Kitchen cabinets & walls

[Kellee]

We have a double wide that is 7 years old. The cabinet finish is wearing off, is this something I can strip down and restain or paint?

I would also like to know if you can prime and paint your walls. They have the wallpaper type stuff on them now. Also could I take of the matching trim off in between each wall board and fill it in with something.

Thank you

[Melanie]

I am dealing with nasty cabinets myself! I am trying to decide if it would be worth just replacing the doors and drawerfronts and refacing the boxes themselves with wood veneer. It is a hard call considering the crappy late 80's cabinet construction but also the fact that we want to resell the house within the next 5 years. I would love all new cabinets but don't want to put a lot of money into it. Mine are the typical of the era fiberboard (cardboard!) so I can't refinish them but if yours are wood I would think you could. Maybe take one of the doors off and take it to Lowe's or H.D. and ask them.

The walls I can help you with! I hate the prepasted wallboard and seam strips!
I had really ugly teapots and flowers in my kitchen and not much better in the rest of the house.
I removed the strips and used drywall mesh tape and joint compound to fill in the cracks then sanded them smooth (like regular drywall). One caution!~ take your time and fill in with thin layers to build up the joint compound or you will get cracks- I can see where I rushed. Also I am pretty certain that if you moved the house the joints would crack but if you are there for a while I think it is worth it.
To paint you have to wash the walls well with TSP cleanser (in the paint section) and then I found lightly sanding the surface helped the paint stick. Prime with Kilz and have at it. I did every room in my house and it looks great. I did have a slight texture to my wallpaper but it didn't really cause a problem. -Go for it!- Melanie