Décor Diva dishes some advice…

Madeleine asks:

“Hello Décor Diva, I have bedroom cupboards with a horrible coating of fake wood over them. How can I renovate them, to make them modern looking?”

Décor Diva says:

The ‘fake wood‘ as you put it, may well be what we would term a ‘wood veneer‘ finish. Or even some sort of Formica / Melamine finish – which has more of that appearance of being fake.

If it is a veneer finish (which is actually very thin layers of real wood laminated onto a chipboard) then it would be possible to actually spray paint over that veneer finish. You will however still be able to see the grain of the wood. Spray-painting is best done by someone who does that for a living and has the right equipment.

If it is the Formica finish, then you will not really be able to spray-paint (“duco” being the other term for it) over that finish. There are ways of going about it, but it is a very tedious and expensive process.

The other option open to you would be to simply replace the cupboard doors with new doors, more in keeping with your choice. If your cupboard’s basic framework / carcass is still good, then it might be a viable option to consider. You may want to get a quote for the spray painted finish, as well as replacing the doors. The chances are that they may be pretty close, in which case new doors make better sense. More often than not, the costs will help you make the decision.

Hope that helps you along the way with your décor dilemma.

Love, Rose  x x x