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Fast Formica Kitchen Cabinets Remodel Idea

January 29th, 2009 Leave a comment Go to comments

For some who may be purchasing homes to flip and make a profit, here’s a fast way to make a Formica kitchen look like it has new cabinets. An idea that could save you thousands of dollars in comparison to replacing your old cabinetry with new ones. It’s a quick and easy way to make your old plastic laminate look new without resurfacing the mica.

These renovation ideas will work on kitchen pantry cabinet designs, uppers, or base cabinets.

Fast, inexpensive Formica kitchen renovation idea

Here are the necessary steps involved in doing a fast but professional Formica kitchen renovation. The easiest and fastest way is to make the mica cabinets white. The process of renovating a mica kitchen by painting the cabinetry is what I am about to describe to you. I also am going to suggest that MDF doors be purchased.


Measure all of the mica doors
Measure all of the doors and drawer faces and place a Thermofoil door order either with a local cabinet manufacture, cabinet supply company, or thermofoil door manufacture such as Doormark Doors. Plan on using a hinge that will give you the same overlay as your existing hinges when you install the new doors. If you decide to use a different hinge refer to this article about How To Figure Cabinet Door Sizes.

Remove the kitchen cabinet doors
Just prior to when the new doors are to be delivered. Remove the existing mica cabinet doors and drawers.

Clean the surfaces of the cabinetry
Use lacquer thinner to wipe all of the Formica surfaces with. The main purpose is to remove any grease build up that may be on the mica. Clean the interior of the cabinets if you plan on painting them too. Allow the thinner to completely evaporate for at least an hour before applying paint.

Preparing and painting
The paint I am going to recommend is called “Cabinet Rescue.” The company slogan reads: “Resurfacing In A Can.” The recommended method of application is with a foam roller. However, it’s suggest that a sprayer can be used to obtain a mirror like finish. Mask off all areas that you do not want over spray to onto if you are planning on spraying the cabinetry. Just follow all of the preparation suggestions that the company makes.

The rest of the process of doing a fast plastic laminate kitchen cabinet renovation should be somewhat self evident. To finish the remodeling process, paint all the surfaces with Cabinet Rescue, apply the new hinges to the doors, hang the new Thermofoil cabinet doors, apply the knobs or handles and your done. Refer to article about drilling for cabinet door handles or knobs.

How To Figure Cabinet Door  Sizes

This is by far the fastest Formica kitchen renovation method that I have ever used that yields great results on Formica cabinets.

  1. January 24th, 2010 at 19:58 | #1

    These doors comes pre-drilled for concealed euro hinges & knob ready to hang.

    Check out their website.

  2. May 11th, 2010 at 13:18 | #2

    There is always a lot of things that can be done for kitchen renovation. You can enliven, refresh and invigorate the room in all sorts of ways possible.

  3. Jermaine
    September 1st, 2010 at 14:25 | #3

    Bob :These doors comes pre-drilled for concealed euro hinges & knob ready to hang.
    Check out their website.

    Cabinet Wholesale Express

  4. September 22nd, 2010 at 00:52 | #4

    Thanks for the tips. I am in the process of considering a lot of ideas for a kitchen remodel. With so many directions its hard to decide which path to take. These seems like a great way to renovate on the cheap.

  5. John
    February 15th, 2011 at 07:15 | #5

    I remodel kitchens for a contractor who paints old Formica all of the time. Painting Formica cabinets works really well. Cabinet Rescue is an excellent product for sprucing up outdated laminate.

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