Out with the New, In with the Warm: An Affordable Kitchen Cabinet Makeover

Oct 1, 2024

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Moving into a new construction home is so exciting! Everything is brand new, and you're opening the door on a space where you've hand picked your design finished (depending on your home builder!), but that doesn't mean everything is perfect.

This client opted to save money at their home builder's design center and selected the base kitchen cabinet offering. The shaker style cabinets are a spice shade (just a hair lighter than the cinnamon cabinets that were popular among home builders in the early 2000s). Selecting the base option for the cabinets yielded and an overall savings of $6,000 and the opportunity to customize the kitchen as soon as they moved in.

Here's how they did it:

Find an Inspiration Picture

We worked with this homeowner to identify things that are most important to them. A warm, inviting kitchen that erased the builder-grade materials was what they were after. After searching on Pinterest, we used the following picture as an inspiration guide:

https://amandakatherine.com/blog/greige-kitchen-cabinets/

Find a Color Match

Most paint stores like Sherwin Williams or Benjamin Moore offer incredibly accurate color matching services. Simply bring in your inspiration picture, and they'll find a color in their collection that matches closely.

We found a close color match at Lowe's in Valspar's "State of Mind" shade. We decided on a semi-gloss finish, which is one of the best options when painting cabinets! Semi-gloss is extremely durable and can be wiped down, which is perfect for the cabinets underneath your sink or near your stove.

Hire a painter, or DIY?

Hiring a professional to paint kitchen cabinets is expensive, but still not nearly as expensive as customizing cabinets through the home builder. Considering all other expenses involved with moving, this homeowner decided to paint the cabinets on their own. While this project is a huge undertaking, painting brand new cabinets takes much less effort than refinishing cabinets that are damaged and require repair before the painting even begins. Stay tuned for an in-depth post on how to paint your own new, undamaged cabinets!

Select Hardware

Swapping out hardware is an easy and affordable fix that can elevate your space. This homeowner selected the Ravinte 3-Inch Square Bar Handles, available on Amazon. For $40, you can purchase 40 handles (hardware included), which is more than enough for the average sized kitchen.

Highview Tip: Consider where holes have been drilled in your cabinets for handles (or pulls!). It's easiest to find a nicer hardware option of the same size as the original, but don't be scared of the challenge if you'd like to do something entirely different! Just remember to measure twice and drill once!