 paint and primer if you don't desire to expect for primer to dry.
- Use a satin or semi-gloss paint for your cabinets so they're easier to clean one time they dry.
8

Re-hang your cabinet doors once the paint has dried completely. Wait several hours to make certain the paint is dry, since even a small drop of wet paint can turn into an unsightly drip if you motility the doors also soon. If necessary, have someone aid you hold the doors in place while you screw the hinges back on.

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1
Install crown molding to add dimension to your cabinets. This can be a bully way to add interesting features to your cabinets, and make your kitchen appear more archetype and sophisticated. This works best for cabinets that take some wood between the meridian of the doors and the ceiling. It'due south meliorate to install crown molding when y'all're repainting your cabinets to ensure that the colors match.^[12]
- Information technology's important to measure the angles of your cabinets accurately, so that you can cut the molding to fit correctly. This can be done with a tool called an angle gauge, which is available at nearly hardware stores.^[13]
2
Use a little flake of wood mucilage to the ends of each piece of crown molding before nailing it in place. ^[fourteen]
- Be aware that if y'all are looking for crown molding to match older wooden cabinets, buying molding made of the same wood will not necessarily ensure that it's the same color.^[15]
3
Switch out your knobs or handles for a quick, easy upgrade. This is ane of the about convenient ways to requite your cabinets a more interesting appearance. Look for new knobs or handles in your local hardware shop and use them to supplant your old ones. Buy a fix or mix and friction match.
- Your old knobs or handles should exist like shooting fish in a barrel to remove with a screwdriver or drill. The screws should exist visible on either the face up or the within of the cabinet door.
- If your knobs are in proficient status, you can remove and spray paint them to update how they look.
4
Use wallpaper to dress upwardly dull cabinets or hide nicks and dings. Cutting pieces of wallpaper to fit the inner panel of your cabinet doors tin can be a quick way to update their look. It can also hide any nicks, dings or stains that take accumulated over the years. Apply spray adhesive to stick the wallpaper on, and coat the whole door with a thin layer of decoupage after it dries.^[16]
- While y'all can utilize any kind of paper, wallpaper is ideal because information technology tends to exist thicker and more wet-resistant than regular paper, and tin commonly exist cleaned.
- Use a contact newspaper with an agglutinative dorsum if y'all want a design you tin can easily remove.
v
Install nether-cabinet light fixtures. Pocket-size lights under your upper cabinets can provide extra visibility and create an elegant, sophisticated look in your kitchen. You can cull from a variety of styles at your local home renovation shop, including light bars and small, round "puck" lights.^[17]
- Some lighting products too characteristic dimmer switches, which can make the lights softer and more attractive.
- Use battery-powered LED strips nether your cabinets if you don't desire to hardwire lights.
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i
Upgrade your plate chiffonier with a vertical rack. A rack can provide easy storage for plates and cutting boards. You can buy one or put one together from a kit and use wood glue to secure it within the cabinet.^[18]
- Make sure to leave at to the lowest degree ii inches (5.ane cm) for the plates on either side of the rack.
2
Remove the doors from cramped cabinets. This will give you a couple extra inches of space for large or awkwardly shaped objects, and can also exist a good way to showcase attractive dishes or interesting kitchen accessories. Afterwards you lot remove the doors, make full the screw holes with hardware putty and sand and repaint at least the face up sides of the cabinet.^[nineteen]
- This is not ideal for cabinets that shop food, every bit the nutrient will not be kept as fresh.
- Keep your dishes organized inside your cabinets if you remove the doors.
three
Install a sliding shelf for easy access. Some hard-to-achieve cabinets don't provide as much storage equally they could simply because it'south inconvenient to access annihilation stored in the dorsum. Installing a sliding shelf can take care of this problem, since information technology allows you to pull the unabridged shelf out of the cabinet for piece of cake admission.^[20]
- This is a nifty solution for pantry cabinets that might hold a diverseness of items you will want to access frequently.
4

Add a retractable rack for storing pots and pans. A simple pull-out rack tin can give you vertical storage space for hanging pots and pans, which tin can be awkward to store if they take long handles or don't stack hands. If you have several pots and pans and use them often, information technology may be worth your while to install a retractable rack.^[21]
5

Use pop-upwards shelves in cabinets that take too much vertical space. If your cabinet shelves aren't adjustable, they may be positioned so that you have more vertical space than you lot demand for what you're storing. You tin make meliorate use of this space past simply buying some pop-up shelves, which are usually made of lightweight metallic like a shower caddy. This is a low-delivery storage solution, equally you tin can remove them or motion them around at any time.^[22]
vi
Install hooks or shelves on the inside of cabinet doors for actress storage. Some cabinets, like the cabinet under your sink, may have plenty of space only very little shelving or arrangement. If there is enough space between the cabinet door and what's stored within, consider using hooks or lightweight shelves on the inside of the door.
- This can be helpful for storing spray bottles, pot lids, and large utensils.
- Install the hooks on the sides of your bottom cabinets or above your sink to hang dish towels.
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Add New Question

Question

Why should you sand the wooden surface earlier painting?

Andres Matheu is the Owner of Hömm Certified Painting Systems, an Interior and Exterior Residential painting business based in the Washington, DC Metro area. Andres specializes in interior and exterior residential painting, color consultations, cabinet refinishing, wallpaper removal, and epoxy flooring among other services. An EPA Pb-safe Certified House, Hömm Certified Painting Systems has been awarded the Best of Houzz 2019 Service, Angie's Listing Super Service Award 2019, and Northern Virginia Magazine'south 2018 Best Home Experts (painters) honour.

Commercial Painter

Expert Reply

You should sand the wooden surface slightly before painting to open up up the pores and assistance the paint to adhere to the surface.
Question

What is the benefit of using enamel paints?

Andres Matheu is the Owner of Hömm Certified Painting Systems, an Interior and Exterior Residential painting business concern based in the Washington, DC Metro area. Andres specializes in interior and outside residential painting, color consultations, chiffonier refinishing, wallpaper removal, and epoxy flooring among other services. An EPA Lead-safe Certified Business firm, Hömm Certified Painting Systems has been awarded the Best of Houzz 2019 Service, Angie's Listing Super Service Honor 2019, and Northern Virginia Magazine'southward 2018 All-time Abode Experts (painters) award.

Commercial Painter

Expert Answer

It is advantageous to utilize enamel paints because they terminal a chip longer. They withstand the abrasion very well.