Kitchen Cabinet Upgrades That Will Add Value To Your Home Without Replacing Them

The kitchen can set the tone for your entire home. Now more than ever, with open plan concepts taking over and a love for hosting spreading, the kitchen is where most of the home life happens. So, when hopeful buyers set out to find their new abode, they're naturally drawn to this space, inspecting it with high standards. As the largest visual component, cabinets are one of the most-wanted kitchen features that boost your home's value. Keeping them updated, modern, and functional is crucial in making your kitchen more appealing to both yourself and prospective buyers, if that's where life eventually takes you. 

If you're looking to spruce up your kitchen cabinets for your own benefit, then it's up to you to decide which features you value the most. However, if you're thinking a few steps ahead and renovating with resale in mind, knowing what buyers look for in kitchen cabinets is key. Style, of course, plays a big role, but function ultimately takes the cake here. The kitchen is a very hands-on, practical area that owes more to efficiency than arguably any other room in the home. As a result, one of the top kitchen cabinet choices that can help your home's resale value is investing in clever storage solutions. 

You don't need a complete overhaul of your cabinetry to add value to your kitchen. Something as simple and unexpected as pull-down storage can make all the difference. These slim racks are installed underneath your wall cabinets in either a hinge or drawer slide system, and can be used to store small items like spice jars or knives and utensils. This way, the rack only takes up space when you pull it down to access the necessary objects. Otherwise, it'll be neatly tucked away, saving you both drawer and counter space. 

Assimilating fridges, ranges, and microwaves into cabinetry is now almost a standard of modern kitchen design, but pesky smaller appliances can still disturb the aesthetic, especially when you don't have the budget to buy those chic designer-grade ones. An appliance garage keeps small appliances hidden but accessible, avoiding cluttered cabinets.

These can be designed in a number of ingenious ways, from doors that double as counter space to roll-up, pull-up, or slide-back options. If you want to keep the appliances inside the cabinet while using them, ensure proper electrical and ventilation systems, especially for things like toasters and rice cookers that may release heat and steam.

Another smart kitchen storage solution that will also optimize your cooking experience is an integrated lift. Appliance lifts are designed for the kind of bulky, heavy machines that you would rather keep out of the counter but also hate to pick up when you need to use them, like mixers, blenders, or cooking robots. 

The lift system hoists up a small shelf and the appliance on top of it from the inside of your cabinet. When you're done, simply pull it back down, transforming the cabinet into regular storage. Depending on the manufacturer, some of these lifts can hold up to 60 pounds. 

Lighting can totally transform the look of any room, and under-cabinet lighting can give your kitchen a modern upgrade for less. These LED light strips can also be added to open shelving and above or inside cabinets. For the latter, lights with motion sensors will work best, illuminating your shelves, groceries, and tableware every time you open your cabinet door. LED strips are generally easy to install, but if you want a high-end look with no visible wiring and full tailoring to your space and needs, contact a professional. 

A visible trash can or recycling bin can truly kill the vibe in your kitchen. Opting for a pull-out solution, on the other hand, can immediately streamline and enhance your kitchen's layout, freeing up floor space and increasing property value. But this upgrade also contributes to your health and safety. 

When you simply place a bin inside a base cabinet, for instance, you might keep it lidless for easier access, because who is going to awkwardly reach down and in to open it? This is unhygienic, smelly, and generally discouraged. You should incorporate a lid that lifts up automatically once you pull open the cabinet door or drawer, keeping your trash safely contained when you're not using it.

Swapping your deep base cabinets for drawers is a slightly more laborious and expensive upgrade than the rest of the entries on this list. It's definitely worth it, though. Drawers are becoming popular cabinet replacements in modern kitchens, which could signal to a buyer that you've stayed on top of home improvement trends. 

They're beloved for the increased accessibility, sparing you from rummaging through the depths of your cabinets by allowing you to pull out and see the length of your storage. They also provide a more sectioned organization system for groceries, utensils, appliances, and tableware. Although cabinets can have shelves, there is almost always some vertical space that goes to waste. This is easier to avoid with a well-planned drawer layout. 

For the minimalists, an alternative to multiple drawers that keeps the lines and hardware in your cabinetry to a minimum is a single-unit roll-out pantry. By pulling on a single door handle, you'll be able to access multiple shelves, allowing you to quickly and thoroughly browse your food inventory.

These kitchen heavy-lifters can also be reimagined as dish racks with plates organized vertically, for example. They're ideal for small spaces with deep, narrow cupboards where regular shelving could turn into a nightmare of long-forgotten groceries and inaccessible kitchenware.  

It's very easy to understand why soft-close hinges are such a highly requested feature for kitchen cabinet doors and drawers. Such a tiny, relatively inexpensive upgrade could increase the durability of your furniture (and your sanity) by preventing the constant slamming. They're a brilliant addition to busy kitchens where doors are constantly being opened and shut, and may even prevent accidents involving caught fingers for those with little ones running around. 

Hardware has been described as the jewelry of the home. Not only is it shiny and often metallic, but it's a great way to adorn furniture, with options fitting from the most subtle to the most eccentric of tastes. The market for these pieces is vast, and they require such minimal effort to install that they're often one of the first alterations people make to their kitchens. Of course, for new hardware to look good, it should match the style of your kitchen. Sleek, minimalistic pieces look better in modern kitchens, while traditional and transitional cabinets can handle a bit more ornamentation. 

Your cabinets might still be in great shape, or maybe a complete replacement is just not feasible at the moment. If you're unhappy with how they look, want a more modern or unique kitchen, or simply want to increase your resale value, the closest thing to a full remodel without the dent in your wallet is refacing your cabinets. 

This could mean anything from a fresh coat of paint to adding molding or wallpaper. More commonly, however, with engineered wood cabinets, refacing entails changing the layer of decorative material covering them, whether that's veneer or laminate. Cabinets in lighter colors and wood stains tend to be more popular with buyers, making the kitchen appear brighter and bigger.