Practical ways In Cabinet Refacing
Kitchen DIYHaving to change your cabinets would mean spending more money if you intend to purchase new ones. In situations wherein you made some improvements in your home and did some renovations, having the same old, beat-up cabinets would ruin how your new room would look like. Unless you have prepared a huge amount for your home improvement, cabinet refacing is a better way to enhance how these cabinets look. It would be a better solution than to throw them away in exchange for new and more expensive o
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The very first thing you need to do in cabinet refacing is to make sure these cabinets are still sturdy and undamaged. Termites are the very worst enemy that can ruin your furniture’s as well as your entire home. If during renovation you didn’t find any trace of these pests then more likely your cabinets and other furniture are also in a very safe condition. But still, you need to make sure, so check the front, back and sides of these cabinets you want to continue using and see if it can still serve its purpose.
After checking on it and making sure all parts are still in great condition, you can dismantle it piece by piece. If there are parts that show the need for a replacement, you can take its measurement and buy plywood and some pieces of wood to use as frames. However, if everything is usable then it is time to restructure each piece. After unscrewing everything and having them separated, you can begin with the back part of the cabinet. Use a medium to coarse grit sandpaper to even all outer parts of the wood cabinet. You can fill holes and uneven areas with putty to make sure it comes out smoothly. Wait until the putty dries and sand it again.
Once you are done in smoothing all surfaces on all parts of the cabinet, you can start applying the paint on it. If you want a natural look, you can use varnish but if you want a longer lasting color, it would be best if you choose to use a water based acrylic paint. You can use any color you want and paint it thinly and evenly on the first application. Starting from the back parts then the doors and the drawers. Painting all parts while they are separate from each other allows you not to miss on any hidden part making sure that everything is painted evenly.
After painting everything, wait for two to four hours to make sure the paint is totally dry. After checking all pieces, you can screw them back together back to its original structure. This will definitely change how your old cabinet looks and a lot cheaper compared to buying new ones. Replacing furniture will hit you hard on your finances but cabinet refacing will absolutely cost you much much lower. This is a time to be practical and to be more creative. Learning to do it yourself will even make you feel good about yourself so why not try it out.
May 5, 2013 at 6:06 pm | DIY, Home DIY | No comment
Changing your Kitchen with the Newest Kitchen Trends
Kitchen DIYHow kitchen looks nowadays are absolutely different from how they were made during the early years. The innovations and improvements are not based on the conventional styles. Now, it depends on how the homeowner wants it to be and they do not depend on what their architects or designers suggest. They do not even rely on their brilliant minds in coming up with designs as well as services since most of them can do their own kitchen renovations by themselves.
Changing the look of your kitchen is more modern these days. However, it also depends on the choice of the owner whether they want to stick on the traditional looks of kitchens, having only pots and pans and other cooking gadgets and nothing else. Nowadays, people are more engaged in cooking and more activities in the kitchen therefore there are new kitchen trends emerging.
The first on the list would be the Built-ins. More and more homeowners prefer to have these since these both sleek and convenient. Places where you can find your favorite knives, spices and pots having their own built-in places in the kitchen giving you more space to move. This is really a convenient way to style your kitchen.
You can also go green and use products that are harmless to the environment. New kitchen trends include the use of eco-friendly items such as dishwashers which are energy saving and economical. There are also LED lights which are commonly used to enhance the look of kitchens as well as the bedrooms and the rest of the other parts of the house.
Artistic touch is also in nowadays. Asian fusion is one of the kitchen trends that are growing popular. It’s like having Zen designs inside your cooking area. You can easily find Japanese inspired sliding doors or built-in teriyaki grills for your kitchen.
If you really have the knick on designing then you can really customize your own kitchen based on your artistic ideas. Artistic upgrades are one of the kitchen trends these days. Range hoods are not conventionally made anymore but instead panels are being used. Accent doors are now being used to add beauty to plain cupboards. Mixing and matching relies on your artistic eye and that is going to improve the existing beauty of your kitchen.
Another rising trend in the kitchen is drawer designs. This is not only for the fridge and the dishwashers but all other appliances you can find inside. This absolutely makes the kitchen more organized and fancy and can also provide you a wider space since you clutter are now placed in one place.
There are other trends that you can choose to use inside your own kitchen and everything really depends on your trend. You have to make sure though that you are capable of completing the task and everything jives. Most of these trends are made to organize your kitchen and give you much enjoyable place to cook and bond with family and friends. You should focus more in keeping it that way.
April 30, 2013 at 2:03 pm | Uncategorized | No comment
Kitchen Improvements with LED lighting
Kitchen DIYBedrooms are not the only place in our homes that needs proper lighting effects. As LED lights become more popular, people find more use for it even in kitchens. Just like any other place, you would like to set a certain mood in the kitchen especially if you occasionally use it to entertain guests. Some family and friends visit and to cope up with the lost time, chatting in the kitchen while cooking food is a great way to catch up. Having a more presentable kitchen is a good way to impress visitors. You don’t really have to spend much on improving what you have or hire someone to remodel the entire place. A little trick on the led kitchen lighting will surely have them “oohhing” and “aaahhing”. LED kitchen lighting is not an expensive way to change the current look of your kitchen. If you enjoy DIY projects then you can be the one to install these lights to even save more. This is an entirely simple task especially if you put your focus on it. LED modules can be installed anywhere in the kitchen. What is necessary is that you make sure the areas where you will be installing these lights are free of dirt, grease or any kind of oils. If you are installing it in an area where there is oil or grease on it, you can clean it by using an alcohol. Start by measuring the area where you will be installing the LED lights. LED kitchen lighting can also be installed in a cabinet or cupboards so wherever you chose to put it, you only need to take note of the correct measurements on all sides. Depending on the surface of the place where you will be putting these LED lights, you can use several materials to make it stick. If the surface is rough then you can mount these LED modules with the use of #4 screws. If you are installing it on Formica, metal or finished wood, you can use 3M™ VHB™ mounting tapes on all modules, placing it on the back of each. If the area where you are installing your LED lights do not have an outside edge, then you can choose to use a molding to hide the LED string to make it appear more professionally done. You don’t have to worry about maintenance of LED kitchen lighting since they can last for so many years. Just make sure that you follow all instructions provided in the box of these modules. In the event where you are to use a power supply, try to place it in an area where it is hidden so it wouldn’t impair the view. Once you are done with it, you can be sure that all your visitors will admire the beauty of your newly improved kitchen.
April 23, 2013 at 3:16 pm | DIY, Uncategorized | No comment
Your New Stepping Storage Stool
Kitchen DIYThe kitchen would probably be the place in the house that contains most things. Having enough storage in the room to keep everything that is not being used will provide enough space for you to move. It will also make the room safer especially if you have children. There are numerous exceptional kitchen storage ideas you can use for your own kitchen. This one is really beneficial for people who have children in the house. Creating a step tool which can also store kitchen gadgets is a useful storage you can use in your kitchen.
Step stools help your children become independent. They can brush their own teeth or wash their hands at the sink. Making a step tool for them can really be useful. Your children can conveniently do their cleaning up while you have storage to use. The materials and tools you need to prepare can easily be found at your house. You need a jigsaw, square or ruler. Cordless drill and a 1/2 “bit, wood glue, 2” wood screws, sanding block, medium grit sandpaper, 2 standard hinges, 1x12x8 pine board. Cut 2 sides at 11-1/4” width having 14” length, 2 storage panel pieces for the front and the back parts having 11-1/4” width and 5-1/4” length and 2 step stool tops with 14” width and 7-1/2 length. All these pieces can be cut from the 1x12x8 pine board.
After cutting all pieces with a jigsaw, sand the edges with the medium grit sandpaper. Make sure that the edges are smooth to avoid having the kids getting scratched by it. When everything is taken care of, you can line up the pieces and see if they all fit together perfectly. If you plan to paint the step tool, this is the perfect time to do it to make sure all parts are covered with paint before you have everything assembled. Having these types of kitchen storage ideas is actually a simple thing to do.
It is best if you begin at the back part of the stool going to the sides with these kinds of kitchen storage ideas. You can attach all the pieces together using the glue first before you secure it with screws. It can be a lot easier to do adjustments if there should be anything left to adjust since you already made sure that everything fit before you glued them all together. Then you can start attaching the bottom part of the stool to the back part and then the sides still using the glue.
Once the back, sides and the bottom are attached altogether, you can glue the front piece to it and the front kick panel then the bottom step. After that, secure them with screws. You can install the hinges 3” from the outermost end then secure them to the bottom of the lid and finally attach them with the inner side of the back panel.
You can even do this with your children as a bonding activity and allow them to decorate it with their favorite sticker. If you painted the step stool earlier before piecing them altogether, you can have them decorate the sides of the stool the way they want. You can begin to look for things to place inside your storage step stool such as small kitchen gadgets that can fit in or anything you want to place inside. These are very effective kitchen storage ideas with a double purpose giving you more reason to have inside your home.
April 19, 2013 at 5:45 am | Uncategorized | No comment