Kitchen cupboard upscale

Lumabones

Hello everyone, bought my first house back in may and we've just about gotten the kitchen finished.
It was very dated, not to mention I don't think it'd ever been cleaned in its life. We had some money left from a deposit, couldn't afford a new kitchen, but got a kitchen 'makeover' (new worktops, cupboard fronts, end panels, handles, etc) and I love it, it's totally transformed the kitchen.

However, since the base is the same, the inside of the cupboard/drawers is... Not so pleasant. Some cleaned up really well and look good, but mainly the ones lower down, despite the amount of bleach, flash, elbow grease I've used, still look a bit worse for wear. (I'm a bit of a germophobe too so I don't really like storing things there at the moment..:p)

Any ideas what I can do to make them look a bit nicer? I was thinking about the sticky vinyl, how hard is it to fix if you mess it up? Are there replacement shelves I could buy to switch out?

Open to all ideas!

FreeBear

You can get shelf packs from the likes of B&Q - It really depends on the shelf widths. Not all units are constructed the same (cheap ones use 15mm side panels, better quality are 18mm). For non-standard sizes, you can get melamine faced chipboard (MFC) cut to size.

Draw boxes are also available separately if you want to replace the ones you currently have. But fixing holes for the runners & draw fronts need to be accurately placed & drilled.

spadoosh

Kitchen units are typically laminated woodchip (contiboard is a brand of laminated chipboard). Whilst you wont be able to replace the bulk of the unit you should be able to replace the shelves using it.

Sticky vinyl is pretty easy to use, quite forgiving, make a mistake just peel back and try again. The hardest thing here will be getting a decent finish on the edges and you might have issues on units near the cooker or wet areas (near sink/dishwasher) although these areas should be obvious to you now as theyll prbably already show signs of vulnerability.

You can also get melamine paints which allow you to go straight on to the units without priming. Theyre quite expensive though and the insides of cupboards will cover quite an area. You could use other wood paints too with a suitable primer.

Lumabones

As far as I'm aware they are a standard size, but I'll have a measure. The drawers will be fine with a couple of liners

Lumabones

Oops clicked send by accident.

But yeah, mainly the worst affecting ones are those under the sink and by the cooker. But I am worried about the vinyl looking a bit botched if not done properly.

spadoosh

Lumabones wrote: »

Oops clicked send by accident.

But yeah, mainly the worst affecting ones are those under the sink and by the cooker. But I am worried about the vinyl looking a bit botched if not done properly.

If it looks botched you can just peel it off. Just dont leave it on too long.

That said next to the cooker and sink id expect it to start coming away pretty quickly. Id say painting but then whenever i paint furniture it looks botched.

Im not helping am i!

MarcTJTD

I'd consider simply replacing the units that are "too" damaged to clean up; cabinets are one of the cheapest parts of a kitchen, you can buy a 500mm base unit for £28 from places like B&Q.

Lumabones

Not really an option replacing, when we've just spent £3k having the makeover. The units themselves are solid, it's just the shelving. That was the idea, I want to upscale them rather than waste money and perfectly solid cabinets. It's just the shelving.

Lumabones

That said next to the cooker and sink id expect it to start coming away pretty quickly. Id say painting but then whenever i paint furniture it looks botched.

Im not helping am i!

Well I do really pride myself on my painting skills so I'm sure I'll manage that! �� What kind of paint would you recommend? Wouldn't it look bad on the laminated tops?

Maybe I'll just go with some liners from IKEA... Ha!

MarcTJTD

Lumabones wrote: »

Not really an option replacing, when we've just spent £3k having the makeover. The units themselves are solid, it's just the shelving. That was the idea, I want to upscale them rather than waste money and perfectly solid cabinets. It's just the shelving.

Ah, well someone earlier suggested buying B&Q larder shelf packs; that's a good option as they're already pre-edged. A pack costs £19 and you'll get 4 x 600mmx570mm shelves, plus a top and a bottom that will have cam holes for the larder assembly but would serve as shelves if necessary. You can trim the down at the sides/back if needed.

If the shelves you need are for double cabinets (800mm, 1000mm, 1200mm etc) you can buy a length of 2400mm x 600mm wide, 18mm thick melamime faced chipboard, cut it to size for the shelves you need and edge them with iron-on tape.