Skip Paint: There's A Better Way To Update Old Cabinets For A High-End Look

Your kitchen cabinets are in good shape structurally, but looks-wise, it's a whole other story. Whether you've got dated honey oak, too-dark mahogany, or super-bland white cabinets, you may think that painting is a way to quickly refresh them and give them a much-needed makeover. While paint will revive your cabinets, it's not exactly a quick and easy job when you consider all the steps involved — removing handles, drawer fronts, and doors, masking, sanding, priming, painting, letting everything dry, painting some more.

There is a much simpler way to revive your kitchen, though. Instead of breaking out the paint (and breaking a sweat), swap out the doors, drawer fronts, and face frames for new ones. If you're handy, you can do the project yourself, or if you'd prefer for a professional to do the work, you can hire a cabinet contractor.

Of course, before you start shopping for new cabinet doors and face frames, there are some things to consider. One is your budget. Depending on the size of your kitchen and the number of cabinet doors you need to purchase, the project can get pretty pricey, pretty quickly. Another is your timeframe. While you may be able to head to IKEA and head home with a car full of cabinet doors in just a few hours, if you want custom kitchen cabinets, the turnaround time will be significantly longer.

Does getting new cabinet doors make sense for you? Compared to paint, new cabinet doors and face frames have their advantages. For one thing, you have considerably more options for your cabinets' appearance. Instead of just changing the color, you can change the material and the overall style, replacing MDF doors with solid wood, opting for glass-fronted doors, or choosing doors with natural cane webbing. You also don't have to worry about your fresh new paint job chipping or otherwise getting damaged.

Budget-wise, while replacing the doors will cost more than buying paint and supplies, it does cost less compared to replacing all of your cabinetry. Keep in mind that upgrading your cabinet doors is mainly a cosmetic fix. If your kitchen cabinets are in pretty poor condition and have signs of warping, water damage, or other problems, you may be better off replacing the entire cabinet rather than just updating the doors and face frame.

Finally, replacing the doors and face frames isn't the only way to give your kitchen cabinets a new look. While you're making upgrades, also refresh the hardware on the doors — there's no point in buying new, high-end doors only to use the same tired old pulls and knobs on them. And, if a full cabinet refresh isn't in your budget right now, upgrading the hardware is one way to update your kitchen without painting or replacing.