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How to make your builder grade cabinets look custom with simple trim.
Adding just a bit of inexpensive trim makes a big difference on the sides of your kitchen cabinets!
I’ve been hard at work in our kitchen finishing up a few smaller projects. I LOVE our kitchen, but I’ve planned all along to add some small details that add some interest and character.
You know character is the name of my game! My goal for the past couple decades of home ownership has been to add custom touches to our homes. 🙂
This one is a quick project that I never had to address in our old kitchen makeover because we didn’t have any exposed cabinet ends:
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Basic cabinet side panels don’t bother me — but I do see them as an opportunity to make the kitchen look more custom!
First I had to remove all of the trim along the side — the quarter round, baseboard on the wall and the trim along the back of the cabinet. I used a pry bar and my hammer to pull those off.
Because the cabinets have a small “lip” on the front, I needed to make everything even so I could add the trim on top.
Most cabinets will have that face part that will make things uneven on the side.
I had a piece of luan cut to the size I needed and then I nailed it on to the cabinet with my nail gun:
Make sure to use very short nails so they don’t go through the other side! Or even wood glue would work.
I kept the old trim from the kitchen island to use on this project but had to buy a couple new 1×3 pieces of lattice (I find this size at Menard’s):
I created a very simple board and batten look on the ends:
- Two on the sides first (so there was a clean look along the front) straight to the floor.
- Then the two pieces on top and bottom, and then the middle one.
I could have gone with a planked look like the island, but didn’t want to repeat that design too much.
I started painting it with white paint and then I realized our white cabinets are not bright white — so I took a cabinet door to the paint store to have it color matched.
This might be my new favorite white!:
It’s such a lovely, creamy white. I love it!
I sanded lightly after each coat and did three coats total.
I LOVE how this simple trim makes the cabinets look more custom!
It’s a pretty detail that’s subtle — again, not in your face.
If you don’t add feet, you will just have the thin trim coming down to the floor on the side of your cabinet.
I don’t know that anyone would even notice the change if they came in the house, but overall it adds a little something.
I love those projects — when you tweak something for the better and it’s subtle enough the space feels different, but a visitor wouldn’t be able to put their finger on it:
Here’s the only pic I could find of this view before the island makeover:
And here it is now with the “new” island and DIY detail on the end of the cabinets:
And here’s a before of the other side of our kitchen:
Yes, I covered most of this one up with the IKEA bracket and my cute kitchen stuff, but the end of the cabinet is still a beauty!
I did both exposed ends for about $30. The 4×8 luan is plenty for this small project, and I have a bunch leftover. I had some of the 1×3 trim and bought a couple more.
Have you tried a simple project like this in your home?
