Kitchen of the Week: Refaced Cabinets Lighten Up the Room
A designer saves her clients time and money by reusing what they already have in their 120-square-foot space
Busy working parents Karen and Dan Czajkowski had always dreamed of renovating their kitchen. But they were sure they would have to expand its 120-square-foot footprint to have it function the way their family needed it to. Then designer Suzi Dia showed them what refacing their existing cabinets could do. “It was really important to these clients that they make the most of every space in their house, and refacing does that,” Dia says. Using the original cabinet boxes, she was able to expand their storage space without expanding the kitchen. Now they have a light and bright kitchen that works well for the family.
After: The homeowners wanted a light, fresh and clean look. The scope of the project involved refacing the cabinets and replacing the hardware, countertops, sink, faucet, backsplash, lighting and flooring. The room also got a fresh coat of paint.
A mostly white color palette with gray accents keeps the kitchen looking bright. All the cabinet doors and drawers are new. Refacing also includes covering the fronts of the cabinet boxes with matching laminate. This material is an engineered wood product with vinyl on top. “For every color cabinet we offer, we have a matching vinyl,” Dia says. “This way nothing has to be painted, which means it won’t chip over time.”
One of the possibilities offered by refacing is swapping out wood cabinet fronts for glass. Dia added a glass-front cabinet to the right of the windows to keep the feeling light. Karen backed the cabinet in contact paper to add a pattern. “This took a few hours to cut right and eliminate bubbles, but the cost was only about 10 bucks,” she says. “It was such an easy way to add visual interest.”
Wall paint: Gray Owl, Benjamin Moore
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A mostly white color palette with gray accents keeps the kitchen looking bright. All the cabinet doors and drawers are new. Refacing also includes covering the fronts of the cabinet boxes with matching laminate. This material is an engineered wood product with vinyl on top. “For every color cabinet we offer, we have a matching vinyl,” Dia says. “This way nothing has to be painted, which means it won’t chip over time.”
One of the possibilities offered by refacing is swapping out wood cabinet fronts for glass. Dia added a glass-front cabinet to the right of the windows to keep the feeling light. Karen backed the cabinet in contact paper to add a pattern. “This took a few hours to cut right and eliminate bubbles, but the cost was only about 10 bucks,” she says. “It was such an easy way to add visual interest.”
Wall paint: Gray Owl, Benjamin Moore
Find a local cabinet refacing company on Houzz
Making the most of the existing cabinet space also boosted storage. Dia replaced cabinet doors to the right of the range with three drawers. The top drawer is convenient for spices and the lower, deeper drawers offer ergonomic pot and pan storage.
“One place where we did have to replace a cabinet box was in this corner. It included a blind corner they didn’t have access to,” Dia says. The two door fronts seen in the corner are hinged together, so they swing open to access a new lazy Susan inside with ease. The cabinet door and drawer to the left of the corner are part of this new cabinet box. “This door and drawer add valuable space. Every inch counted,” Dia says.
“One place where we did have to replace a cabinet box was in this corner. It included a blind corner they didn’t have access to,” Dia says. The two door fronts seen in the corner are hinged together, so they swing open to access a new lazy Susan inside with ease. The cabinet door and drawer to the left of the corner are part of this new cabinet box. “This door and drawer add valuable space. Every inch counted,” Dia says.
The new cabinetry is Shaker style with a beaded edge. The hardware is oil-rubbed bronze. And the new flooring is durable porcelain planks that look like walnut, which anchors the light room in a rich color.
A ceiling fan was a must in this household. “I found one with an industrial-farmhouse look for the remodel,” Karen says. She found a sconce with a similar vibe for the spot between the windows. “Our house was built in 1936 and is full of quirky things like this light placement,” she says.
Another fun quirk: cookbook shelves in the corner on the right. Dia had them covered in the matching white laminate for a fresh look.
Cabinets: Prestige Statesman, Kitchen Magic; hardware: Inspirations collection, Amerock Hardware; flooring: Gainswood, Daltile
A ceiling fan was a must in this household. “I found one with an industrial-farmhouse look for the remodel,” Karen says. She found a sconce with a similar vibe for the spot between the windows. “Our house was built in 1936 and is full of quirky things like this light placement,” she says.
Another fun quirk: cookbook shelves in the corner on the right. Dia had them covered in the matching white laminate for a fresh look.
Cabinets: Prestige Statesman, Kitchen Magic; hardware: Inspirations collection, Amerock Hardware; flooring: Gainswood, Daltile
Beveled subway tiles on the backsplash add dimension without looking too busy in the small space. The quartz countertops Karen had researched on Houzz add lots of movement and shades of gray for contrast. She was drawn to quartz for its durability and the option of a classic marble-like look.
Counters: Summerhill, Cambria
Counters: Summerhill, Cambria
After: Dia finished the area to spruce it up and make it match the rest of the kitchen.
The breakfast nook was existing. “It was quirky spaces like this that made us fall in love with this house,” Karen says. The family eats most of its meals here, but there’s also a separate dining room.
Dan’s mother made the trellis-patterned curtains for them. And Karen’s father, who’s Danish, inspired the choice of the IQ light. It was designed by iconic Danish designer Holger Strøm in 1973.
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The breakfast nook was existing. “It was quirky spaces like this that made us fall in love with this house,” Karen says. The family eats most of its meals here, but there’s also a separate dining room.
Dan’s mother made the trellis-patterned curtains for them. And Karen’s father, who’s Danish, inspired the choice of the IQ light. It was designed by iconic Danish designer Holger Strøm in 1973.
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Before: To the right of the microwave area were tall pantry cabinets.
“Refacing everything only takes three to five days,” Dia says. “Adding new countertops and a backsplash takes about another week, and installing the new floors took about a week.” So rather than the months it would have taken to add on to the house or complete a full renovation, this renovation took only about three weeks. And Dia estimates that refacing the existing cabinets cost about one-third as much as replacing them would have.
“Refacing everything only takes three to five days,” Dia says. “Adding new countertops and a backsplash takes about another week, and installing the new floors took about a week.” So rather than the months it would have taken to add on to the house or complete a full renovation, this renovation took only about three weeks. And Dia estimates that refacing the existing cabinets cost about one-third as much as replacing them would have.
After: The refaced pantry cabinets are just as pretty as the rest of the kitchen.
Karen told Dia that the whole family spends far more time in the kitchen now than it used to — and that she still gets excited when she walks into her beautiful new space. Her favorite thing is how easy it is to keep clean. “Even if it’s a little messy it still looks clean. Everything is white and bright and shiny,” she says.
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Karen told Dia that the whole family spends far more time in the kitchen now than it used to — and that she still gets excited when she walks into her beautiful new space. Her favorite thing is how easy it is to keep clean. “Even if it’s a little messy it still looks clean. Everything is white and bright and shiny,” she says.
More on Houzz
Read more kitchen stories
Browse kitchen photos
Hire a kitchen remodeler
Shop for kitchen products
Kitchen at a Glance
Who lives here: Karen and Dan Czajkowski and their daughters Maya, 15, and Chloe, 12
Location: New City, New York
Size: 120 square feet (11 square meters)
Designer: Suzi Dia of Kitchen Magic
Before: The kitchen was dark, dated and had a fairly compact footprint. But the good news was that the cabinet boxes were in good shape. “We can almost always reuse the existing cabinet boxes unless they have been warped by water damage,” Linda Fennessy of Kitchen Magic says.
Karen took a deep dive into Houzz when researching the kitchen. “I spent hours looking at Summerhill Cambria quartz in photos and reading about it on Houzz message boards,” she says. “I learned about floor and tile installation, I found a Caitlin Wilson rug [not photographed] and I even found my fruit basket in a photo on Houzz,” she says. “Everything I bought for the kitchen I found somewhere on the site. I probably spent about 50 hours on it.”
“Karen has a really great eye for design and had a lot of good ideas,” Dia says.
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