Budget-Friendly Alternatives to All New Cabinets
/With the cost of living rising rapidly in Colorado, record low inventory in the entry-level market for first time homebuyers, wages that have remained stagnant since the 70’s, a generation of new adults that are hobbled by student loan debt, and a shortage of skilled labor, coupled with an incessant stream of luxury lifestyles and interiors in our social media feeds, how on earth are our clients supposed to afford the services of skilled tradespeople?
Traditionally, cabinet showrooms have offered a rule of thumb for kitchen remodels, that they should be somewhere around 10% of the home’s market value. That’s a $50,000 kitchen in a $500,000 house. That said, in the Denver Metro area, $500,000 doesn’t go as far as it used to. That’s leading to homeowners taking on a significant mortgage payment just to get into a home that needs a lot of work to fit a modern lifestyle and design aesthetic.
New Doors and Drawer Fronts
If a whole new kitchen isn’t in the cards for you right now, there are other options. In some cases, the existing cabinets aren’t in bad shape. Simply changing out the doors and drawer fronts can give the kitchen a completely new look. We offer replacement doors and drawer fronts in hundreds of different surface finishes and materials. This approach has a few big advantages over a full remodel
It’s fast! We’re in and out of your home in days, instead of weeks
It’s affordable. Our doors and drawer fronts start in the $50 range
We can still upgrade some things, like adding soft-closers to your doors and drawers
We can retrofit new drawer boxes into your existing cabinets, complete with soft-closing, hidden, full-extension drawer slides.
Refinishing Your Solid Wood Cabinets
We work with some of the top cabinet finishers in town to plan and execute your refinishing project with professional results. Our team sets up a mobile spray booth and sprays your doors and drawer fronts with a factory-grade finish. Trim and panels remain in place and are hand painted in place.
Wrapping Appliances in Durable Vinyl
Commercial interiors are remodeled all the time, and downtime costs serious money for many operations. 3M has been working with commercial construction companies to come up with novel solutions for refreshing finished surfaces without full replacement. My favorite of these is a film called Di-Noc. It’s a space-age contact film that covers smooth surfaces in an attractive and durable coating. I like it for refrigerators, dishwashers, microwaves, and other smooth surfaces that need a face-lift but still work well. This is a great option for homeowners that have a chrome dishwasher in an all black kitchen for instance, or a black refrigerator and all white cabinets. I’ve seen many high-end appliances given away because they don’t match the new cabinets, and that’s simply unnecessary these days.
Want to hear more about these options? Get in touch :)
