12 Signs You Need to Upgrade Your Kitchen Cabinets

12 Signs You Need to Upgrade Your Kitchen Cabinets

Whether you’re considering a total remodel or a more modest interior refresh, it’s likely that some kind of kitchen upgrade will be an integral part of these plans and you are probably already thinking about a new cabinetry design.

For the majority of households, the kitchen is the most important room in the home. It’s where we spend hours preparing delicious food, enjoying family meals, catching up with friends over coffee, and entertaining guests. As such, our kitchens need to reflect the many ways we use them as both a functional space and the heart of the house.

As the most visual aspect of your kitchen, deciding to upgrade your kitchen cabinets is a smart choice. But beyond the aesthetics, installing new kitchen cabinets rather than just fitting new doors will also solve problems such as a lack of kitchen storage and inconvenient layouts. And, since the average kitchen remodel return on investment is 83 percent, house flippers and homeowners alike understand the value of a more comprehensive kitchen upgrade. 

But how do you know when it’s time to replace your kitchen cabinets? Keep reading to find out. 

1. Kitchen Design Changes

If you’re wondering how to remodel your kitchen without replacing your cabinets, forget even trying this out. Even small adjustments such as changing the backsplash or replacing the sink can end up leaving gaps around your cabinets. The result will then look unprofessional, leaving you despairing about what to do with old kitchen cabinets that don’t fit anymore. 

If you intend to move or replace any part of your kitchen’s design, it’s always a good idea to replace your kitchen cabinets too. Not only is it easier, quicker, and less expensive to decide on everything at once, the result will look intentional and streamlined. You’ll also be able to solve any problems you might have encountered with your old cabinets at the same time. 

2. Lack of Kitchen Storage Space 

Take a look at your kitchen countertops. If they’re home to sauce bottles, cookie jars, and rolls of paper towels then your cabinets aren’t doing their job.

Your countertops should be clean and uncluttered, with space for meal prep and only the most basic of small appliances, such as a coffee maker or toaster. And if you also have to resort to stacking boxes and packets on top of your cabinets then you are in some serious need of extra kitchen storage.

While you may not have the room for more cabinets, smart cabinet options can help you make the most of the available space. For example, you could swap lower cabinets for deep drawers or increase the height of your upper cabinets. You can even adjust the inner shelving to give you the room to store your bottles, jars, and paper towels away from the countertops. In short, replacing your kitchen cabinets allows you to maximize the space you have to fit your personal kitchen storage needs. 

3. Inconvenient Cabinet Layout

That deep drawer might be perfect for storing your pots and pans, but it’s nowhere near the sink or the stove. Cue rushing from one end of the kitchen to the other every time you want to prepare even the simplest of meals. And, while the glass display cabinet is great for showing off your champagne flutes and wine glasses, its distance from the refrigerator makes for a logistical headache any time you’re entertaining. 

If there’s no sense of logic or flow to your kitchen storage layout, it’s time to upgrade your kitchen cabinets. By considering how you use your space, it will be a lot easier for you to adapt your kitchen design to work on a functional level. You’ll then be able to store food items and utensils in appropriate places, avoiding the challenges of inconvenient cabinet placements. 

4. Basic or Outdated Cabinets

Cabinets and the kitchen storage options they offer aren’t what they used to be. Simple cupboards with just about enough room for cups and dishes may have been suitable in the past. But there’s no need to settle for basic kitchen cabinets when you could have your pick of today’s tailor-made kitchen storage solutions.  

Choose from innovative features such as built-in spice racks, glass display cabinets, mini-wine racks, and oversized drawers for baking sheets hidden at the base of your cabinets. With these kinds of possibilities, you won’t need to cram your herbs and spices, wine bottles, and pans in places they don’t fit. Instead, you can choose new and modern cabinets that adapt to your needs. 

What’s more, you can wave goodbye to the sound of slamming cabinet doors forever! Soft-close tracks are almost standard in every modern kitchen update for smooth, easy, and silent closing every time. 

5. Overwhelming Cabinet Placement

Too many bulky kitchen cabinets can soon overwhelm a small kitchen. Likewise, kitchens that open out onto the dining room or living room can appear lopsided or crammed if the kitchen walls are covered in cabinets. 

If your kitchen is small but you need the storage space, opting for smart bottom cabinets with additional storage space at the base can help free up some room from the top cabinets. You can then consider swapping these bulky cabinets for open shelving or glass display cabinets. Both options will open up the flow a little more and make your small kitchen feel larger. 

For those of you with open-plan or larger kitchens, an island provides extra kitchen storage without the need for so many cabinets on every wall. If you already have a kitchen island, consider updating the island cabinets to maximize the space this feature can offer. 

You should then be able to replace your wall-to-wall cabinets with a bigger window, shelving, or even some wall art as a way to make your kitchen feel less crowded and more open. What’s more, adding these kinds of decorative details from Neon Mama can help a functional kitchen fit better with the vibe of the rest of your home.  

6. To Make Room for New Appliances 

The standard for kitchen appliances has changed a lot in recent years. As such, you may need to change your kitchen cabinets to make room for new appliances. 

For example, you may want to replace your inconvenient top-freezer refrigerator with a taller and more spacious bottom-freezer model. You may even want to cut down on cabinet space and install a double-door refrigerator. Likewise, you might prefer an electric stove for easier cleaning, or want to install a dishwasher to avoid family arguments about whose turn it is to wash up.   

Even if your kitchen already has the space to install your new appliances, it’s often necessary to replace your cabinets around them to ensure a perfect fit for a more streamlined look. 

7. No Space for Food Prep

Even if your kitchen cabinets provide ample room for storage, bad or outdated design could still have left you with a serious lack of space for food prep. 

This problem is a common one for older kitchens. Even if the square footage is good, there’s hardly any true counter space for that all-important food prep. This could be because of an unnecessary and overly large double sink feature or inconvenient stove placement. Or, it might be that your microwave and other appliances are taking up what little counter space there is. 

Either way, it’s clear that your kitchen is working for you and needs to change. This could mean installing a smaller sink, adding an open cabinet to house your microwave, or adding cabinets with an extendable countertop feature. By using a new approach to how your kitchen works and upgrading your kitchen cabinets to reflect this, you can then double or even triple your food prep space.

8. Lifestyle Changes

Your kitchen may have been perfect for entertaining and cooking simple meals when you were young, free, and single. But now you have two small children running around and you’re starting to see how upgrading your kitchen cabinets could help make it easier for you to keep your kids safe. 

For example, you may want to put your oven at eye level to avoid your children burning themselves or even climbing inside. You can then install new cabinets beneath the oven for pots and other non-dangerous kitchen supplies. You may also want to add details such as a large drawer for your trash can to ensure that your garbage is off the floor and away from your kids’ reach. 

Of course, lifestyle changes can also mean that your spacious family-style kitchen no longer serves its purpose since your kids left home. You may want to swap your oversized refrigerator for a more modest one or cut back on kitchen storage space to make room for a small table.

In the process of redesigning your kitchen for family-friendly functionality, it’s essential to integrate safety measures such as fire-resistant materials and appliances. However, it’s equally important to have comprehensive security protocols in place.

Residents in the area can benefit from exploring professional Fire Watch Services Near Me, ensuring that their homes are under the watchful eye of trained personnel who can respond promptly to any fire-related concerns. This additional layer of security complements the family-centric kitchen adjustments, creating a well-rounded approach to a safe and harmonious living environment for all residents. So if you’re a property owner in Florida and your house’s or current space’s fire alarm system and/or water-based fire protection system such as a sprinkler system is not operational, you are required by the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) and Florida Statute to implement a fire watch should that system become impaired. You may seek expert help from a professional Fire Watch Company in Homestead.

Whatever stage you’re at in life, your kitchen should reflect your current needs, which can sometimes make it necessary to replace your kitchen cabinets. 

9. The Kitchen Feels Disconnected

Connected floor plans with an open kitchen design are as popular as ever with homeowners. If your kitchen is hidden away behind closed doors, it could be high time for a kitchen upgrade.

That’s not to say that your family room and kitchen have to become one big space. But a change like replacing a kitchen wall with a bar could help make your kitchen feel more like it’s a part of the action. Not only will this make entertaining more enjoyable, but you’ll also create a new location for informal meals.

Upgrading the kitchen cabinets at the same time will allow you to make more room in your remaining cabinets. And if you’ve lost any storage space to the remodel you can consider adding kitchen storage beneath the bar area for glasses, alcohol, and other related items.  

10. The Cabinets Smell Bad

Wondering what to do with old kitchen cabinets that smell bad? Unfortunately, there’s not much you can do to salvage musty cabinets.

Often, these unpleasant smells coming from your kitchen cabinets are the result of years of cooking odors working their way into the wood. Rather than waste time and money trying to overcome this problem, the best solution is to replace your kitchen cabinets altogether. And, if your cabinets smell that bad they’ve probably been there for years and could do with an upgrade anyway. 

11. There’s Mold Inside the Cabinets

Another reason for bad-smelling cabinets is a mold problem. Once mold gets into the floor or walls of your kitchen, it’s only a matter of time before your cabinets are full of it too.

Mold can be a problem if your kitchen or the plumbing in there hasn’t been updated for some time. Since mold spreads easily and can get behind cabinets, it’s necessary to remove your existing cabinets and start over. Visit this commercial plumbing website for more information.

Especially since mold can cause allergic reactions and may come into contact with your food supplies. 

You may also want to reconsider the layout of your kitchen cabinets depending on the origin of the mold. If one of the exterior walls has a significant mold problem, installing new cabinets in the same place might not be possible without wall treatments or special paneling. 

12. Damaged or Rotten Cabinets

Severe water damage or a pest infestation may have left your cabinets rotten and damaged on the inside. In these cases, you can call pest control or it’s vital to start over with new cabinets since the integrity of the wood will have been compromised. 

Replacing this damaged wood with new wood avoids the possibility of your kitchen cabinets collapsing. It’s also wise to get to the source of the problem. Whether it’s a due to a bad leak or a termite infestation, resolving the issue will ensure your new cabinets don’t suffer the same fate. 

When to Upgrade Your Kitchen Cabinets

As this guide shows, there are many reasons why you may need to upgrade your kitchen cabinets.

From logistical nightmares to aesthetic issues, odor problems to safety concerns, replacing your old cabinets with new, innovative kitchen storage is often the best choice. 

And, knowing that you can contact us for information and advice on kitchen cabinet replacement makes any decisions you make a whole lot easier too!

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