Home Design and Architecture Guide

Repainting Kitchen Cabinets

One of the main problems with old cabinets is not that the structure is bad but more the grease buildup, the color, and small scratches. Instead of throwing your cabinets out, you can breathe new life into them by changing their current appearance.

To start with, you will need supplies to include:

* Fine sandpaper (electric sander if you have one, which is highly recommended)
* Cleaning solution (Murphy’s Oil or Pine Sol are great for cutting grease and not damaging the wood)
* A bucket of warm water
* Tack cloth
* Primer
* Latex paint in your choice of color
* Paintbrushes
* New hardware (handles and brackets, which can often be purchased at surplus stores for pennies on the dollar)

Start by removing all the doors and hardware. Next, give all the surfaces of your cabinets a thorough cleaning with the cleanser and water. Once dry, gently sand the surface to smooth out any scratches. Using the tack cloth, wipe the excess sand residue. If you find that your cabinets have been painted several times before, you should use a high quality furniture stripper to get the layers off before starting the washing process. If the layers are exceptionally bad, a professional stripping business can dip the doors for a reasonable price, making the job easier and quicker.

Now you need to paint all the cabinets, doors, and drawers inside and out with a good primer. Allow the primer to dry completely before moving to the next step. Once dry, paint two to three coats of the latex paint. One recommendation is that regardless of what color you use on the exterior, use white on the inside of the cabinets and drawers, which makes finding things easier because of the brightness. This also gives your cabinets a sleek appearance. Once all the paint surfaces are dry, usually overnight, replace the hardware with the new pieces you purchased.

Keep in mind that while this type of project makes a huge difference, it also requires patience. This type of project is not one that will be completed in one or two days. Plan to spend time so you can do this right. Rather than try to tackle all of the project at once, start with the doors and take the time needed to give them a nice, smooth surface. The results will be well worth the effort and patience and your kitchen will be a room or pride instead of embarrassment.

Kitchen Remodeling – Flooring

If you want to give your kitchen a fresh, new look, changing out the flooring can make a huge difference. The great thing about changing flooring is that you can replace it at any time. In other words, it can be a stand-alone project or something you do as a part of changing the entire kitchen. Regardless, your kitchen will look amazing and the value of your home will benefit.

In most cases, a new floor can be placed over an old floor as long as the sub-flooring is in good condition. Just keep in mind that if the flooring will be connecting to other rooms, there would be issues with imbalance. Therefore, while this is an option, the better choice would be to tear out the old floor and have new flooring installed, especially if the new floor is hardwood.

Let us say you wanted to install vinyl flooring. For this type of flooring, the best option is to buy sheets. Just be sure that you use the type of adhesive recommended by the manufacturer in that it is different from other adhesives. You should first create a template made of paper of the floor�s perimeter and measurements. Roll the paper along the edges of the room and then tape it into place any place where there would be a seam or a place where the tile would turn a corner.

Using the template you created, you can then cut the sheet of vinyl, making sure you allow a minimum of 5% more than the actual room size for cutting and waste. Depending on the pattern, you may need to allow even more so you can match the pattern up correctly.

Before you actually put adhesive down on the floor, be sure you do a test fit with all the pieces. Once you know that pieces are cur correctly, you can then use the adhesive, starting with a small section of the floor and working the piece of vinyl down before moving on to the next section. Do this for all of the cut pieces, allowing overlap on the first piece at the area where the seam will be.

You then want to lay a straight edge down along the overlap and line it up with the seam. Cut down both pieces of the vinyl from one end to the other end. Once all the pieces are in place, you want to remove any of the scrap pieces. Then apply adhesive to the edges using a roller and then press the seams together to fully bond.

Keep in mind that some of the vinyl may only need some perimeter bonding at the seams and edges. In that case, you should lay a sheet of vinyl down so it fits into the corners well. Once in place, cut the seam, spread some adhesive under the seam and then put pressure on the edges to make it seal.

If you are more interested in hardwood or ceramic flooring, you can follow the instructions by the manufacturer. However, with these types of floors, there is a bit more work involved and some level of expertise is helpful. Therefore, if you have never put hardwood or ceramic flooring down, you should expect to get some help or hire a professional.