Cabinets

Working on the downstairs actually started with a desire to improve the cabinets... but that plan was deferred. Several months back, I purchased some crown molding for the cabinets, and even black splash tile. But the more I put thought into it, the more I realized I wanted to go the extra distance and add cabinet lighting.

I ordered LED cabinet lighting from an online source, which told me I needed to include a Magnetic Low-Voltage (MLV) transformer. I received the lights alright, but no transformer. Turns out, it was back ordered forever. Months later, after Christmas, I found the transformer on another site and low-and-behold, they had it in stock! In the mean time, though, I did all the other stuff I already talked about.

Well bored, and needing a project, I picked back up the cabinet effort. Here are my objectives:

Raise the cabinets about and 1 1/2" (Done)
Trim with bead molding (Partly Done)
Trim with cove crown molding (Partly Done)
Over cabinet lighting (To do)
Under cabinet lighting (To do)
Redo outlets and switches with Adorne Collection (To do)
Backsplash (To do)

I was successful in raising the cabinets. In fact the subtle 1.5" added height is a profound difference. It's like they can breath now. Super happy with the result, plus, the new height perfectly fits a sheet of the mosaic tile we picked out.

With the bead molding. I decided I would trim entirely around the whole cabinet. That means across the full edge of the top, down the side next to the microwave, and across the bottom. The one thing that bothered me originally was the sides of the cabinet face actually protrude past the side panel about 1/4". I saw where our neighbors builder just bent the bead trim inward, which looks half-assed. Our other neighbors had a piece of filler inserted in this space (which maybe that is the norm). Not liking any of these options, I decided to miter cut the small peices and trim around the whole profile. Wow! The result is subtle, but looks sophisticated and amazing!