If you plan on tearing out your old kitchen cabinets, you’re going to have hundreds of new choices. Not only are you faced with choosing materials, but also cabinet styles, colors, finishes, and hardware choices. It can help to have a simple guide that will walk you through the process, from start to finish.
Begin with Door Styles
If you’re only renovating your kitchen, you may wish to keep it with the style of the rest of your home. Is your home classic, traditional, or modern? Your main choices for door styles are going to be shaker, flat, or inset. Flat style is going to fit more with a modern kitchen.
You’ll then need to decide if you want all the doors to be solid, or, do you want some doors with clear glass so you can display your china or dishes? Another option is to leave one wall of cabinets as open shelves, for easy access to kitchen equipment.
Choose Colors
Do you already have a kitchen island in a specific color? If you have an apartment, you may wish to match your kitchen cabinets to your living room mantelpiece. You also have choices of natural wood, such as oak or maple, or laminate, or a solid bright color such as red, or black. There are also laminates with wood on the outside, and manmade materials inside, or wood-like options that are more durable.
Consider Mixing and Matching
A new trend today is having two different types of cabinets in your kitchen. Often many people will opt for a light type of cabinet on top, with natural wood kitchen cabinets or drawers on the lower section. This can create an elegant kitchen with maximum impact.
Choosing Hardware
Hardware choices can be as numerous as the materials and colors you chose for your kitchen cabinets. Circular knobs can fit a classic kitchen, while more modern ones may have long elegant pulls. You may wish to choose ones that contrast with the colors of your cabinets and drawers. Common choices are silver or gold, in matte or glossy, but you can also find copper or brass colors, wood, crystal, and even a wide assortment of choices in every color of the rainbow.
Generally, you don’t want to have more than two different types. You may also wish to consider what other colors of metal you have in your kitchen: the hood fan, appliances, sink, lighting fixtures, and kitchen faucet. With too many different colors, it may become too busy-looking, so you’ll need to simplify it.
Conclusion
When you’re choosing cabinet options, gather all your materials together on the table, so you can see how they fit together. These will include samples of cabinet materials, knobs and pulls, paint chip colors, flooring samples, and anything else that you’ll be renovating in your kitchen.
It may seem like a ton of work before you even start on your new kitchen renovation, but once it’s finished, you’ll be pleased that you took the time to carefully choose each component.