The majority of kitchen cabinets, particularly those made out of wood, are designed to survive for many years. The timeless elegance of high-quality solid wood cabinets makes them a perfect complement to any kitchen. However, no matter the material of the cabinet, as time passes, some form of damage is bound to happen. At first glance, this damage may appear to have come out of nowhere. Most cabinet damage is caused by fluctuations in humidity and temperature. Humidity in the kitchen may lead to the wood expanding and contracting. This can, for instance, cause the paint on your cabinets to chip and reveal the joint lines. Aside from that, water damage, faulty installation, relocating the cabinets, and unprepared wood prior to painting are all possibilities. For this preseason, we are going to discuss the top five things that can damage your kitchen cabinets.

Extreme Moisture and Temperature Change

Kitchen temperature and humidity fluctuations are the leading cause of cracks in the wood center panel and cabinet doors that damage your kitchen cabinets. Wood is a natural material that will adjust to the humidity and temperature of your house over time. However, even the best kitchen cabinets and wood countertops can swell in summer and other humid months because wood easily absorbs extra moisture from the air due to higher relative humidity. When winter arrives, the humidity lowers, causing the wood to compress. Additionally, kitchen cabinet paint wears off over time due to the wood’s continual movement. These flaws manifest as tiny openings or thin fractures in the cabinet’s doors, joints, or corners. That being said, if you manage the kitchen’s humidity properly, problems with painting won’t arise. On the other hand, if you wish to prevent cracks, you will need to maintain a constant humidity level of between 40 and 50 percent.

Damage Caused by Water

The kitchen is one of the busiest areas in the home, so it’s not surprising that water spills and stains are common on painted cabinet surfaces. If your high-quality wood cabinets or countertops absorb even a tiny bit of water, they can quickly lose their quality and beauty. Cracking of butt joints in corner cabinets, paint peeling or bubbling, and expansion of wood materials are all possible results. However, if you have plywood cabinets and countertops rather than solid wood ones, it’s highly unlikely that your cabinets will become damaged due to water alone.

Failing to Properly Prepare Cabinetry Prior to Painting

When the wood in your kitchen cabinets isn’t properly treated or prepped before the final painting process, cracks may form in either a small piece or across an entire panel. For instance, the paint may bubble or shatter if you work on an unclean surface. Therefore, you need to make sure to remove any dirt, grease, and dust from the wood surface before painting. It’s also not a good idea to paint your wood cabinet doors and panels while they’re still wet. This may cause bubbles to develop on the paint and eventually peel off, leaving behind unsightly fissures.

Household Pests Can Damage Your Kitchen Cabinets

No one wants to believe they have a problem with pests in their kitchen. It still can be. Cockroaches in particular are often attracted to the greasy residue that builds up behind the stove. Additionally, pests such as termites love moist environments in kitchen cabinets. This makes your kitchen cabinets the perfect place for them to establish their colony. Termites can seriously damage the woodwork inside your kitchen cabinets and in the process can wreak havoc on your home. That’s why it’s so important to regularly inspect your cabinets for signs of infestation so you can take immediate action to minimize further damage and prevent the infestation from spreading to other areas of your home.

Poor Installation

Failing to install it properly weakens the overall structure of a cabinet, which over time leads to cracks and damage. If you want your cabinets to last a long time without breaking, you need to use professionals who know how to correctly secure the joints and install the cabinets.

How to Increase the Longevity of Your Kitchen Cabinets?

If you have recently purchased or are planning to purchase a custom cabinet set for your kitchen and are looking for ways to make it last longer, you should:

Keep Them in Working Order

As soon as you notice that they are not performing properly, you must determine what is causing the problem and resolve it. As we have mentioned, leaving technical issues unattended can cause further damage to your kitchen cabinets.

Clean Them Frequently

Wardrobe cleaning is a tedious job that no one wants to do. However, you don’t need to be completely thorough. You can wipe it regularly with a damp cloth.

Minimize the Humidity in Your Kitchen to Avoid Damage to Your Kitchen Cabinets

Moisture is the worst enemy of kitchen cabinets. As a result, make sure to air out any cooking streams and deal with spilled liquid as soon as possible.

Conclusion

Now that you understand what the top five things that can damage your kitchen cabinets are, we hope that you will take the necessary precautions to protect your investment. Regularly following these tips will save your kitchen cabinet set a lot more for years to come.

The kitchen often serves as the focal point of any home where food brings people together. A beautiful renovation project that adds second-hand value to your home, you can personalize your kitchen.

Take a look at the benefits of renovating your kitchen and how it can boost your profits when deciding to sell.

Individual Features in Kitchen Remodels That Increase Home Value the Most

The most significant design changes come from the smaller details in your kitchen. You can create your vision of the perfect kitchen by modifying the features around the room that you use daily. Minor kitchen upgrade ideas or even a new kitchen will increase home value due to the upgraded functionality and style you install in your house.

Consider these common kitchen home improvement ideas that can spark inspiration and improve your home’s value.

Cabinets

Think of your kitchen cabinets as a blank canvas that you can paint and decorate to make the space come to life. These features pull the whole room together effortlessly.

Kitchen cabinets are one of the most versatile and customizable features that allow you to incorporate your personal style into one of the most popular areas in the home. Not to mention, these stylish fixtures add incredible function via storage — and many homebuyers seek out ample storage when shopping around for homes.

Start your kitchen home improvement project with a few cabinet styling options to explore:

Materials: The base of the cabinet starts with the material you choose. Texture, appearance, and finishes can drastically change the wood and fiberboard look. You can select a few options for your cabinet material — cherry, oak, hickory, maple, laminate, and many others.
Styles: Cabinets can arrive with various styles of wood carvings and detailed appearances. With a splash of color, you can use these small intricate features to stand out to add more flair to your kitchen. The styles of cabinet doors you can choose from include versatile shaker styles, traditionally raised panels and modern slabs.
Finishes: The finish of your kitchen cabinets gives a final touch of your style that others can admire. Staining, glaze, and paints can turn your wood or laminate cabinets into the signature flair you plan to create with your renovation project. Consider a neutral finish that can become a blank canvas for future homeowners. White cabinets, for instance, are trendy right now, but they’re also timeless and adaptable for different aesthetics. You could also go for a two-tone look.

Countertops and Backsplashes

Add some depth to your kitchen renovation project with new countertops and backsplashes. These spaces are where family and friends gather to cook meals and share stories together. A change in style to these features can capture the attention of future buyers who can envision making their own memories in the same room. 

For this reason, new countertops and backsplashes that add flair to your kitchen cabinets can increase the number of potential buyers and improve your home’s resale value. Authentic marble, wood, or stone countertops are one of the most attractive kitchen upgrade ideas for buyers to observe when you sell. Backsplashes can draw in colors from your new cabinets that match the countertops to pull the whole room together.

Appliances

New appliances around the kitchen increase the functionality of the room’s primary purposes. A modern fridge, oven, cooktop, microwave, dishwasher, or other valuable devices can help make the kitchen come to life and make cooking more fun for the whole family. When the time comes to sell your home, buyers can appreciate the addition of new appliances that they will not have to purchase. They will be more inclined to spend more on the house, increasing the resale value.

Flooring

A prominent upgrade you can add to your kitchen home improvement plans is the flooring. Depending on the styles you choose for your cabinets and countertops, you can find beautiful floors that complement your selected colors and patterns. Wood, stone, tile, marble, and vinyl floors can add even more style and life to the most used room in the home.

New floors offer protection from water and steam damage and give the room a fresh shine. These upgrades are one of the first noticeable features of the kitchens that buyers admire because the floors suggest the room is in good shape, which increases the home’s value.

How Much Does a Kitchen Remodel Increase Home Value?

In 2022, a mid-range, minor kitchen remodel boosted resale by over $20,000, recouping a little over 71% of the cost. For a major mid-range kitchen renovation, the return on investment (ROI) was a bit over 56%, but it increased home value by more than $45,000. Even the most minor upgrades in kitchen renovation and remodeling can add value to the entire house.

The return on investment of kitchen spending has increased significantly over the past few years. Since this area is typically the house’s most used room by all family members, buyers tend to look at the kitchen first to determine the home’s potential in the future. A quality kitchen can increase your buyer pool, potentially driving up competition on your house and earning you higher offers.

Kitchen Remodels vs. Other Remodels

Remodeling projects that offer modern upgrades or expansions in the home can typically result in a higher resale value. Kitchen renovation quickly attracts the attention of future buyers.

With this in mind, you should renovate your kitchen before selling it. The same research from 2022 that found the return on kitchen remodels found these numbers for other upgrades:

Mid-range main bedroom suite addition: 53.4%
Mid-range bathroom addition: 51.8%
An upscale bathroom remodel: 53.5%
A mid-range bathroom remodel: 58.9%

A new kitchen offers future homeowners durable floors and cabinets. Resale value can increase thanks to your efforts when you invest in new and stylish spaces for your home.

White cabinets are so versatile that you can couple them with any kitchen color scheme. This is one of the reasons white kitchens are trending now. There are multiple shades of white that help you make an aesthetic, modern, or vintage kitchen ambiance.

5 White Cabinet Shades to Furnish a Kitchen

When someone says “a white kitchen”, an image of a neat, all-white kitchen may appear in your mind. But do you know there are multiple shades of white cabinets at Potomac Kitchen and Bath ? The different shades of these white kitchen cabinets help you create different ambiances in your kitchen space.

Here are some pretty shades of white to grace your kitchen interior.

1. Ivory White Kitchen Cabinetry

Ivory white is a neutral color that you can pair with plenty of colors. You must decide what kind of vibe you want in your kitchen area.

• Ivory White with Bright Colors: If you are looking for something bold and bright, contrast a pink, green, or blue backsplash with ivory-white kitchen cabinets. Also, pairing them with white walls and backsplash will create a fully white, bright kitchen space with a sharp contrast.
• Ivory White with Dark Colors: Pairing a dark color with a lighter shade always works for kitchen interior design. When you have ivory white cabinets, make a pretty contrast with a dark backsplash. A solid or patterned kitchen backsplash with dark blue or red color would be pretty attractive.

A warm tone like brown suits best with ivory white. So, you can go for a dark brown backsplash or countertops. Also, a wooden floor and wooden textured backsplash with ivory-white cabinets offer a warm vibe in your kitchen space.

• Ivory White with Light colors: Light colors like beige, light grey, cream, etc., paired with ivory white offer an aesthetic look. It creates a neutral look that fits well with both modern and traditional kitchen interiors.

2. Crystal White Kitchen Cabinetry

Crystal white cabinets are ideal for you if you want a glossy, chic kitchen design. Suppose your choice is an all-white kitchen, pair white walls with crystal white kitchen cabinets. It creates a modern, lavish modular kitchen outlook. An all-white kitchen looks more hygienic, clean, and spacious.

The color of stainless steel blends well with the crystal white color. Adding steel hinges, knobs, or handles to these cabinets will make your kitchen space look more stylish.

3. White Shaker Kitchen Cabinetry

If you prefer a simple, classic kitchen interior design, white shaker cabinets can be appropriate for your kitchen. Unlike crystal white, white shaker cabinets offer a matte finish cabinetry and a rustic feel.

There is a great opportunity to Install a patterned floor when you have white shaker kitchen cabinets. When you have dark kitchen cabinetry, the pattern of your floor does not create a focal point. The simplicity of white shaker cabinets makes your wooden floor perceptible more clearly. So, you can flaunt your favorite flooring pattern.

Also, a pop of color is welcome to bring in energy and vibrancy with white shaker cabinets. Installing a colorful island will create a “wow” factor in your kitchen space.

4. Venetian White Kitchen Cabinetry

Our Venetian white kitchen cabinets belong to the warm-toned shades of white. This cabinet shade is well-suited to create a vintage, antique kitchen outlook. Copper, brown, or wooden floor and furniture will pair perfectly with this shade of white.

You can install a dark brown, cream, or beige countertop contrasting these Venetian white cabinets. Add golden hinges and handles to adorn the appearance.

Fixing some pendant lighting will enhance the beauty more. The natural yellow light will create a warm cozy atmosphere in your kitchen.

5. Classic White Kitchen Cabinetry

Our classic white cabinets have a perfect shade to offer a classy elegance. This shade, among our white cabinet collection, mostly offers a neutral tone. It has a smooth finish that helps you clean easily.

Create a modern, sleek kitchen design by pairing steel appliances with classic white kitchen cabinets. Also, it allows you to show your creativity on the kitchen backsplash. Add some cool patterned or painted backsplash that would be easily noticeable in between your kitchen cabinetry.

In Bottom Line

White is such a color that stands out among others even when used single for your entire kitchen interior. It reflects the light so well that a kitchen space looks more alive. On the other side, nothing creates as striking as pairing a contrasting color with white kitchen cabinets.

There is no such rule that you have to install kitchen cabinets with a single color. You can couple your white cabinets with our other dark kitchen cabinet shades like royal blue, navy blue, red, brown, cherry, etc. Visit our website, choose your favorite cabinet shade, and let us make your dream kitchen come true!