"European" cabinets at a third the cost

Sunset, June, 1984

A surface facelift gave this kitchen the custom look of European-designed cabinets at a third the cost of the real thing. Interior designer Dragana Siljak of Saratoga, California, removed the old doors and drawer faces, then covered the existing cabinet shells with 1/4-inch oak plywood. She replaced the doors and faces with ones of particle board covered with white plastic laminate, then banded them with oak trim.

Otherwise, the only changes to the cabinets were new drawers and a cupboard added to the outside face of the peninsula and small matching oak shelves near the wall-hung telephone.