How Home Depot Can Save You Money On Completely Customizable DIY Cabinets

Renovating a kitchen can make your home feel brand new, but at a cost. For most, a kitchen renovation can be one of the most expensive updates to the home, and a lot of that money comes from the cabinetry. Building kitchen cabinets and installation can cost you upwards of $24,000, making this reno costly. Luckily, there are other options. If you're willing to do a bit of leg work and DIY-ing, you may want to consider buying unfinished cabinetry. 

On average, the unfinished cabinets from Home Depot cost between $99 and $300 each depending on your style choice and whether or not you need specialty cabinets, like corner units or a pantry cabinet. Even if you're redoing every cabinet in your home, the cost of buying them unfinished and finishing them yourself is dramatically lower than using professional cabinetry. Plus, with a bit of sweat equity, you can completely customize your cabinets to your liking, whether you choose to stain them or paint them.

Buying unfinished cabinets can be daunting if you don't know where to start. The first thing you'll want to do is decide whether you want to paint or stain your kitchen cabinets. This decision is easy: Do you want a vibrant color, or do you want to keep the cabinets looking natural? If you choose the latter, you'll want to go with a stain. Staining is a bit more simple than painting as all it requires is sanding the surface and applying the stain. The finished product is a natural, wood-focused look that fits nicely with most countertop styles and backsplashes without the worry of chipping.

If you're hoping to add color to your kitchen, though, you'll want to head to the paint store. You can keep things more simple and classic by using colors like gray or white, or make a statement by painting your cabinets with a deep blue or forest green. When it comes to paint, the options are endless — just make sure you're priming your cabinets and using the right paint. A semi-gloss or satin finish paint is likely your best bet.

Sometimes, the smallest details make the biggest impact. This is especially true when it comes to your kitchen cabinets. Once you've settled on a paint or stain color, you'll want to pick out your knobs or handles. Brass is a big trend as of late and a great way to give your kitchen some life. These brass mushroom cabinet knobs from Build are just over $10 and are a good way to keep things trendy and classic, while a brass handle, like these square handles from Lowes, will help keep the feel of your kitchen more modern at $35.

Another way to make your unfinished cabinets look custom-made is to add panels to the outside of the cabinets. You can find these panels at Home Depot for about $25 each, depending on the size you choose. As YouTube creator Flipping Gorgeous shows us, adding these panels takes unfinished builder-grade cabinetry and turns it into expensive-looking, one-of-a-kind cabinets. Simply use wood glue and a brad nailer to adhere the panels to the cabinets, then paint, stain, or glaze over them for the finishing touch.