Kitchen Remodel Ideas Made Simple

Here is a kitchen remodel idea that will update your old kitchen cabines.

This is a great affordable look, and you won't need a carpenter to achieve it. Even if your skills are like "Tim the Tool Man" or a notch or two above you can do this.

The old kitchen cabinets were an ugly formica that probably dated back to the 70's with orange shag carpet and olive green appliances.

Formica had been glued to the existing wood cabinets. The formica was removed and the glue was scraped off.

Time and labor verses dollars. It's not a hard job, but it will take some time. We removed the doors from the upper cabinets for an open shelf look, and kept the doors on the bottom cabinets.

The look was achieved by using wainscoting. For the inside of the cabinets strips of knotty pine were cut and nailed to the back of the cabinet walls.

Sheets of bead board wainscoting were glued and nailed to the cabinet doors to keep them flat. We did the measuring for the bead board, Home Depot did the cutting for no extra cost.

If you have formica cabinets that have particle board underneath, the look can still be achieved by using the wainscoting materials over top of the formica. Wainscoting adds character no matter if it's applied to the ceiling, walls or cabinets. It's a versitile cheep home decorating idea that can hide many flaws.

Okay this is what we did; cabinets and cabinet doors inside and out were (1)sanded, (2)one coat water base primer, (3)Two coats of latex paint, (4)sanded the top of the upper shelves with light sandpaper (5) Three coats of clear polyurethane on the upper shelves only, lightly sanding between each coat, (6)lightly sanded trim and outside upper cabinets, (7)finished the trim and outside upper cabinets with tinted polyurethane.

**Note, it is recommended to use oil base paint for the shelves because your dishes will stick to the water base paint and cause the paint to peel. If latex paint is used, coating them with polyurethane will protect them, however, clear polyurethane will yellow.

I read some where, Minwax Water Based Polycrylic Protective finish in Clear Gloss does not yellow. I don't know if it works, but I will try it the next time.

**Note, if this procedure is done over old formica cabinets like the one pictured here, sand the cabinets so materials will adhere to formica.

For a little extra touch, here is an idea to build a kitchen pot rack that provides convenience and looks good!

For tools to organize the kitchen check out World Market. I love Word Market!! I can always find some nifty low cost item to keep things organized in the kitchen or any other room in the house. Here are a few of my favorites, check them out.....preserve jars or canning jars from $3.99-$4.99......chalk talk glass containers, really cool, chalk is included from $4.99-$6.99.....and bamboo kitchen organizers, $7.99.

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