How to Get Your Kitchen Cabinets Ready for Your Thanksgiving Feast
We’re now only a month away from the true kick-off to the holiday season: Thanksgiving. While everyone celebrates this fall festival a bit differently, food is always a large component -- and where food is involved, you can expect plenty of kitchen activity. As you balance your guest and grocery lists and prepare for a full day of cooking, your kitchen cabinets probably won’t be on your mind all that much, if at all. However, you’ll want your kitchen cabinets to be in great shape by the time Thanksgiving finally rolls around. For one thing, your cabinets contribute to your kitchen’s look as a whole, and who doesn’t want to impress their holiday guests? Moreover, all of the activity that goes into making a memorable holiday feast can take a toll on your cabinets, especially if they’re already falling apart -- no one wants to worry about cabinet repairs during the holiday season.
With all this in mind, here’s how to get your kitchen cabinets ready for your Thanksgiving feast, the holidays ahead, and beyond.
Ways to Get Your Kitchen Cabinets Ready for Thanksgiving
Thoroughly Clean Your Kitchen Cabinets
When’s the last time you cleaned your kitchen cabinets? If you don’t know the answer, you’re in good company. But just because many people forget to regularly scrub their cabinets doesn’t mean you should continue to neglect them. To keep your cabinets fresh and durable, it’s a good idea to clean their exteriors at least twice a month (once a week is even better) and their interiors about every 2-3 months. At the very least, you’ll want to give them a good washing inside and out in time for Thanksgiving. Maintaining clean cabinets won’t just retain their appearance, either -- it will also help prevent mold/mildew growth, keep pests at bay, and stop other contaminants from building up and wearing your cabinets down. Cabinet cleaning is also a necessary step if you plan on painting or refinishing them, which we’ll discuss later on.
To properly clean your kitchen cabinets, you’ll want to acquire durable wash cloths, an old toothbrush you don’t plan on using anymore, a cleaning solution (dish soap, speciality cabinet cleaner, vinegar/warm water solution, all-purpose cleaner, etc.), and a spray bottle. First, remove all items from your cabinets. Then, working from the top down, clean the exteriors of all your cabinets, then tackle the insides. Use the toothbrush to scrub away stubborn grime and to clean smaller, tighter, and/or harder to reach spaces. With squeaky clean cabinets, you’ll be one step closer to hosting the perfect Thanksgiving celebration.
Check Your Kitchen’s Ventilation
Kitchen cabinets can undergo damage from a wide variety of sources, but moisture and heat from cooking are perhaps the most pervasive among them. And for many households, Thanksgiving features the highest degree of kitchen activity compared to any other day -- stovetops run at full capacity, ovens are constantly opened and closed for turkey, rolls, pies, etc., dishes are cleaned intermittently, and so on. All of this holiday hustle and bustle can create a hazardous environment for your kitchen cabinets, so it’s important to ensure that your kitchen can efficiently remove steam from the area via exhaust fans. The better ventilated your kitchen is, the better protected your cabinets (and the rest of your interior surfaces) will be (don’t worry -- your home will still retain the mouth-watering smells inherent in Thanksgiving meal preparation). So, do yourself a favor and examine your kitchen’s ventilation systems well in advance of the holidays. If things aren’t operating at maximum efficiency, you may need to have your system cleaned, repaired, or replaced.
Perform Paint Touch-Ups
The approach of the holidays provides a great excuse to touch up various parts of your home. If your kitchen cabinets feature some degree of fading, chipping, or peeling, you might want to get painting. Note that there are usually several steps to painting cabinets the proper way. However, if you’re only touching up some small areas of your cabinets, these steps are relatively easy to complete, and some can be bypassed. For instance, the corners of cabinets are usually the first areas to reveal discoloration or chipping. Touching up these portions is often as simple as applying the same color of paint as the rest of your cabinets and lightly sanding the touched up area (after it’s dried) to achieve a seamless look. Of course, if you can’t find the right color match or the majority of your cabinets have lost their original hue, you might want to repaint them in their entirety instead. If you’re wondering, “how long does it take to paint kitchen cabinets?” the answer depends on several factors, which we’ll discuss next.
Refinish Your Kitchen Cabinets Entirely
Refinishing or repainting all of your kitchen cabinets is a great way to modernize your kitchen and ensure the ongoing durability of your cabinets. Of course, this is no small project -- even smaller cabinet painting projects can span the course of a few days, while larger ones can take weeks to complete. The sooner you get started, then, the better. The main reason cabinet refinishing takes time is due to the various steps required to ensure beautiful, long-lasting results. Doors, drawers, and hardware must be removed, all surfaces must be cleaned, sanded, repaired, primed, and coated (multiple coats are often necessary), and everything must be put back together in the end. It’s best to hire a cabinet painting company to handle these various steps so you don’t end up making key mistakes (see our blog “Common Kitchen Cabinet Painting Mistakes & How to Avoid Them” for more on this). Professional cabinet painters can also help you find the best paint finish for your cabinets to streamline the project and ensure you’re happy with the outcome. You might even consider incorporating festive colors for your cabinets to match the Thanksgiving mood. Keep in mind, of course, that this decision is semi-permanent, so choose colors and finishes you’ll be happy with year-round.
Take Time to Reorganize
Over the years, it’s easy for chaos to take over the inside of your cabinets. After all, the interiors of your cabinets are only in view when you open them up, so the situation can quickly become “out of sight, out of mind.” Disorganized cabinets can become a major headache, however, especially when you’re hosting a large gathering. You’ll want to know where everything is at all times so you can keep everyone happy throughout the day and evening. And since you have to empty your cabinets to clean and paint them anyway, you might as well take stock of your stuff before putting everything back. You might discover that certain items are past their usefulness, and you’ll likely find new and improved ways to sort your dishes, glassware, and so on.
Feast Your Eyes on Fresh Kitchen Cabinets
Are your cabinets ready for this year’s Thanksgiving? Let the residential interior painting and cabinet refinishing experts at Nash Painting clean, repair, touch up, and/or refinish your kitchen cabinets in time for the holidays. We’ve served countless homes and businesses across Nashville, Brentwood, and Franklin, TN, and we hope to serve yours next. To learn more about us, our services, and our values, call us at 615-829-6858 today!