Creative Cabinets!

My friend's girlfriend is in Spain for a month, and he's made it his personal mission to redo their tiny New York City apartment as a surprise for her return. The kitchen, was his toughest challenge. Not only was it tiny, but their love for food and all things organic (their one splurge in college) has grown to proportions where they've had to store food in their linen closet. With the space they had, storage was a big issue. After much thought, and hours with the nail extractor, their kitchen already looked bigger. He had removed the cabinet doors, leaving their shelves exposed allowing for much more flexible storage placement. I'm not sure if my friend came across 5 Modern DIY Ways to Transform Cabinets from HGTV, because they suggested the same thing to upgrade and transform cabinets. Here are some other tips they provided to improve your cabinets. Replace Center Panels. Don't want to remove the doors? Try selecting a few cabinets and apply a decorative treatment to the center. Experiment with wallpapers, fabrics, and paint. If you want to dramatically change the look, consider cutting out the center piece and replacing the wood with another material: glass, cork, or even chicken wire. Unless you're a seasoned wood-cutter, save yourself a great deal of time and effort and bring your doors to your home store to be cut. While you're there, you can also take a look at all the material selections, and they can help you install the treatment of your choice. Painting. An easy way to upgrade cabinets without any cutting or removing, is to paint them! Choose a bold color, even two different ones for the face and frame of the cabinet structure. A change in color will definitely liven up your room, and your cabinets will look new and improved. Glazing. If you want a worn-like texture to your cabinets, glazing is a great option. After your paint has dried, consider applying glaze and mix it with a darker shade of paint until you get your perfect hue. Apply the glaze with a foam brush, and with a cloth wipe the mixture off. To create streaks and a used-antique look, leave excess glaze-paint mixture at corners and nooks to achieve the look. Hardware. For a no-mess upgrade to your cabinets, consider replacing your hardware. New knobs and handles will surely transform the look of your cabinets. If you are planning on repainting along with replacing hardware, make sure the colors coordinate and compliment well. If you don't want to buy new hardware, consider refurbishing your old ones. Soak your knobs and pulls overnight in paint remover, then take steel wool and buff them lightly. It's an inexpensive upgrade that will make a great difference to your cabinets. For more ideas to upgrade or redo your cabinets check out DIY's articles for improvement tips.