Using Stock Materials To Design A Custom Kitchen
When you are remodeling your kitchen, you can keep costs down by using stock items in your design. You can take a stock kitchen cabinet and give it a really unique look with just a few modifications. Here are a couple of things that you can do to start with stock items and end up with a custom look.
Go to your local home improvement store and take a little trip through their kitchen model displays. You can find some great decorating ideas that may help you to add your touch to a stock item and make it custom.
One really dynamic way to use stock cabinets and have them look custom is to use two contrasting finishes in the same style of cabinet in your kitchen. For example, you may choose a light oak finish on the cabinets in your kitchen and showcase the area around your stove by using the same cabinet in a cherry wood finish. By mixing the two cabinet colors you have created a beautiful focal point in your kitchen.
Another option is to pull several of your upper cabinets forward just a few inches. Adding two or three inches makes a huge difference visually. By bolting either a 2′ X 4′ or a 2′ X 6′ to the wall you can then attach your cabinets to the braces. Then you can add a side door and use this narrow space to store platters or baking pans.
Another little trick that you can use to get a custom look from your stock cabinets is to stagger the cabinet heights. You can design the cabinet line in your kitchen to pop up every other cabinet, or the middle cabinet on each wall can be higher. You can stagger the heights by simply mounting the cabinets at different heights or you can install different sized cabinets side by side. You can also stack cabinets in unexpected ways to add interesting configurations to the doors. For example, you can add a column of short cabinets that you would normally see over the refrigerator to make what looks like a multi door single cabinet, thus adding visual interest to your cabinet faces.
You can also take this look one step further and configure two short cabinets with a shelf in between. This makes a great display shelf to break up the symmetry of a wall of cabinets.
By using molding to finish off the top of your cabinets, you can make them look like custom built-in cabinets. You can also add molding to the edge of any shelves that you install to give them a polished look.
Update the hardware on your cabinets and you complete the custom look. By finding unique drawer pulls and fun cabinet knobs, you can give your cabinets a high-end custom look. You may find knobs just about anywhere like eBay, an antique store, a flea market or a thrift shop. You may also want to check a salvage yard or a shop that recycles building materials.
Custom, Design, Kitchen, Materials, Stock, Using
