This is one of the first questions homeowners bring into the showroom, usually framed as a budget question. It is really a question about whether your current layout is worth keeping.
What refacing actually is
Refacing keeps your existing cabinet boxes and replaces the doors, drawer fronts and visible surfaces. You get a new finish and new hardware. What you do not get is a different layout, different cabinet sizes, or better internal storage.
When refacing is the right answer
Reface when the boxes are solid, the layout genuinely works, and your complaint is purely cosmetic. If your kitchen functions well and you simply dislike the oak finish from a previous decade, refacing gets you most of the visual change for a fraction of the cost and disruption.
When replacement is the right answer
Replace when any of the following is true: the layout frustrates you daily, the boxes are particle board that has swollen at the sink, you want deeper drawers or specialty storage, you are changing the countertop material anyway, or you have high ceilings you want to use. Replacement is also the only route to genuinely custom sizing.
The honest middle ground
Plenty of our projects replace the cabinetry in the hard-working zone and leave a peripheral run alone. There is no rule that says a kitchen has to be all one or all the other. Bring us photographs and rough measurements and we will tell you frankly which side of the line your kitchen falls on, including when the answer is that you do not need us yet.
