Put More Green in Your Kitchen by Resurfacing Kitchen Cabinets

By Leslie A.M.
RefacingCabinet.com Columnist

By virtue of re-purposing your cabinets, resurfacing kitchen cabinets is an eco-friendly practice. You are saving a landfill from the tremendous bulk that dismantled cabinets can create.

Resurfacing Kitchen Cabinets With Green Materials

According to the U.S. Green Building Council's Green Home Guide, you can purchase formaldehyde-free medium density fiberboard (MDF) to lower the "offgas" emitted into your environment. You can also consider buying replacement kitchen cabinet doors that are made of wheatboard or strawboard, which are recycled products. If replacement cabinet doors are not in your budget, there are also wood veneers available in low VOC versions. VOC stands for volatile organic compound and means that it may cause issues in your health.

Low Cabinet Refacing Costs: Paint

If you are on a very tight budget, then paint or stain is probably the best idea for your bottom line. Choose products that are low VOC and avoid breathing those chemicals and smelling fumes that may give you a headache or worse.

You should paint the cabinet boxes as well as the cabinet doors and drawers. Take the doors off the hinges and lay them flat for the best results. Clean and prime your wood cabinet doors and the cabinet bases. If you are new to home improvement projects, you may discover that most of your time spent on any paint project is in the prep work. Make that investment to do it right the first time. You won't be sorry.

Green Kitchen Cabinets

Whichever way you choose when you are resurfacing your kitchen cabinets in a green way, you should be proud of your new look and that you did your part to help the environment.

About The Author

Leslie A.M. Smith is a freelance writer and desperately needs a new kitchen. Until she can afford it, she has her eye on refacing her cabinets.