Replacing kitchen kitchen fronts: Is it worth it?
Small scratches, chipped spots, faded paint, blisters and stubborn splashes of grease: kitchen fronts get a lot out of their daily cooking front over the course of their use. Depending on the intensity of use and quality of the kitchen fronts, they can look ugly after just a few years and turn the former dream kitchen into a place of horror. If the kitchen body, the tiles and also the kitchen worktop are still in order, then you can replace the kitchen fronts. Especially financially, this is a good solution.
If you want to pay even more attention to the budget, you can renew the kitchen fronts, i.e. refurbish them cost-effectively yourself. For example, you can paint in a new color, wrap the kitchen (also possible in a high-gloss look) or glue it with plastic sheets or veneers and thus beautify the kitchen.
As soon as damage has occurred to the kitchen body, i.e. to the cabinets themselves, or you urgently need to install a new tile mirror and the worktop also needs to be replaced, it may no longer be worthwhile to replace the kitchen fronts. In this case, you should calculate exactly and compare whether a completely new kitchen would not be cheaper and, above all, more nerve-friendly.
If you want to replace the kitchen fronts, you can do it yourself with a little craftsmanship – or commission a company.Photo: iStock/NesAdvantages of replacing the furniture fronts
If you replace the kitchen fronts, this brings advantages – both for your wallet and for the environment:Sustainable use of resources, because not the entire kitchen is disposed of, but only what disturbs or is broken. For example, handles do not always have to be replaced. Lower cost compared to the cost of a new kitchen. You need even less money if you refurbish the furniture fronts yourself and do not replace them at all. According to your taste: The kitchen fronts can be exactly as you want. However, this could drive up costs. With a little patience, a steady hand and a bit of muscle power, you can even change the kitchen fronts yourself. But you can also turn to the professionals who sold you the kitchen – just as you like.Which factors influence the costs of replacing the kitchen fronts?
As with all projects in and around the home, the cost of replacing the kitchen fronts is influenced by several factors. If you want to replace kitchen fronts and do not want to buy a completely new kitchen right away, you should be aware of these factors:How big is your kitchen? Is it a particularly small kitchen? How big is the area of the kitchen fronts? How many kitchen fronts do you need? What are the dimensions of the wall units, base units and doors? With standard dimensions – i.e. 60 centimetres wide – you can replace the kitchen fronts more easily and cheaply than with manufacturer-specific sizes such as 30 centimetres or even 90 centimetres. What material should your new kitchen fronts be made of? What surface did you have in mind for the doors, cabinets and drawers? You can choose between matt, smooth, lacquered or high-gloss surfaces (films on coated MDF boards). There are also smooth kitchen fronts with design as well as kitchen fronts with milling profile. As for the material, you can choose between stainless steel, glass, wood (also coated with melamine resin) or plastic. What kitchen do you have? The main questions are whether you have a wooden kitchen, a kitchen whose fronts are already foiled, a kitchen for which you can still buy kitchen fronts from the manufacturer or a kitchen whose finished fronts are no longer sold and which you definitely have to replace or process elsewhere. What material are the current kitchen fronts made of? If you have glass fronts, you can unfortunately not easily replace them yourself, because glass fronts are not screwed on. That is, if you want new glass fronts, you need to hire experts. What additional work is required around the kitchen fronts? For example, holes for pot belts, special handles and holes for the handles. Do you have the kitchen fronts delivered? How do you dispose of the replaced kitchen fronts? Who installs the kitchen fronts? Do you do the work yourself or do you bring the experts on board? Do you really only change the kitchen fronts or do you want to polish the whole kitchen a bit? New worktop, gluing over tiles, new splash guard and new kitchen lighting? Although these items no longer fall into the actual costs of replacing the kitchen fronts, they must not be ignored. If you ever get to work and replace the kitchen fronts, a complete kitchen renovation may also be worthwhile.What options are there to replace kitchen fronts?
Once you have decided to give your kitchen a new look and have taken the exact dimensions of the base cabinets, wall units, doors and hinges, you can get started. First port of call for do-it-yourselfers who replace your kitchen fronts: The manufacturer of your kitchen or the kitchen studio where you bought the kitchen. Check whether suitable kitchen fronts are offered there. Online you can get a good first overview at many kitchen manufacturers and kitchen studios.
Tip:
Even if the kitchen model no longer exists at the manufacturer, this does not necessarily mean that he no longer has suitable kitchen fronts in stock. On the one hand, more kitchen fronts are often produced than kitchens and, on the other hand, if the cabinet dimensions fit, you can buy the fronts of another model. Or you can choose a different color or the fronts of another manufacturer when you replace the kitchen fronts.
If you do not find an already manufactured kitchen front for which you would like to exchange your old kitchen front, then you can contact special kitchen front manufacturers. On the Internet there are some portals that offer kitchen fronts for replacement in standard sizes and several designs. If you prefer direct contact and want a surface made of real wood, you can go to a carpenter. Very skilled do-it-yourselfers can also manufacture the fronts themselves and thus limit their costs only to the expenses for the wood, the design elements and the kitchen handles.Cost examples for the replacement of kitchen fronts
If you order a desired kitchen front from one of the portals or buy it directly from the kitchen manufacturer, you pay an average of 80 to 500 euros per square meter of kitchen front to be replaced.
A three-layer solid wood kitchen front with just under 500 euros per square meter is by far the most expensive variant here. Followed by the lacquer fronts for the kitchenette with around 350 euros per square meter. After that, the high-gloss kitchen fronts usually come for around 240 euros and the fronts with milled profile for about 150 to 210 euros. The cheapest kitchen front is the smooth MDF board variant, for which you pay between 80 and 130 euros per square meter. Every kitchen front also depends on the design of the surfaces and the design. The cheaper a kitchen front is, the simpler it is designed.
You may also be interested in these articles
For an average four square meter kitchen front with 16 individual parts, the bill can be between about 300 and 2000 euros, depending on the type and design of the new kitchen fronts. Depending on the manufacturer, extra costs for the handles are added. These cost about 300 euros for an average kitchen.
