Kitchen Cabinet Help Needed

[Steve Goetz]

I'm in the process of taking a 1955 kitchen and upgrading it to look like a more suited up-to-date kitchen. I'm wanting to keep the existing cabinets for money constraints. They are flat 3/4" maple doors with a warn, natural finish. What I am wanting to do is add some other cabinets and paint the ones that are currently there. I was wanting to make them look better by adding some 1/4x2-1/2" strips around the edge to give them a "shaker" look. What is the best way to attach the strips of wood to the existing panels? My thoughts are glue and brads, but I was concerned about swelling and crossgrain contact. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

[Craig D Peltier]

You mean on the face of flat doors? Use MDF if it worries you. Cheap, takes paint well. I personally wouldnt be worried about movement as long as my wood was dry and for swelling im not sure where there would be any.

[Peter Quinn]

If the doors are solid wood, what I would call "slab doors", or basically a solid flat panel, probably an overlay if they are, I would avoid applying strips to one face across the grain. First, there can be adhesion problems with the existing finish. Second, maple moves a lot and the cross grain movement will be a problem. If you use brads, the wood will probably overcome the strips you've added, and things will just get a little out of alignment. Worst case you get cracks or warping and the doors no longer lay correctly on the FF. Just not the best look going forward. I did a quick and dirty overhaul of my 1950's kitchen, making new drawers and doors. I found it was quicker and cheaper to make poplar and MDF flat panel doors for paint grade than doing anything with the old ones. Maybe $15 per door in materials and for me less than 45 minutes per door from rough stock to clamps, finish time was additional, but you are going to paint anyway so thats a wash. For shaker doors you can do the whole thing with a minimal of tooling and still get a beautiful end result.