You’re not done installing new kitchen cabinets until you add fresh, attractive hardware. Consider hardware the finishing bling that polishes off the entire décor. It really doesn’t matter what style you’re after, there are pulls, knobs, and handles that can enhance the entire effect. There are thousands of hardware sets in metals, woods, crystals, rock, and synthetic materials–all available in a dizzying assortment of sizes and colors.

You can have your kitchen contractor install the hardware as a finishing touch, or add it yourself. If refacing cabinets fit into your plans, new hardware can especially lend elegance and charm. It’s not difficult to install knobs and pulls with your new kitchen cabinets if you work well with drills and levels. You can make the entire process go smoothly by creating a template or jig.

Hardware and Your New Kitchen Cabinets
Locating the precise location for a pull or knob can make all the difference in how efficiently the cabinets work. Contractors who work with kitchen cabinet designs often suggest using backplates to cut down on grease and grime. It’s a matter of taste; not everyone likes that much metal on their cabinet face.

The good thing about hardware is that it can be relatively inexpensive to order several samples and styles to mount in test locations in the kitchen to evaluate the look. Lay the work out ahead of time, since new kitchen cabinets and drawers may require different lengths in wood or metal screws to affix the hardware. To avoid patching and painting, make sure that your replacement hardware matches up with the drill holes of your old pulls and handles.

Voila! A unified look for your kitchen.

There’s an embarrassment of riches when it comes to countertop materials that fit most kitchen color schemes. Concrete countertops remain an option among the pack of choices that include wood, ceramic tile, engineered stone, laminates, solid surfaces, and even metals. While concrete can be among the most expensive calls, it is strong, easy to maintain, and comes in a great selections of designs, colors, and textures.

On the distaff side, concrete can sustain chips or hairline fissures and, if not cleaned and sealed property, the countertop grout can become discolored.  If you’re selecting concrete for your kitchen countertops, home expert Bob Villa insists that you ensure that your contractor is qualified to work with the material, especially in following curing processes to a tee.

Concrete and Your Kitchen Color Schemes
Many kitchen countertop contractors carry their own standard and higher priced custom colors. Each countertop is unique, with what I call “artisan alchemy”. That means you may have textures, deliberate fractures, dyes, and watermarks that render a personalized look for your kitchen.

The pigment is added during the mixing, a process to reinforce the properties of the concrete to hold your kitchen color scheme over the years.  Speaking of reinforcement, be sure that your contractor knows how to reinforce concrete countertops, lest the slab will shrink on drying and develop unwanted shifting or thermal cracks.

Contractors may use galvanized wire or rebar in reinforcing concrete kitchen countertops.  Rebar restrains the slab of concrete under the right amount of compression, and while it may not completely protect you against cracks, it holds fissures to a minimum, and keeps them narrow enough so they won’t chip or otherwise compromise the countertop.

Many homeowners consider cabinet refacing as a good option to installing more-expensive new kitchen cabinets.  It’s a relatively quick job in replacing doors, drawer fronts, and adding new hardware, and the results can be dramatic. You may even want to try your own hand at cabinet refacing, but beware: mistakes can be costly.

Let’s look over a typical cabinet refacing effort to help you see what’s involved. When done by a skilled professional a refacing job can be done in a few days, longer if you’re coupling it with a new countertop or sink installation.  According to Kitchen Refacing.Org, if you’re working with laminates, you’ll start the cabinet refacing job by removing the doors, sanding and prepping the cabinets, lay out the glue, trim or route the excess laminate, apply and remove excess glue, complete the cleanup.

Do-It-Yourself Cabinet Refacing
Brian Simkins at Do It Yourself says you’ll need the following tools and a comfort level in working with them to complete a satisfactory cabinet refacing project:  handsaw, brad nailer, miter saw, clamps, and miter saw. If that sounds like too much, consider bringing in a contractor.

The National Association of the Remodeling Industry warns consumers that the success of a do-it-yourself new cabinet installation or refacing project depends on your ability to follow installation diagrams and instructions, the savvy to improvise or start fresh when things go wrong, and a full knowledge of local building codes that are applicable with kitchen renovations.

You might visit several home improvement stores or speak with contractors first to determine whether you’re comfortable enough with your own skills before embarking on a cabinet refacing or replacement project on your own.

Human beings are pack-rats. We swoop up gadgets, year after year, and load up our closets, cabinets, and storage bins. The kitchen is a favorite catch-all for glassware, plates, silverware, jars, bowls, small appliances, and gizmos galore. No matter how much space we own, we never seem to have enough room in the kitchen.

The National Kitchen and Bath Association (NKBA) recommends that you have at least a total of 158” of countertop space for food preparation and storage. That’s with a depth of 24” and 15” of topside clearance. It also suggests that you incorporate two optimal heights above the floor for your work surfaces—one at one 28”– 36”, and another  at 36”– 45”—to ensure that all residents can use the kitchen. At least one corner cabinet, the NKBA adds, should contain a “functional storage device”, like a Lazy Susan.

Utilizing Cabinets and Countertops
There are plenty of organizing systems available in stock sizes out there for putting everything it its right place. The folks at Bob Villa.com suggest creating additional cabinet storage with door hangings, Lazy Susans, and pull-out accessories.

Meanwhile, the staff at This Old House suggests simple, affordable cabinet and drawer solutions such as stand-alone cabinets, pull-out towel holders,  peg-board dish holders, under-sink organizers, swiveling corner racks, and pop-up shelves.

Bolting cookware to overhead hooks can also free up countertops and cabinets. You can put in u-bolts and s-hooks, or consider a wall trellis with hooks and shelves. There’s a wide selection of can, food, and soda racks that fit neatly on a shelf, tiered stacking shelves, pull-out pot lid organizers, slide-out caddies, and over-cabinet towel racks or organizers.

Spend a little time at the home improvement store or surfing the Web for solutions that can free up your precious counter space.