When faced with builder-grade or dated cabinets, the first impulse of many new homeowners is to rip them out and start fresh. Then comes the sticker shock, which is usually followed by a trip down the paint aisle. While painting existing cabinets is always a great option for an inexpensive cabinet face lift, replacing the cabinet door inserts is another way to get a new look for less.
The Family Handyman has a great tutorial on how to remove your plywood cabinet door panels and replace them with a decorative metal grille. While the steps involved are fairly simple, it does require a router with a specific bit called a 'pattern bit'. If you are not used to using a router, definitely get in some practice runs, or better yet, bring the doors to a friend who is versed in the art of routering. Routers are an unforgiving and potentially dangerous power tool, although extremely handy for tasks just like this one.
While they decided to use a metal insert, there are any number of materials you can use: glass, fabric, and acrylic are just a few. New cabinet door panels may be just the accent your kitchen never knew it needed.
• See more: The Family Handyman
(Images: The Family Handyman)
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My cabinet panels have a curved design on them. I like them, but could I still do glass while keeping the curved portion?
no reason you couldnt just cut around the curve and make sure the glass is slightly larger then the area needing to be covered
This is a great idea! Would have been great on the original site if they had done a wide shot of the finished cabinets as a whole within the kitchen.
Sorry Hyla. Totally flagged your comment as spam. Then offensive. I was trying to flag fanfan113's nike ad.
What a fantastic idea. I think I go with the metal inserts and paint my cabinets black. Where can I buy the metal inserts?
My kitchen cabinets have metal inserts that are a mesh made from large gauge wire (like thicker window screens) and while they look cool, they allow dust in and are a bit difficult to clean.