Metal coffee wall art, attractive dinnerware and accessories for the countertop bring style to the kitchen, but if your cabinets are outdated, your kitchen will look lifeless and tired. A few do-it-yourself upgrades are affordable and easy and can breathe new life into your kitchen cabinets. By focusing on the appearance of cabinet doors your kitchen can look stylish and fresh once again.

Paint Your Way to a new Look

Painting your cabinets is way easier than stripping and refinishing them. Remove the cabinet hardware and doors and place the doors on a flat work surface. If you are going to replace the hardware with new hardware that has a different hole configuration, fill and sand the holes and lightly sand the doors. Wipe them down and apply latex primer; let dry and follow with latex paint, then follow the same procedure to paint the cabinet bases.

When selecting colors, neutral and light colors will give your kitchen a bright feel. From earthy browns and lush greens to buttery yellows, colored kitchen cabinets are very en vogue. You can find inspiration for your kitchen cabinets by looking through a kitchen store.

See Through your Options with Glass

You have likely seen the stiff price tag on glass fronted kitchen cabinets in home stores. If your existing cabinets have front wood panels, it’s easy to change out the wood panel fronts with glass. Visit a glass retailer and look at the variety of alternatives, from textured or ribbed to plain glass. Measure the panels and buy replacements in the same dimensions. Working on a flat surface, remove the wood panels by gently tapping with a rubber mallet and chisel and replace the panels with the glass, using glazier’s points and glass putty to secure the glass fronts.

Get a Rich New Look with Wood Relief Carvings and Decorative Banding

A woodworking store is your source for wood embellishments if you’d like to bring the depth and intricacy of wood to your cabinet fronts. You will buy wood carvings in styles and sizes to accommodate all tastes and they can be painted or stained to meld with the fronts of the doors.

Thin decorative wood banding is another option for trimming out cabinets in any variety of wood, from oak to exotic. A wide array of widths, styles and colors are available and they can be glued around the outline of doors and drawers to totally alter their visual appeal.

Stylish New Hardware is the Finishing Touch

No matter how you choose to update your cabinets, complete and accessorize the look with stylish new hardware. From sleek chromes and brushed metals, to vintage or modern glass, wrought iron, wall sconces, stone or ceramic, you’ll find just the perfect knobs and pulls to give your cabinets a totally new personality, whether you’re into hip and urban, classically traditional or whimsically thematic. Or maybe you would prefer handles shaped like musical notes to coordinate with the musical wall decor that sets the theme for your kitchen.