How to Clean Old Kitchen Cabinet

Kitchen cabinet is one of the most important furniture pieces in a kitchen. The cabinet is where you store your food supplies and utensils. The cabinet helps a kitchen look more organized because it has many pieces and things in your kitchen. However, cabinets that are used for many years usually look old and outdated. While cabinet is one of the most important features in a kitchen, leaving it outdated will not be a good idea. One of the reasons why cabinet look old and outdated is because the cabinet surfaces are covered with dirt and grease accumulated. If the cabinets cleaned regularly, you will not find it that uninteresting.

Cleaning your kitchen cabinet should be included in your regular routine because the cabinet is used daily in your kitchen. Every day it gets grease and dirt in the surfaces. If the cabinet is not cleaned regularly, this will create a buildup of grease and dirt. Cleaning a cabinet is easy. You can simply use a cleaning solution for cleaning the cabinet. Dishwashing liquid can be used to clean cabinet or you can also use house-cleaning solution. The cleaning solution use for cleaning the cabinets depends on what material the cabinet is. If this is made of wood, you need to use a cleaner that is made for cleaning wood items. Instead of commercial cleaner, a mixture of water and vinegar is also a good option for cleaning your cabinets.

Before cleaning your cabinets, make sure that the cabinets are empty. Strip the lining of the shelf if your cabinet is old enough. Remove any cobwebs and dusts by vacuuming or brushing. Remove the handles of the cabinet because they usually contain dirt and grime buildup. Use a sponge and cleaner to wipe the handles and use a toothbrush or a cotton swab for the narrow spaces in the handles to make sure that the handles are well cleaned. After the handles, the doors and the cabinets should be wiped as well. If you find stubborn dirt or stains in the doors or cabinets, use a strong cleaner containing mineral spirits. As the alternative, you can also use a mixture of baking soda and water to be made into paste. If these two cleaners cannot remove the old stains, you can consider using paint thinner. Make sure that you use the thinner following the directions by the manufacturer and you are working in a room that is free from open flames. Wipe any residue of the thinner from the cabinet with clean water to make sure there is no thinner left in your kitchen cabinet.

Organizing Kitchen Cabinets

It is important for us to organize the kitchen cabinets. We understand that when we have too little space and too much stuff, or too little space and too much stuff can bring us some problem if we need to organize the cabinet. Whether we are acquiring supplies or cleaning out clutter, both approaches require time, prudence and patience. Set-aside a half-hour to clean, sort and restock each of the cabinets and we will soon be using a kitchen that is a testament to organization.

- Dish it out
This is the first thing to do. We need to remove everything, dust the shelves on the cabinets and do not forget to clean the doors. We also need to carefully examine the condition of each food, especially the expiration date, and do not forget to look for any cracks in the glassware or chips on dishes. Create piles of items we will restock, recycled, thrown out or donated.

- In the scheme of things
Whether we are organizing new kitchen cabinets or juts reorganizing the old ones, we have to determine a scheme that works best for us and our family. Designate each of the cabinets for a specific need. Stack dishes, plates and glasses in the upper side of the cabinets and carefully store pans, pots and cookie sheets in the lower side. Take care to store similar items in one location, such as plastic, metal and glass food containers.

- How it all stacks up
We must understand that some kitchen tools are bulky. Bundt grill presses, pans and slow cookers need designated spots. Stack as many as possible and invest kitchen accessories that are easier to organize. It is good to use metal or plastic pantry shelves because it allows us to make to tiers of canned goods.

- Everything but the sink
Kitchen is a home to a countless tools and ingredients that may not be used every time but are called upon with enough frequency that it deserves its own special nooks. For example, spices should be replaced regularly then putted in its original containers in a special bin or in containers purchased as part of spice rack storage system. Take our often-used utensils out of the cabinets and stash it in a pottery crock or other vessels on the countertop. Maybe, we need to equip the doors of the lower cabinets with hangers for dish towels or potholders. Moreover, we are free to use our creativity to improve the looks of the kitchen cabinets.

Popular Kitchen Cabinet Door Styles

Kitchen cabinet is one of the most important factors in kitchen design theme. Picking color, style, and material can be so confusing. Don't mess around picking kitchen cabinet, start with knowing kitchen cabinet door style. Cabinet door is one of the most visible elements that will give first impression. Take a look at some popular kitchen cabinet door style and pick which one that will suits your kitchen style and budget.

Flat Cabinet Door Style
Simple and minimalist design with no ornament or carving detail that fit for contemporary or modern kitchen design. The essence of minimalist style is about minimal embellishment and letting the natural materials speak for themselves. No decorative detail means reduce the budget too. Here is an example, Cambridge Contemporary Kitchen by LDa Architecture & Interiors.

Louvered Cabinet Door Style
Horizontal wood slats are typically used on windows, furniture pieces and interior doors, but they add a distinct architectural style to kitchen cabinetry. However, be aware that these design come with a heavy price tag. Watch your budget. Check this cabinet style from Georgetown Development.

Inset Cabinet Doorstyle
This is classic look cabinet door style, set inside of the cabinet frame — typical cabinet doors rest on the outside of the frame. The inset frame detail made this style require more budget. Here is kitchen design by Home Dresser. Take a look beautiful white cabinet style.

Beadboard Cabinet Door Style
Beadboard door style give a cottage look. The center panel of the cabinet doors are made to look like traditional beadboard paneling. Design by Pinto Designs and Associates.

Glass Cabinet Door Style
Transparent glass door style usually applied for glassware or china storage. It will show off beauties inside. More materials mean more budget too.
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Can't find any cabinet door style that suits your interest? You can discuss with your designer for custom personal unique design.

Cheer Up Your Kitchen Cabinet Interiors

Nowadays white clean kitchen with light color of cabinet, countertop, and floor are everywhere. Most people choose white kitchen theme because white color makes a space look bigger and enhances other elements. But overly white kitchen seems so boring and plain. Cheer up your kitchen with a lovely color and character inside cabinet interior. Show off your cabinet interior and wares through a glass door cabinet. No glass door cabinet? Don't worry, a cheerful color and graphics will make you smile each time to see it.

Laneway House by Janis Nicolay

Coffee Zone by Renewal Design

A bright accent color will enhances your wares. Ensure that the color will match to entire kitchen theme. Not only plain color, graphic pattern or character can be a good idea. As long as the items inside won't compete with it. What about the material? You can paint the cabinet interior but it needs deep thinking before you execute the idea. Because it will be little bit difficult when you want to change the color. Wallpaper or fabric can be your alternative. If you don’t want to permanently adhere it to the cabinet, you can change it easily.

Organizing Spice, Pullout Rack Or Drawer Storage?

Cooking is an enjoyable activity. But it becomes a nightmare when the spice bottle falling out of cabinet or spilling on countertop. Keep spices neat and kitchen clean by putting them into well-organized rack or drawer.

Pullout Rack
A pullout rack is a narrow shelf that mounted to cabinet. It doesn't need a wide space so you can locate it between two wider cabinets. The shelf can be designed to fit in between two new base or upper wall cabinet units, to be integrated in a hood, to flank a cooktop or to fit in what would otherwise be a useless decorative filler panel. Here's some suggestion and consideration before applying pullout spice rack. Pullout spice rack is suitable for small kitchen. If you have a limited space in your kitchen so this pullout spice rack type can be your choice. Avoid putting spice rack near the cooking area, just in case heat may diminish spice quality.

The cons of pullout rack that it requires bottle/storage in similar height because you cannot put any tall items in it. Even if you locate it on top or down cabinet, you have to look up or bend down your knees to find spice. If you cook a lot and use a wide range of spices – most of these pull-out ideas wouldn’t accommodate the number of spices, then you can consider single level spice drawer.

Pullout Spice Drawer
A single level spice drawer is a pullout rack but in horizontal way. It's easy to see spices because bottles keep laid out of you. No need to look up into cabinet or bend down. Beside, laid arrangement keep spice bottle safe from falling. Apply spice drawer store in the middle of cabinet so there's no too high or too low position.

Which one suits your needs?