Kitchen cabinets.

The absolutely cheapest way to "spruce up"?

Replacing is totally out of the question. $$ and hassle

Refacing is out of the question, I think. $$

Painting?? (See previous post) - the bath cabinets cost me enough to have them done - and I wasn't satisfied with them anyway, but ok for a bath.

Is there someway to BRIGHTEN them up? Some secret cleaner or something that we clueless don't know about?


I'm thinking of replacing the hardware, of course, too.

Oh yeah. There the old kind with the nailed bracket/backplate thingie, with a screwed in knob. I'd like to remove it all, but if I do - what will that mean about the cabinet. I could just replace the knob - but is there a way to brighten up that old faded look on the backplate?

here's what I did to my old cabinets in PHX

first I cleaned em bigtime (Murphy's Oil Soap), then I took some Old English in a slightly lighter tone of the wood and oiled them, then I oiled them some more with just Lemon Oil

then I took a cabinet gloss I got at the hardware store and put on about 3 coats of that.

for the backplates, a paste made with Barkeeper's Friend will clean them up but do that BEFORE you clean the cabinets

Of course now the definitely-not-soon-enough-to-be-ex!!! - is exclaiming that I SHOULD paint them. Sigh.

He says he'll do them - but he does SLOPPY work and I'd just as soon not have them done at all. But I can't really *say* that to him, ya know? He says "pay" to do them - but "not too much" - and will complain about whatever I pay because "he could've done it!" (yeah right)

He says *I* should do them -but I'm having trouble with the little ones in the dang bathroom. If I can figure it out painting the two sets of bathroom cabinets, maybe I'll start to feel adventurous!


Besides, like my neighbor said, I want to sell the house anyway. No matter how "well I paint them" - potential buyers probably won't like it. (They like WOOD around here.) And if they want to upgrade the kitchen, they're going to probably rip them out anyway - so why bother with the painting?

Now I would like to lighten up the kitchen a bit (it is dark) but without a whole lot of expense, ya know?

I'd do pics, but I don't have a digital camera - and don't know how to upload if I did. Maybe the NSETBE would take them? ? They're dark old 70's cabinets. bleh

a fine steel wool pad. Cuts through all the gunk.

I have the same issue with cabinet doors. I think for now I'll paint them (or at least one) to see if it helps. If not then I'm committed to replacing just the doors OR painting them all....lol!
I've wondered about covering them with some sort of material used for countertops, but that seems too complicated and is not likely to look good....more like a bad job of covering up an ugly cabinet.

and my old cabinets were really dried out in AZ so I didn't want to strip any more moisture out of them

Murphy's Oil cleaned and started to replace some of the lost moisture in one step. I still ended up oiling them almost every day for a month before they started and stayed looking better

I'm gonna use your steel wool and vinegar suggestion here though, it'll be just what I need :hi:

I'd ask at a good cabinet place and see what they say

there are a number of cabinet shops around here.

Is it something like Cabinet Magic spray?

i googled it and that does look like the right stuff

I've got some cabinets that need sprucing before we redo the kitchen down the road.

paint and they came out really nice.

I found my cabinet hardware on the internet. It was as cheap as Lowe's and a better selection.

If you have a habitat for humanity retail store you can get some excellent deals on hardware. My parents bought theirs for $1.00 a piece and it's very nice hardware.

They have lots of goodies for home improvement at the Habitat for Humanity Store.

I'm really torn about this now.

Locals say that "the locals like wood around here" (yeah, they have wood trim on everything - not painted, either. blech)

So I don't know if I'd be helping or hurting myself by painting them.

We do have a ReSTore - I cruise by it quite often just looking for stuff. Right now I'd like some new lights for a few rooms. So far I've only seen old hardware pretty similar to what I have here, but who knows? It changes a lot. AND I don't need that many pieces (unfornately - there are not a lot of cabinets. :( )