Kitchen cabinet doors receive the most wear of any other home structure due to the nature of their functionality as they take on countless layers of grease, food splatter, stains, splashes, heat, water, you name it. Eventually you will have to replace your kitchen cabinet doors. Notice I said doors and not the entire cabinet structure. That's because the doors take the most brunt after all else has been said. Cabinet frames can easily be sanded and refinished, but your kitchen cabinet doors might need to have their hardware replaced, the doors themselves may be damaged where the hardware attaches, or the wood may split from warping. You may get lucky and simply have to replace the hardware and apply a new coat of paint to get your doors looking great again.

I want to discuss the different materials you can choose for your kitchen cabinet door. While you can find many prefab styles you don't have to spend money on completely renovating your cabinets. You might opt for this if you are not concerned with the cost, but most people would rather save as much money as they can on this type of project as it can get expensive fast and often the price will creep away from your initial budget before you realize it. So you should at least consider simple kitchen cabinet door refacing in the beginning and then let things extend away from that as needed.

Let's look at some different kinds of replacement kitchen cabinet doors that you can use instead of replacing the whole shebang.

Easily the best looking choices for any kitchen, wood doors are the standard in design on any level. Within the range of woods available you also have various wood veneers you can choose for your kitchen cabinet door replacement. Veneers can save you money and still give you a finished wood look. Plus they are very easy to maintain and clean. However, as wood veneers are usually laid over particle board doors you run the risk of early warping and rotting should the doors become damaged. With actual wood doors you can choose to paint them, stain them, apply a clear finish, but it is not advised to leave them in their natural state for reasons already stated.

Laminate Facing

These are still wood doors, but are more the particle board type wood, which is wood chips glued together and pressed into a door mold. Probably the best known laminate material is made by Formica. It's a layer of synthetic plastics that adhere to the surface of the wood. It's a bit harder to work with than veneer but the styles of finishes are extensive and you can even get a wood laminate pattern. The laminate easily lays over your unfinished kitchen cabinet doors with the help of some adhesive glue. Then you run a rubber roller over it to get it flat in all areas so there's no bubbling later. The great thing about laminate doors is that they are the easiest to clean as the plastic surface is somewhat stain resistant. Simply wipe them down and you're done.

Glass Kitchen Cabinet Doors

Glass doors are made for elegance in a kitchen. They are more difficult to maintain but you just can't get any more sophisticated in the kitchen than with glass doors. It doesn't matter whether you choose frosted glass or plain glass, you will have something eye opening and beautiful. Frosted glass is a technique of sandblasting the glass to give it an etched look. The glue chip technique gives a spider web appearance to the glass. There is so much versatility to styles that you can fit any one into your theme. It's definitely an extensive venture to embark upon but having some custom kitchen cabinet doors like glass will certainly put a smile on your face every morning.

Steel Cabinet Doors

Stainless steel is another signature of elegance in a kitchen. These are not cheap kitchen cabinet doors by any means and require professional installation as they require a complete remodel of your kitchen cabinets. Steel is many times accompanied by wood in the design but you can have a completely stainless steel look. What makes these especially stand out is when you have matching counter tops. Steel is a very durable surface and is remarkably easy to clean.

Following is a short video on how to achieve a newer look with the expense of replacing all of your kitchen cabinets just by upgrading your kitchen cabinet doors. Watch and enjoy.