10 Midsize Kitchen Projects That Deliver Big Results

As long as you’re satisfied with your kitchen’s layout and your cabinets are sturdy and in good shape, having your cabinets professionally repainted or restained is a great way to update the look of the entire space. But if you’re not a fan of the cabinet style — for example, if you like Shaker but you currently have slab — paint can only go so far.

Having your cabinets refaced rather than replaced, as was the case in the kitchen pictured here, can help you achieve a new style for a fraction of the cost. Refacing experts remove doors and drawer fronts, add veneer to the boxes and sides of the cabinets and then replace the old doors and fronts with new ones. Hinges and hardware can be updated at the same time.

Refacing usually can’t change a partial-overlay cabinet door — in which the cabinet frame peeks out — into an inset cabinet or full-overlay style. But it might be able to create a more modern, upscale-looking partial overlay, with thinner reveals and sleeker doors.