Refacing Melamine Cabinets: With Beautiful Warm Wood Tones 

Can You Reface Melamine Cabinets?

Whether you have melamine cabinets like IKEA, or these Oak cabinets with melamine doors, refacing is a great solution for giving your kitchen a brand new look and feel. 

With refacing, you have so many options! You can do a painted Shaker, or natural cherry, maple, walnut, or Alder.

Any domestic wood species can be used as either a natural look, or choose from a wide variety of wood stains, light or dark.

I'll show you a few of these types of cabinets that Iv'e done below. One converted to natural cherry, and the other to a lightly stained maple.

70's Melamine Kitchen Cabinets Makeover

One popular way of refacing builder grade oak cabinets back in the 70's and 80's was to simply remove the oak cabinet doors and replace them with a white melamine door with an oak edge?

Maybe you have these cabinets? If so, leave me a comment below!

This was an economical way to reface cabinets back in the day! If you notice, the cabinet sides are still oak! So are the cabinet faces when you open the doors. 

But with the introduction to full overlay European hinges, cabinet faces could get mostly covered to give the look of white cabinets.

But after 50 years, this style is certainly out of date! But there's a pretty easy solution if your cabinets are still in good condition - Reface them again!

Melamine Cabinet doors replaced with maple

Here I have all the melamine doors removed. I'll be installing some maple doors. 

• Cabinet ends were covered with a maple panel
• Cabinet faces were left oak since doors cover them. (Face frames could also be resurfaced, but skipping this can save you money).
• Cabinet doors were replaced with maple Shaker doors
• New drawer fronts were installed on drawer boxes
• Drawers boxes were also replaced with solid maple dove-tailed drawers and full-extension, under-mount slides. 
• All hinges and drawer slides were replaced with Blum soft-close hardware.
• Completed in 3 days!

Trash can pullout drawer

I added a single trash pullout here. The door mounts to the trash pullout for a smooth in and out motion.

Here's the completed product! 

• New doors, hinges, handles
• New drawer boxes, slides
• New trash to right of fridge

Learn more about cabinet refacing by clicking here!

Melamine kitchen refaced with natural cherry wood.

When refacing, it's a good time to reconfigure anything that might not be as functional as you like. Here I replaced the Lazy Susan and added regular bi-fold doors with 170 degree hinges that open all the way.

We did decorative end panels that matched the doors style instead of a standard flat panel. 

This adds some character to the kitchen for a custom cabinet look.

Pros and cons of cherry wood for cabinets.

• Pro - Cherry has a nice warmth to it with a beautiful grain.
• Con - Cherry wood tends to darken with time and exposure to sunlight. Ligher colors won't stay as light as they are when brand new. Darker colors won't show this effect nearly as much.
• Pro - Cherry can be stained in many colors. Darker colors give cherry wood grain a rich look. Lighter colors blend well with these walls and flooring.
• Pro - Cherry wood is relatively inexpensive compared to similar wood like red birch.

Refacing Melamine Cabinets Before and After

Here's some before and after photos of the 2 kitchens I described above. I also show a few bathroom vanities that I refaced. Both with Rift cut white oak slab doors with a light stain.

Melamine cabinet doors replaced with natural cherry

Melamine cabinet doors replaced with Maple - lightly stained

Melamine cabinet doors replaced with rift cut white oak - stained

Can Melamine Cabinets Be Painted?

Yes, melamine cabinet can be painted! But the best most durable method is to reface them with solid wood. If painting, be sure to do sufficient cleaning, and sanding. You'll need to repair any loose or chipped melamine if there is any. Use a good bonding primer, preferably a 2k primer and topcoat. Click here for more info on best cabinet paints.

Are Melamine Cabinets Good Quality?

Melamine cabinets are actually pretty good quality, though they lack the look and feel of real wood cabinets. Melamine is pretty durable, but is prone to chipping if nicked. Many frameless cabinets like IKEA are built with melamine. These types of cabinets are great for refacing if you are ready for a new look!

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