# Reversing Kitchen Cabinet Doors?



## cbiscuit9 (May 10, 2016)

Hi, first time reader and recent homeowner.  My husband and I have decided to update our kitchen from the 90's oak cabinets.  The cabinets are all in quite good shape, so we were planning to refinish to a dark stain to match the granite installed by the previous owner.  I've been doing some research and it all seems fairly straightforward.

The problem is that I do not love the detail on the front of the oak doors.  There are several ridges between the outside edge and the middle piece and would like to have more of a shaker style.  Last night I realized that the inside of the cabinet doors are shaker style.  In the corners of the frame, you can see what appears to be the edge of a staple (?) holding it together, but I think we could just put some wood putty in there.  Obviously we would need to fill the holes from the current hinges, which we will replace entirely.  There is no pull hardware on the doors, but we do plan to add some.

My question is - can we stain the cabinets and put the inside shaker style out?  Our biggest concern is that the doors might not close entirely.  Thanks!


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## nealtw (May 10, 2016)

Welcome. It will be depending on the style of hinge. Your raised panel doors are still in style in higher end kitchens and the cost of them is much, much higher.


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## bud16415 (May 10, 2016)

By the time you strip the finish and rework the doors to fit backwards if you even can, I think you might have more money and time in them than to find replacement doors in a look you like. Then you can just work on stripping and finishing the cabinets. 

If you can post a photo, we might be able to give better advice. 

Also welcome to the forum.


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## cbiscuit9 (May 10, 2016)

I think the details will bother me less when it's not the oak color and there are nice pulls on the doors.  Here's a bunch of pictures.  I tried to get everything.

I'm planning on gel staining.  The General Finishes Java Stain seems to be the most popular, but I'm thinking it might be a little too dark.  I'm open to other ideas if you have any.


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## cbiscuit9 (May 10, 2016)

More pics.  Sorry they're all sideways!


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## nealtw (May 10, 2016)

So they are not raised panel. I won't feel bad for those doors.
I think you will need some sort of wedge so the hinge can sit flat on the surface. I would just ignore the spline in the corner that is visible.


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## bud16415 (May 11, 2016)

This looks like a pretty good how to. 

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=plePW69gKcw[/ame]


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## Snoonyb (May 11, 2016)

Your doors are a raised panel, flush overlay, finger pull.

The difficulty in reversing the doors is that the outside router shape is not flat, so you have a couple of options; you can attempt to mount a hing square with the surface and add a wedge for stability, set up a router table and jig to cut the frame flat for the blade of the hinge to fit, add a filler piece to bring the hinge flush, or change the hinge style to a blind hinge.

Next question; what about the drawers?


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## bud16415 (May 11, 2016)

There is one other method of doing it and the one I would most likely do. 

If you wait about 5 years light oak kitchens will be the latest and best look everyone will be showing .


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## Snoonyb (May 11, 2016)

You virtually can't even donate oak furniture, in this market.


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## bud16415 (May 11, 2016)

Snoonyb said:


> You virtually can't even donate oak furniture, in this market.



I wondered what happened to all the Shakers. Never put all your eggs in an oak basket. 

Explains how I was able to buy my kitchen on CL for 1200 bucks with new black stove, dishwasher and side by side fridge. New sink with all the fixins and new countertops I made work. The guy that redid the oak kitchen for his wife left the great oaks in place with all new hardware.  Her girlfriends came over and said OAK! And BLACK! And he turned around and ripped them all out and went with all new again SS appliances. With white painted pressed wood cabinets. The stove was massive some kind of restaurant look. 

One thing I never understood you want your stove to stand out because of course stoves are beautiful things to look at. But the fridge must be an ugly thing because they hide them to look like cabinets.    

The most beautiful part of my kitchen was I only spent 1200 bucks and she loves it.


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## Snoonyb (May 11, 2016)

Probably 1st in the wil, hmmmmm.


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## nealtw (May 11, 2016)

bud16415 said:


> I wondered what happened to all the Shakers. Never put all your eggs in an oak basket.
> 
> Explains how I was able to buy my kitchen on CL for 1200 bucks with new black stove, dishwasher and side by side fridge. New sink with all the fixins and new countertops I made work. The guy that redid the oak kitchen for his wife left the great oaks in place with all new hardware.  Her girlfriends came over and said OAK! And BLACK! And he turned around and ripped them all out and went with all new again SS appliances. With white painted pressed wood cabinets. The stove was massive some kind of restaurant look.
> 
> ...



I talked to a guy that was an installer for HD, they would pay him to go measure up for new cupboard, he would agree for a price to remove and dispose of the old ones and he would deliver them to the used store about 40 miles away and sell them.


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## bud16415 (May 11, 2016)

nealtw said:


> I talked to a guy that was an installer for HD, they would pay him to go measure up for new cupboard, he would agree for a price to remove and dispose of the old ones and he would deliver them to the used store about 40 miles away and sell them.



On tv they dont take them down though because that would mean removing a couple screws. They smash them with a sledge hammer because thats the way real builders do it. As soon as I see the sledge I change the station.


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## cbiscuit9 (May 11, 2016)

Thanks for all your input!  A neighbor of mine is redoing their kitchen from the same oak cabinets, so I ended up taking a few of their doors to practice and try different stains with.  I think we will try experimenting with them and see if we can find a hinge solution that will work.  It does lay fairly flat against the cabinet box.

Here are pictures of the drawers.


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## Snoonyb (May 12, 2016)

Interesting!
These are fairly modern cabinets.
Reversing the drawer fronts will be another router jig.

Have you removed a door, reversed it and held it against the cabinet?


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## cbiscuit9 (May 12, 2016)

The cabinet doors lay flat against the box, but they're not totally flush with it.

I hadn't really thought about the drawer fronts.  That looks like it would be quite a bit more difficult.  I think the drawer front would probably look ok with shaker style.  I only have a handful of drawers in the kitchen, so if needed, I could just order new drawer fronts.


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## Snoonyb (May 12, 2016)

cbiscuit9 said:


> The cabinet doors lay flat against the box, but they're not totally flush with it.



Correct, the first step in the raised router shape will not set flush because it is tapered, and were you to remove a hinge and fit it on the routed face and a wedge to fill between the screws and the hinge pivot for stability.

Keep in mind these are self closing hinges and the spring loading, however slight, will create tension, and is why the blade sets flush over its length.

I'm not trying to talk you out of this, but just to give you some insight to what you can end up with if you aren't aware of the shortcomings.



cbiscuit9 said:


> I hadn't really thought about the drawer fronts.  That looks like it would be quite a bit more difficult.  I think the drawer front would probably look ok with shaker style.  I only have a handful of drawers in the kitchen, so if needed, I could just order new drawer fronts.



The lesser of two evils.

Find a local cabinet shop the uses or can replicate the drawer and have them assemble the new drawer fronts for you.


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## slownsteady (May 17, 2016)

bud16415 said:


> There is one other method of doing it and the one I would most likely do.
> 
> If you wait about 5 years light oak kitchens will be the latest and best look everyone will be showing .


So funny, yet so true.  :


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## slownsteady (May 17, 2016)

cbiscuit9: IMHO, I think you're crazy, but there is no accounting for taste. I'm not saying this to be mean or snarky, just that, as mentioned earlier, it is more work than it is worth. The fine finish on the outside of the doors is usually not duplicated on the inside, so you may be looking at a slightly rougher wood. No chance that you will find an exact match for drawer fronts, and a near match will only highlight the differences.
Paint 'em, stain 'em, or live with 'em.


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