What You Can do to Your Kitchen for $1000

A lot of potential customers come to us not wanting to spend a lot of money on their kitchen.  They carry a belief that refacing - or our custom-made product recrafting - is going to get them the kitchen of their dreams on the cheap.  But more often than not, we have to break the bad news to them - their dream kitchen is going to cost money.  And in fact, it is going to cost you somewhere in between $10k to $20k.  Many people don't want to hear that.  They don't like to think that there are real costs associated with re-doing a kitchen well - and that these costs are actually extremely fairly priced in today's market.

BUT....there are things that you can do to update the look of your 30-yr old kitchen that don't have to break the bank.  Check out the before and after pictures and the project description that our VP of cabinetry worked on for her niece.

THE ISSUES:
1 - The kitchen has 30+yr old cabinets with a white dishwasher and range that were 5+years old and a refrigerator and range hood who's age has yet to be discovered.  Needless to say the appliances did not match.
2 - The shelf unit over the peninsula portion of the countertop created a huge division in the sightline and aesthetic flow of the room's space.
3 - The tile countertops were dirty and had missing or broken front edge tiles.
4 - The wall cabinets had an uneven bulkhead above them.

THE SOLUTION:
1 - White appliance paint changed the refrigerator and avocado green range hood to standard white, creating matching appliances throughout the kitchen space.
2 - The dividing shelf unit came down, opening up the space.
3 - The tiles on the front edge of the countertop came off and were replaced with a dark stained 2" wood trim.
4 - Large white crown moulding above the wall cabinets was added to bridge the gap between the ceiling and cabinets and both the trim and ceiling were painted white to match and create a unified sightline.

Water damage had caused the sink base doors to warp and be covered in water stains, while also causing the dishwasher and countertop to be unlevel.

The problems from the water damage were fixed with new birch plywood doors and drawer fronts and a brace that went underneath the cabinets to level the countertop and dishwasher.  New hardware was also added, completing the overall change in the look of the kitchen.

Some elbow grease, Murphy's Oil, clear lacquer, and clear poly finishes helped add polish and panache to the rest of the cabinetry.  Commercial tile and grout cleaner cleaned up the backsplash and counters.  The light fixture, sink, and faucet were all updated as well, creating the finished kitchen.  It goes to show just how much the look of a kitchen can change with the details and some cleaners. 

And meanwhile, you can save some dollars for when you actually want to design and create your dream kitchen :).

Kitchen Remodel: Arlington, VA

Kitchen Remodel: Arlington, VA, originally uploaded by lauren_taggart1.

This is an excellent example of an out-dated, problematic kitchen and the creative solutions our design team came up with to give it both an updated, beautiful new look and much greater functionality.The original design of the kitchen was a typical condo unit with laminate countertops and cabinetry. Storage space was lacking & inefficient, and the sink faced a wall.

To remedy these problems, our designer, Erin Watson, moved the sink to a new location on the free-standing part of the counter, allowing for the addition of more cabinet space on the wall where the sink used to be. Part of the counter next to the entry door was shortened, making room for a new floor-to-ceiling pantry. The cabinets were also re-configured around the refrigerator to increase usable storage space, and one of the floor cabinets next to the new sink was replaced by a stack of large drawers.

The homeowners selected a raised-panel door style in Mocha Maple and Blue Pearl granite countertops.

Kitchen Remodel/Recraft: Warrenton, VA

Before Picture of Kitchen: Warrenton, VA, originally uploaded by lauren_taggart1.

This kitchen was a standard 14-yr old builder grade kitchen from 1994. The cabinets were a gold flat panel oak and the oak wood veneers on the side of the exposed ends had faded from exposure to the natural sunlight, which is very typical in such an old kitchen. The laminate countertop was also the same countertop that had been in the house for 14 years, and while it had held up extremely well for all that time, it was time for a new, updated look.

The kitchen after being recrafted by Signature WoodCrafters. The cabinet boxes were kept in place, but the existing face frames, doors, and drawers were replaced with custom-manufactured Natural Maple Raised Panel doors. The exposed ends, which used to be covered in wood veneers, were replaced with finished door panels. Crown moulding and a valance were added to give a polished, continuous look to the top of the cabinets. The old white laminate countertop was replaced with a Baltic Brown granite countertop. The end result is a stunning difference.

Before

After

Cabinet ReCrafting/Refacing: Fairfax, VA

This video explains the how-to of how Signature WoodCrafters installs its solid hardwood refacing/recrafting product. Enjoy the show!

Kitchen ReCraft/Refacing: Rockville, MD

Kitchen ReCraft: Rockville, MD, originally uploaded by lauren_taggart1.

One of the things that I love about our Recrafting product is the moment of final transformation of a kitchen. When you see a kitchen go from looking drab to unbelievably gorgeous, you feel an acute sense of pride and accomplishment knowing that you have played a small part in bringing beauty into a person's life.

This kitchen that we recently recrafted in Rockville, MD was worked on by our designer Devonne Yankey, who helped the homeowners go from the original 20 yr. old cabinetry to a Franklin Shaker Natural Maple door complete with glass doors and contemporary mullions. The homeowners had already updated the look of their kitchen by installing new granite countertops and were looking for a way to complete the transformation. They contacted us, and well, you can see the final results up above!

Our recrafting product is best suited for homeowners that have already made an investment in their kitchen, be it their countertops or floors. Recrafting allows the installers to not cause any damage or disruption to the countertops or floors because our product is custom-manufactured to fit the existing face frames of the original cabinetry. By not disrupting the countertops or flooring, you get the same custom cabinetry that you would get from a full kitchen replacement, without causing any possible damage to the investment that you have already made.

Costs of ReCrafting

A lot of people have the misconception that Cabinet ReCrafting (Signature's own solid hardwood refacing product line for cabinetry) is cheaper than a cabinet replacement. This assumption is actually pretty false. Recrafting/refacing can actually cost just as much as a full cabinet replacement because the cost of most cabinetry is in the new doors and drawer fronts installed on the existing cabinet frame. There is a great article that talks about refacing and the appropriate costs to have in mind when considering this project. Check out the article on cabinet refacing over at Furniture Reviews by Rissla for more information and expectations on the true costs of refacing!