Sometimes you just want a change–even if you’re happy with your kitchen’s arrangement and the cabinets you’ve used for years are still going strong. Instead of ditching those cabinets, consider refacing them, as these clients did, transforming their kitchen from “country hickory” to Palm Springs smooth.

The pantry before:

… and after:

 I added the section at the left to utilize space that was being wasted.

 The new material is teak composite–real teak that has, as it were, been reformatted to create a linear design. It’s an Italian product imported by Heitink Veneers.

To wrap the island with the new panels, a process requiring nail-biting precision in cutting the long miters at the back of the eight-foot-long piece, I enlisted the aid of Mark Longacre, of Mark Longacre Construction, Inc.

 The key to this style is precision. The grain flows continuously between all adjacent parts. Margins between the various elements are minimal and consistent. The plane of doors and drawer faces is as uniform as possible–a challenge especially when one is refacing existing cabinetry that was built to far less exacting specifications.

Photography by Kendall Reeves, Spectrum Studio of Photography and Design