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Archive for May, 2011

Cheap kitchen cabinet finds for frugal times

Monday, May 30th, 2011

“Cheap kitchen cabinets” isn’t an oxymoron. Sure, everyone covets solid cherry kitchen cabinets with dove-tailed drawers and door frames suitable for Monet masterpieces.  But  unexpected water damage or your  need to quickly build an in-law suite  makes your budget trump your dreams.   Here are some  options to  help you hoard your savings.

  1. Open shelves: Purchase laminate-covered shelves.  Closet system shelves, for example, come in packages of two 14-by-24-inch shelves, a mounting system, and happily, a cherry finish, for around $25.  A package of three matching corner shelves adds versatility for under $85.  A different option, if you’re handy with a saw and sandpaper,  is to purchase 12-foot-long-by-12-inch-deep red oak planks to cut to length and then sand, paint or stain.  Cost is around $100 plus paint and brackets.  Add  some higher, shallower eight-inch-deep shelves from another 12-foot-long oak board costing about $50.  There are also storage shelf systems with adjustable mounting tracks, brackets, and powder-coated metal grid shelves that create a clean, open, contemporary look.  A 3-foot-wide-by-12-inch-deep metal shelf with brackets is roughly $20 plus vertical tracks.  Any of these three open shelving systems is functional and attractive for above-counter storage.  Extend them lower for pots, pans, and bulk items storage.
  2. Recycled cabinets: Kitchen remodeling contractors regularly remove perfectly good cabinets from homes they’re upgrading.  If you can plan your needs  in advance, call local remodeling contractors and give them your contact information.  These will be cheap cabinets compared to new.  Call  every three weeks to check availability.  Sweeten the deal by having them install the cabinets in your home–an unwieldy chore you’ll be glad to hire out.  Option two:  Large cities in your area may have home salvage companies with used cabinets on hand.  Bring wall measurements with you. Be open-minded regarding styles and sizes.  Prices for either of these ideas will net you cheap kitchen cabinets compared to the same quality new.
  3. Off-the-rack: Big home supply companies like Lowe’s or Home Depot have inexpensive cabinets in stock.   Examples: a 30-inch-wide double -door oak base cabinet costs under $200, and a 30-inch-wide upper cabinet is around $140.
  4. Assembly required: Other big-box retailers such as Ikea offer pre-finished, ready-to-assemble cabinets in various architectural styles.  A simple white or birch-effect 30-inch-wide base cabinet is roughly $160 (plus legs,) and a 30-inch-wide upper is about $130.  Assembly systems are quick and ingenious.

Frugal has new respect these days. It often implies clever recycling or hands-on willingness. Sounds like you, don’t you think?

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Choose off-beat laminates for jazzy cabinet refacing

Monday, May 23rd, 2011

Are you singing the blues about those old-fashioned cabinets in your kitchen? If contemporary kitchen decor is your thing, consider refacing the cabinets with  upbeat new laminates from Wilsonart, Formica, and Nevamar.  Subtle textures and colors dominate Wilsonart’s Haute Link;  a linear metallic design has a handsome look in Nevamar’s Silver or Bronze Array patterns, and the tactile micro-dot colors from Formica create understated geometry.

How can you use laminates in refacing your cabinets for a contemporary look?  Try these adaptations and variations:

  1. Reface your cabinet cases with a patterned or textured laminate. Order new doors laminated with the same laminate or one that contrasts.
  2. Reface the cabinet cases, then paint the existing doors to blend or contrast.  Example: Use Nevamar’s Silver Array pattern on the cases and silver or black painted doors. Or the opposite.
  3. Reface everything below counter level and the upper cabinet cases in one laminate choice, and paint or reface only the upper cabinet doors in a bold colored or textured laminate.  For the countertops, choose one of the many granite-like laminate designs that are almost indistinguishable from the real thing.
  4. If you have a kitchen island, reface the cabinets below it in a colored or textured laminate that contrasts with the surrounding cabinets to create a visual accent.

If your budget for refacing kitchen cabinets into a masterwork is limited,  laminate cabinet cases yourself.  Save your money for replacing the existing cabinet doors and drawer fronts with those clean, sleek lines you love. Ask the refacing company to move the cabinet cases to your work area.  A sheet of plywood on sturdy sawhorses provides a convenient work space. You’ll need to measure all the case surfaces that will receive new laminate, then lightly sand them so that the adhesive will stick evenly. Draw the cabinets on grid paper and measure each area to be covered.  Double check your measurements, then order the laminate.

Clamp down each cabinet as you work on it.  Mark cutting lines on the laminate with a pencil. Cut the laminate with a utility knife using a long, heavy metal ruler.   Coat both a segments of the cabinet case and its corresponding laminate piece with contact cement.  When dry, sandwich a long piece of brown wrapping paper between the two glued surfaces.  Align the end and sides very accurately, then gently pull the paper from one end, rolling the two glued surfaces together thoroughly as you pull.  If measured and aligned precisely, you’re finished with that segment.  When the project is complete, you’ll have the contemporary kitchen you’ve always  wanted — for a song!

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5 reasons to take countertop laminates for granite

Monday, May 16th, 2011

If you covet granite countertops and aren’t deterred by their price and maintenance, go for it! But if the look of granite is what’s important, achieve that champagne look on a beer pocketbook.

A visit to a stone and tile retailer reveals granite samples of breath-taking beauty—and prices to match. One-inch thick slabs of solid granite needed for kitchen countertops are heavy, brittle, and require expertise in manufacture and installation. Expect to pay (gulp!) $45 to $200 per square foot installed. Alternately, quarter-inch thick granite tiles cost roughly $6 to $20 per square foot uninstalled, and ept people might save by tackling granite tile installation themselves.

“Okay,” you think. “I don’t have to have the veined granite. The more uniform granite will do.” But some unveined granite is sometimes difficult to cut, so you may not save money that way, either.

Time to regroup. You can start saving for your granite dream, if you’re into delayed gratification. But if you want or need new countertops fairly soon, give laminates an open-minded look. Laminates have some wonderful advantages.

  1. Patterns and surfaces: Laminate patterns are often photographs of genuine stone under a tough plastic laminate surface. Some granite-looking laminates have the glossy surface seen on finished granite, while others have a less glossy luster. Since the limitations and idiosyncrasies of natural stone aren’t an issue with laminates, you can choose from slate, sandstone, marble and terrazzo looks, as well as granite. Remember that the genuine granite samples at a retailer won’t exactly match the slabs at the slab display stone yard, but laminates are more visually consistent.
  2. Edges: Today’s laminates can have rolled or routed edges similar to many real granite countertops.
  3. Maintenance: Yes, you can put hot objects on granite, while you cannot cut or set hot objects on laminate. But wiping off a laminate’s surface dirt with a sudsy sponge is all the normal maintenance required. Granite (and similar stones) should be sealed monthly to keep a uniform shine and avoid staining some stones.
  4. Cost: Here’s where laminate really shines. You often need more than one real granite slab to create your countertops, so you’ll pay for expensive wasted material. Creating laminate countertops is often within the scope of a handy homeowner with a modest wood-working shop. If not, manufacture and installation are only about $10 to $30 per square foot — and you buy only what you need.
  5. Time: Expect your laminate countertops to be manufactured and installed much more quickly than granite.

Visitors may compliment your “real granite” countertops. They look that good. Just smile and murmur, “I love them too!”

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Drawer construction (kitchen cabinet quality exposed!)

Monday, May 9th, 2011

Check out this joint

It’s easy to get star-struck by glamorous kitchen cabinets while overlooking their construction quality. Want to know the hidden secrets of cabinet craftsmanship? It’s in the joints. Drawer joint construction usually indicates the overall quality of  kitchen cabinets. As with the human body, if the joints are weak, a pretty face means little over time.

There are three major types of Drawer construction. drawer joints– butt-jointed; rabbeted and/or dadoed; and dove-tailed. The comparative strength of the three major drawer joint types is obvious if you imagine this: Challenge someone to pull your arms apart with your hands in one of three positions–palms together, fingers straight up; palms in opposite directions, opposing fingertips clutched; or palms together, fingers intertwined and bent. The greater the overlay, the stronger the resistance, right? Cabinet drawer construction is similar:

Butt-jointed: In less expensive drawer construction, boxes will have particle board or plywood sides with corners that butt flat against each other. They’ll be stapled or nailed together. The drawer bottom may also be butted flat underneath the box sides and stapled or nailed to them. Better box bottoms slide into a groove on the insides of the drawer box.

Nailed Butt Joint

Nailed Butt Joint

Rabbeted and/or dadoed: A  rabbet is a notch, cut along the end of a board to receive another board. A dado cut is groovy, man! It is a recess cut along a board to receive a perpendicular board. While stronger than butt joints because they can be glued or fastened along two or three sides, the lip of the rabbet or dado cut can eventually weaken and snap off.

Rabbet Joint

Rabbet Joint

Dove tailed: No, it doesn’t fly! Dovetail joints usually indicate solid hardwood drawer boxes. Both ends of corners are notched by machine so that the notches are fan-shaped (like a dove’s tail.) They can only be joined by laying one notched edge atop the adjoining piece and tapping them together. Because the interior end of the notch is wider than the outer edge, the boards can’t pull apart. Dove-tailed drawers speak of finer quality materials and workmanship throughout a cabinet. Classy!

Dove Tailed Joint

Dove Tailed Joint

It’s fine if the cabinet case itself has particle board panels covered with wood or laminate veneers. It’s the drawers that take the heaviest wear and tear in cabinetry. Verify how they’re constructed to get the best cabinet drawer construction for your budget. You can bet that the cabinets seen at famoushomeowners.com are dovetailed. Drop by for a demo at your home building supply or cabinet store. And remember, forget the dazzling face. Cabinets are a long-term relationship.

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Posted in New Kitchen Cabinets | 2 Comments »

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