Kitchen Cabinet Design Ideas: Refacing Before and After, Makeovers and Modern Updates

Which kitchen cabinet makeover fits your kitchen

Start with the condition of the cabinets, then the look you want. Boxes that are square, dry and laid out the way you cook can take any of the updates below. Boxes that are swollen, sagging or in the wrong places are a case for new cabinets, and no finish will change that.

The table compares the main makeover routes by what they change and where they fall short.

Cabinet refacing before and after: typical transformations

Refacing replaces doors and drawer fronts, covers the face frames and exposed ends with matching veneer or laminate, and adds new hinges and pulls. Because the counters usually stay, kitchen cabinet refacing before and after changes are mostly about style and color. These are the pairings we see most often.

Golden oak to painted Shaker

Before: cathedral-arch oak doors with exposed hinges. After: white or soft gray Shaker doors, frames skinned to match, concealed soft-close hinges and black or brushed nickel pulls.

Dark cherry to a lighter, brighter room

Before: dark cherry raised-panel doors in a small, dim kitchen. After: light painted-look slab or Shaker doors, the existing granite kept, and under-cabinet lights added to lift the counters.

Peeling thermofoil to painted wood or MDF

Before: white thermofoil doors lifting near the range. After: painted MDF or wood doors that will not peel from heat, with frames covered to match.

Mismatched cabinets to one consistent set

Before: cabinets from an earlier partial remodel in two styles. After: every door and frame refaced in one style, so old and added cabinets read as one kitchen.

Refacing laminate cabinets before and after

Flat laminate cabinets from the 1980s and 1990s often have chipped edges and a dated almond or white color. Refacing laminate cabinets keeps the boxes if they are sound and dry, adds new doors, and covers the frames or box fronts with new laminate or veneer. The after might be wood-grain slab doors for a mid-century look or painted Shaker doors for a classic one.

DIY cabinet refacing before and after results depend mostly on prep and measuring. Clean, square frames and accurately sized doors make an owner's reface look professional; peel-and-stick veneer over uneven frames usually shows its seams within a season.

Kitchen cabinet refacing ideas

Refacing is the moment to change more than color. Several upgrades cost little extra when the doors are already off and the crew is on site.

• Change the door style: Shaker for a versatile look, slab for modern, beadboard or inset-look for cottage and farmhouse kitchens.
• Add glass-front doors on a pair of upper cabinets to break up a long wall.
• Take the uppers to the ceiling with taller crown molding or stacked cabinets to close the dust gap.
• Go two-tone: a wood-tone or dark island with lighter perimeter cabinets.
• Swap a base door cabinet for a drawer bank for pots and pans.
• Add an end panel, open shelf or wine rack at the end of a run.
• Upgrade hardware and lighting at the same time; they are small items with a large visual effect.

Modern kitchen cabinet design

Modern kitchen cabinet design is mostly about clean lines and fewer visible details. Slab or narrow-rail Shaker doors, minimal or integrated pulls, consistent gaps between doors and a continuous line across the tops of the uppers all read as modern. Wood-grain veneers in rift oak or walnut tones pair well with matte painted cabinets in white, gray, green or black.

Frameless cabinets give the cleanest modern look because doors cover the whole box. If you have framed cabinets, full-overlay doors cover most of the frame and give a similar effect during refacing.

• Keep door gaps even, around an eighth of an inch, across every run.
• Use one hardware finish and one pull length per kitchen, or go handle-free with edge pulls.
• Limit open shelving to one short run so the room still looks calm.

Is painting your cabinets a good idea?

Painting is a good idea when the cabinets are solid wood or wood veneer, you like the door style, and the complaint is color. Before and after, the change is mainly tone: orange oak becomes warm white, sage or navy; dark cherry becomes a light neutral. Oak grain still shows through paint unless it is filled.

Painting is not a good idea for thermofoil, peeling laminate or cabinets with failing boxes. Paint will not bond reliably to vinyl film, and it does nothing for a swollen sink base. For those, new doors or refacing gives a longer-lasting result.

Matching kitchen cabinets design to the house

Cabinets look best when they suit the rest of the house. The age and style of the home are a useful guide to door profile and finish.

Bungalows and older two-flats

Inset-look Shaker doors, painted finishes and simple bin pulls fit the original trim and plaster walls common in older Chicago homes.

Split-levels and ranches

Slab doors in wood veneer echo the 1960s and 1970s period without looking dated, especially with slim pulls and a light quartz counter.

Newer suburban open plans

Transitional Shaker doors in a light paint with a contrasting island tie the kitchen into the family room it opens onto.

Using kitchen cabinet designs photos well

Photos are useful for door style and color, less so for layout. When you save kitchen cabinet designs photos or refacing before and after pictures, note the ceiling height, window light and counter color in each one, since a color that works in a bright kitchen can look dark in yours.

Bring the photos to the measuring visit with a note on what you like in each one: the door, the color, the hardware or the lighting. That tells a designer far more than a folder of whole-room images.

Smaller kitchen cabinet makeover ideas

Not every kitchen needs new doors. When the cabinets are sound and the style is acceptable, small updates can make the kitchen work and look better in a weekend or two.

• New pulls and knobs sized to cover old holes, or with old holes filled and redrilled.
• Soft-close hinges and full-extension slides on existing cabinets.
• Under-cabinet LED lighting.
• Replacing only the most damaged doors, such as the sink base, and painting all doors to match.
• Roll-out shelves and organizers inside existing base cabinets.
• New crown molding or a light rail along the uppers.

Indian kitchen cabinet design ideas

Kitchens used for daily Indian cooking work hardest at the range, where heat, oil and spice are constant. Cabinet design should plan for that first.

• A strong range hood vented outside, with easy-to-wipe door finishes on the cabinets beside the cooktop.
• Deep drawers for heavy pots and pressure cookers instead of base shelves.
• A shallow drawer or pull-out next to the range for a spice box.
• Tall pantry pull-outs for grains and flours.
• An appliance garage with an outlet for a wet grinder or mixer.
• In larger homes, a separate prep or spice kitchen with its own ventilation.