Thinking of replacing or refacing your worn kitchen cabinets? Don’t just get newer versions of what you already have. You may be cheating yourself out of truly personalizing and updating your kitchen. No, you don’t have to abandon Traditional, Provincial, or whatever style you’ve loved living with, but choosing a different cabinet finish on a similar or new style will beef up your decor a notch. Maybe two.

Eye candy for your kitchen cabinets

It’s mind boggling to browse through sample cabinet finishes at your local builders’ supply or kitchen cabinets stores. Each finish looks different on each type of wood and style of door. And “finish” isn’t just a stain. Ooooh no! Here’s what’s literally in store for you:

1. Stains and oil: Oiled finishes let the wood’s natural color dominate, and that color can deepen somewhat with time. Stains can be clear, light, medium, or dark, and have an amber, honey, red, brown, black, or other color cast.
2. Paint: Painted cabinets are big today in any style ranging from Traditional to Craftsman. Factory paints are sealed with tough, wear-resistant coatings for easy clean-up. Colors range from willow to mushroom to champagne to Chinese red, and many more. Do the doors in natural wood and paint the cabinet cases, or vice versa, for an original look.
3. Glaze: Glazes are applied over a door, then rubbed off the surface after they settle into seams and moldings. You choose between a casual look or precisely-applied highlights. Glaze color can be subtle or more contrasting.
4. Distressing: Factory created random compression marks, pecks, worm holes or edge sanding give cabinets the appearance of fine, aged furniture. A glaze is often rubbed on to subtly accentuate the distress markings.
5. Thermofoil: Vinyl that is heat-bonded to wood or particle board resembles wood, paint, marbling, brushed aluminum, or other designs. While easy to clean, check the warranty length and stay with better manufacturers.
6. Laminate: If you want bold colors, abstract patterns and textures, and a contemporary look, choose among many imaginative choices of laminates created specifically for cabinet finishes.

While you’re rethinking new cabinets, give some thought to letting cabinet finishes solve common kitchen problems. Dark kitchen? Choose light finishes. Small kitchen? Choose a light or willow-colored bamboo and run its parallel grain horizontally instead of vertically. You get the idea.

There are no rules. Mix finishes and cabinet styles to your heart’s content. Forget what the neighbors think. Cardinal red Traditional cabinets? Provincial cabinet cases in blue with creamy doors? Why not? Experiment on a kitchen design computer program until some combination says “yes!” Then go for it.

Choosing bamboo kitchen cabinets is like being given a large, empty artist’s canvas. So many colors, textures, and opportunities for mixing and matching! So many architectural styles! And, just like your lawn, cutting bamboo down stimulates very rapid regrowth rather than depleting forests that take hundreds of years to regenerate. Yet it is extremely strong and durable when fashioned into furniture, flooring, or kitchen cabinets.

4 ideas for designing custom bamboo cabinets

Familiarize yourself with the many colors and textures of bamboo, from pale, almost imperceptible parallel grains, to warm tones with more obvious grains and “joints,” to variegated bamboo that has irregular dark and light grains, to woods with small, variably toned miniature checker-like segments. With these raw materials, toss away standard cabinet style ideas and fire up your imagination.

1. Architectural styles: You aren’t limited to contemporary, Euro, or Oriental slab-style doors with their simple, gentle march of parallel grains of uniform tonality. Play with grain direction, running it vertically below counter and horizontally above, or vice versa. Shaker and Craftsman styles adapt themselves very well to bamboo, running the grain horizontally on top and bottom door stiles, vertically on door rails and inset panels. Traditional cabinets, with their rectilinear shapes and narrow decorative beads also look nice in a uniform color/texture of bamboo. Variegated bamboo center panels with darker rails and stiles can imply an understated Southwestern or country look.
2. Play with light and dark: Choose a light colored bamboo for all kitchen cabinets and add interest with a flush 1/2 inch edge band of medium to dark wood on each slab style door or drawer. Or choose a medium toned bamboo frame and inset light bird’s eye maple or other figured grain center panels. Make that band about 2 inches wide and miter the corners, running the grain horizontally on the top and bottom stiles and vertically on each doors side rails. Or use a light frame and a darker center panel.
3. Mix textures: Use the checker-like bamboo for rails and stiles, and a simpler, larger-scaled grain for center panels. Use a narrow-grain bamboo for rails and stiles and a book-matched or burled American wood such as cherry for center panels.
4. Add color: Choose a tinted transparent or semi-transparent stain over a light to medium bamboo to tweak your bamboo towards pale green, a rich amber, or a dark hue that allows the magnificent grain to show through.

If your budget doesn’t permit custom kitchen cabinets like the above, major cabinet manufacturers like Thomasville, DeWils and others offer ready-to-order, customizable bamboo cabinets.

Bamboo cabinets: Green. Gorgeous. Versatile. Yours.

If your kitchen requires flicking on lights most of the time, you’re cooking in the dark ages. Maybe your kitchen is on the north side of the house. Trees may cut out daylight. The window may be too small or non-existent. An adjoining patio or porch roof blocks light. You have black appliances. The cabinets, countertops, and/or flooring may be too dark. Whatever the reason, a dark kitchen puts a damper on food prep and cleanup. Your personality probably isn’t the reason you’re slaving alone in there while guests party it up in sunnier spaces.

Cabinet refacing can brighten dark kitchens

There are fixes for the problems mentioned above. Install a skylight for a north-facing or windowless kitchen. Axe a few tree limbs or the whole tree. Buy smaller cabinets to flank the window and install a larger window. Replace the adjoining  exterior roof with rafters and inexpensive translucent polycarbonate panels. Purchase stainless steel or light colored enamel appliances. But before you tackle the countertops, floors, or any afore-mentioned fixes, reface your cabinets. Cabinets absorb or reflect more light than any other kitchen element, since they extend from floor to ceiling, voraciously gobbling light. Here are some refacing ideas:

1. Even a medium-toned wood stain absorbs a lot of light. Since doors and drawer fronts are the most visible elements, reface cabinets by having all doors sanded and refinished with a much lighter stain or with a light colored paint.
2. Still a bit dark? Do the same to the cabinet cases.
3. Another cabinet refacing technique is to strip the stain from the cabinets and refinish with a clear wood oil or polyurethane.  Bonus: Look at that great wood grain!
4. Go monochromatic. Paint the walls a light color and use the same color for refacing the cabinets with paint. Replace the countertop with a stone, solid, or laminate surface that has a background of the same color, or use a bold solid color for a dramatic accent. You’ll be delighted at how this both brightens the kitchen and makes it look larger.

The above ideas work well in dark kitchens that have perfectly sound, attractive cabinets. If you want to update kitchen decor and get rid of worn eyesores, your refacing  job can include replacing the doors and drawer fronts using any of the ideas mentioned above. Cabinet cases can be laminated or veneered to match or complement doors.

Most of these refacing ideas cost 1/3 or less than the cost of replacing your cabinets. Use the difference to ditch that drab, dilapidated floor.  Now you’re cooking!

There’s almost no problem with other kitchen countertop materials that kitchen laminates don’t solve. Maintenance? Sponge off countertops with a soapy sponge. No ongoing resealing needed. Stain resistance? Acidic foods, mustard and other marks wipe up easily. Cost? Usually the lowest. Colors and patterns? Laminates win hands-down. Cutting board? No. Real butcher block is your only choice. Extra economy? The average handyperson can handle it his/herself. Let’s explore:

The wonderful, wide world of kitchen laminates

1. Uses: Countertops, of course. But also backsplashes, cupboard shelves (an easy do-it-yourself), kitchen tables, and refacing of cabinet cases and doors.
2. Design ideas:Use a solid color surface with a patterned edge, or vice versa. Use one choice for both countertop and backsplash, or contrast them. Run the backsplash choice right up to the cabinets. Choose bold, solid colored laminate countertops to offset a monochromatic kitchen. Contrast cabinet and island countertops to each other with solid and pattern choices. Inset a wood chopping board area into laminate countertops. And that large backsplash area behind the stovetop? Make a border of one color or pattern and inset a different one. Choose countertop edges that are square, top-rounded, or crescent shaped. Decide between matte, satin, and glossy finishes.
3. Stone looks:No stone or solid surface countertop material can match the dozens of colors and patterns of stone laminate patterns. Warm or cool tones, veined, composite, or particulate, bold or subtle effects. Patterns are created by photographing actual stone slabs of granite, marble, slate, onyx, limestone, and tons more. Then they’printed onto the strong backing and laminated with an extremely durable, forgiving surface. No quarry shop can match laminate’s choices. Some laminates have a special process that creates deeply textured looks. Choose a crescent-shaped edge to give the look of a thick stone slab.
4. Wood grains: Explore warm or cool tones, light, medium and dark wood grains, some with deep-textured looks. Styles include oak, cherry, maple and walnut, but also bamboo, cocobola, yarrow, teak, satinwood, bird’s eye and dozens more.
5. Metallics: Some laminate styles, whether gray/silver solids, patterns or textures, can even create a brushed metal look, especially with a satin finish. And again, the upkeep will be easier than with the real thing.

Pick up style chips at building supply and kitchen design stores. Brands include Formica, Nevamar, Pionite and Wilsonart. Always, always take samples to view under home lighting. Order larger samples to see the entire pattern. The problem won’t be whether to go with laminate. It will be narrowing down your choice to just one or two.

Are you annoyed when kitchen duties are delayed by attempting to rinse a large item, fill a tall cook pot, bleach the stains out of that old porcelain sink, or wait for the tea kettle to whistle? Those inconveniences have been duly noted by the kitchen plumbing industry, and there’s a raft of beautiful new kitchen sink and faucet designs just waiting to make life–and kitchen chores–easier. Tune in:

They’re not your mother’s kitchen faucets

Perhaps you feel nostalgic about your grandparents’ old porcelain-handled kitchen sink faucet. Fortunately, you can get that look or a spectrum of others with today’s improved kitchen faucets. And yes, at all price ranges.

1. Sink faucets: Most kitchen faucets today feature an arch high enough to accommodate tall stock pots. The spout end pulls out to rinse anything from the griddle to your slippery newborn grandson. The traditional single water controller mounted directly above the swivel faucet is still available, but newer faucets have a controller that is mounted conveniently low on the stem pipe housing. Choose a left, right, or center mounting. Yes, wall-mounted faucets are still available, and there are faucets in finishes from antiqued to nickel that complement your kitchen decor.
2. Instant hot water faucets: An instant hot faucet’s usefulness becomes quickly apparent. Enjoy enough 190 degree water for 60 to 90 cups per hour. Instant tea water, sanitizing cutting boards, soaking baked-on food, loosening tomato or peach skins, dissolving bullion cubes or gelatin, and hastening boiling pans of water are common uses. Some units also provide instant cold water. Tanks about 2/3 of a gallon in size are connected under the sink. Instant hot water faucets save both water and time.
3. Pot-filler faucets: These wall-mounted faucets fasten above your range top. They have horizontal arms that scissor out to fill pots, then fold flat against the wall.

Kitchen sinks feature new materials

Porcelain sinks are still a popular option, especially the apron sink that protrudes through the supporting base cabinet. Besides the plain or beautifully decorated front apron, the sink is deeper front to back–great for washing larger pans and puppies. But stainless steel is almost standard these days due to ease of cleaning and freedom from stains. Be aware that better grades of stainless steel are easier to keep attractive. Countertops of granite, concrete, and solid surfaces such as Silestone often have an integral or under-mounted sink for easy countertop cleaning. Configurations of  kitchen sinks can be one, two, or three bowls, and curved lines add beauty and space.

Rethinking and remodeling your faucets and sinks updates your home for resale, or simply for increasing the pleasures of entertaining family and friends.

“Close the door!” you holler as your teen rushes out the kitchen door, car keys in hand.

“Our kitchen is a steam bath,” your daughter comments as you work on your annual batches of spiced plum jam. “And a dark steam bath at that!”

“You could fly a kite in the kitchen,” your wife shivers as icy winds seep in around the kitchen door.

Homeowners can grow oblivious to the annoyances and money drain caused by old exterior kitchen doors.  Something as simple as replacing the door, or adding a good screen door outside your kitchen door, can increase comfort, decrease problems, and save money on your monthly utility bills.

The right kitchen doors for common problems

1. Door rattles and sticks: Assuming the hinges are tight, that old wooden door simply may not be the best material for your climate. Wood swells and contracts with heat, cold, and changing humidity. The seams in the door jambs and top lintels gradually separate rather than fitting snugly against each other and the house framing.  Replace the whole jamb and lintel assembly and choose an insulated metal, vinyl, or fiberglass door. 
2. Theft: A loose, rattling door can also be an easy target for a burglar.
3. Inadequate ventilation: Many kitchens rely on a single operable window and/or a hood ventilator to move and extract kitchen air.  Adding a screen or security door to your existing hinged or sliding  kitchen door admits summer breezes that mitigate humidity while cooling you with air movement. Andersen even has doors that switch from a summer screen door to a winter storm door in less than a minute. Alternately, replace your fixed-pane kitchen door with a door with an operable window.  Or choose a sliding door with a self-closing screen that keeps toddlers and pets in and pesky critters out. Very cool!
4. Inadequate daylight:  Replace your solid or top-window kitchen door with a multi-paned or large-windowed unit.
5. Air infiltration: Hold a lit candle near the gap between door jam and door to see if the flame flickers.  If so, hot or cold air is moving in and out of your house around the door. If  new weather-stripping doesn’t solve the problem, a correctly installed ENERGY STAR door can qualify you for a tax rebate up to 10% of the cost of the door. Monthly utility savings sweeten the idea.

While you’re at it, your front entry, garage and basement doors may also contribute to a leaky exterior shell. Hmm. It’s time to rethink your exterior doors.