Here are some ways you can spice up your kitchen cabinets

If you are looking to modernize your kitchen, you don’t have to take a sledgehammer to your countertop or rip out some cabinets.

Sometimes simply changing up your kitchen cabinets can make the room look brand new.

Here are some ways that you can spice up your kitchen cabinets:

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Glass-fronted cabinets

If you’re renovating a kitchen, including installing new cabinets, try doing a mixture of glass- and wood-front panels for your cabinets, a very popular feature in remodels.

With glass fronts, you can display the family’s “heirloom” china and also build variety into your kitchen. If you have something you really want to show off properly, you can also install the latest in LED lighting inside the cabinet.

Electricians and some do-it-yourselfers run stick-on strips of LEDs, behind the inside edging around the cabinet. Those strips are connected to a transformer hidden inside one of the other enclosed cabinets. Everything can be wired so that when you turn on overhead lights, cabinet lights go on as well. Or you can wire the cabinet lights to be independent of other lighting.

If you like your cabinets, but would like to have some glass panels, you can have a contractor add the glass. But if you’re really handy, you might be able to install panes yourself in a few cabinets. It’s a great way to customize builder’s grade cabinets in a new house.

Even if you don’t have prize-winning dishes and platters, you can still have glass fronts for variety’s sake. Just use frosted, beaded or “seeded” glass panels instead of clear glass if you don’t want the cereal boxes on display.

Cabinet lighting

The sticky strips of LEDs are also a great idea for adding under-cabinet lighting in your kitchen or perhaps lighting on the panels at the bottom of cabinets. They also work well inside large lazy susan cabinets that tend to be large, dark caves in the kitchen.

Slide-out drawers and shelves

These drawers and shelves can be added to an existing kitchen, but they’re something you especially want to build into your kitchen during a major remodel. They will help make your utensils and canned goods more accessible.

For example, a big, deep drawer can be built in under the cooktop or somewhere near the cooking area so that you can conveniently store heavy cookware. These super-size drawers have to be constructed so that you can load in up to 30 pounds of pots and pans.

If you’re on the handy side, you can find pre-made sliding shelves for cabinets available online or from cabinet companies and do the work yourself.