Glass Cabinet Door Glass Stops

by admin on March 10, 2010

Over the years I’ve tried various methods of retaining glass in a glass cabinet door, but I highly recommend the use of the glass stops that are shipped free with glass cabinet doors shipped from www.akorncabinets.com. The glass stops do not need to be drilled into the wood, can be easily removed, prevent the glass from rattling, and look professional. The plastic glass stops can be easily cut with scissors or a razor knife, and pushed into place. Each of the available glass doors (square, roman, cathedral, and country) has a picture of the glass cabinet door glass stop being installed on the website, www.akorncabinets.com.

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Puttying & Caulking Cabinets

by admin on January 24, 2010

Part of finishing your cabinetry project is the task of caulking and puttying the brad holes, joints, and seams. I place the finishing efforts into two main categories:

  • Pre-stained and lacquered
  • Post-stained and lacquered

The two conditions result from your preferences. I prefer to stain and lacquer my cabinets and molding prior to installation. This eliminates almost a week of inconvenience at the site of installation dealing with fumes, dust, and the challenge of staining and lacquering right next to a finished wall. I also prefer to seal the unseen portions of the cabinets and molding with at least one coat of lacquer to help minimize detrimental effects with moisture.

Almost all my pre-staining and lacquering puttying is done with Elmer’s Carpenter’s Wood Filler. I have had great success with this product over the years and haven’t been motivated to try anything else. I typically apply too much at a brad hole or a joint and let it dry (and shrink). I then knock the excess off with a rotary sander. I then stain and lacquer the cabinet as normal. I do not utilize caulking prior to staining and lacquering.

Post-staining and lacquering utilizes a wider selection of tools. You would be surprised at where caulking can be used to finish a cabinet. Caulking is available in a wide range of colors at your hardware store, from brilliant white, to shades of brown, to black. I typically utilize a shade of caulking that is close to the wall color to caulk between molding or cabinetry and the wall/ceiling. The caulking will hide the small gaps between the wall or ceiling and your molding/cabinet. I typically utilize caulking that is close in color to the finished wood to fill joints. Various putties and pencils are available from companies such as Miniwax, enabling you to purchase products that are similar in color to the finished wood. You can then take these products to fill brad holes and joints as well.

Utilizing these finishing tips will enable you to produce a finished cabinet that looks like it was done by the pros. Have fun!

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Custom Cabinet Drawer Fronts

January 21, 2010

Selecting custom drawer fronts is as important as selecting the cabinet doors. The drawer fronts should conform to the style of doors on the same cabinets. It is common to have a five-piece raised panel drawer front with raised panel doors, and a five-piece flat panel drawer front with flat panel doors. I personally prefer [...]

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Upper Kitchen Cabinets & Crown Molding

January 20, 2010

When upgrading a kitchen, I would recommend installing crown molding on the upper cabinets. When making new cabinets, this can be accomplished by over-sizing the upper portion of the face frame to accept the crown molding. Remember to use shorter pins when pinning the crown molding into the cabinet, and longer pins when pinning into [...]

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Akorn Provides a Convenient Way of Ordering Custom Wood Kitchen Cabinet Doors

January 18, 2010

Akorn provides a convenient way of ordering high-quality custom wood cabinet doors, drawer fronts, and accessories through its website www.akorncabinets.com. The www.akorncabinets.com website navigates the customer through the selection of door (raised, flat, and glass), style of door (square, roman, cathedral, and country), type of wood (knotty pine, paint grade maple, paint grade poplar, select [...]

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Cabinet Door Bumpers

January 13, 2010

Door bumpers soften the impact of a door or drawer when it is closed against a cabinet. They are commonly available in plastic and in felt. Thicknesses vary from about 1/16 inch to 1/8 inch. I prefer to place them on the back of the cabinet door or drawer, on the corner that hits the [...]

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Cabinet Door Styles and Wood Selection

January 11, 2010

Akorn offers several popular styles of doors on its website www.akorncabinets.com:

Straight, or Square Cabinet Doors. This style of door is often referred to as Shaker Cabinet Doors. The upper rail is straight.
Roman Arch Cabinet Doors. This style of door has a simple, single radius on the upper rail of the door.
Cathedral Arch Cabinet Doors. This [...]

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Mixing Square and Arched Panel Cabinet Doors

January 10, 2010

To provide visual interest, it is common to mix square panel doors and arched panel doors on the same cabinet. The square panel cabinet doors would be utilized as lower doors, and the arched panel cabinet doors would be utilized as upper doors. It would also be common to utilize glass cabinet doors as the [...]

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Refacing Your Kitchen

January 9, 2010

One of the easiest ways to give your kitchen a new upgraded look is to paint the cabinets and purchase new kitchen cabinet doors and drawer fronts. The kitchen cabinets need to be cleaned, patched as needed, and sanded to accept paint. New custom cabinet doors can be purchased to replace old, worn doors. I [...]

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Custom Kitchen Cabinet Doors – Staining and Lacquering or Painting

January 8, 2010

Akorn provides custom cabinet doors which require staining and lacquering or painting. I highly recommend trying out the stain and lacquering prior to finishing the doors to ensure that the stain and lacquer meets your expectations. A small piece of wood selected from the same species that you selected for your cabinet doors can be [...]

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