Sell or Donate Old Kitchen Cabinets

Watching home improvement television shows depicting a kitchen renovation, I cringe when I see sledgehammers used to demolish kitchen cabinets. When renovating your kitchen, plan to recycle or repurpose the kitchen cabinets. Your interior designer or your building contractor may not agree with salvaging the cabinets. However, with a little effort, you may be able to use the cabinets to augment your renovation budget. Donating the cabinets to charity is also a worthy step to take. Depending on whom you contact, they may even be willing to remove the cabinets for you. When describing your kitchen cabinets, tell how old the cabinets are (if you know), the color, and the condition, such as like new, slightly worn, or needs sanding and painting. Also, indicate the building material such as oak, cherry, maple, themofoil, or plywood.

Repurpose

My husband and I renovated our kitchen. We knew the existing kitchen cabinets, which were handmade by the previous owner of our house, had little value. The kitchen had few cabinets and some broke apart while removing them. The cabinets that held together were repurposed for use in the laundry room. Consider using your removed kitchen cabinets for storage in a laundry room, craft room, home office, or garage.

Sell

Take advantage of Craig’s List or your local newspaper to post your kitchen cabinets for sale. As a further boost to your remodeling budget, offer a lower price for the cabinets if the purchaser removes the cabinets. Pricing your kitchen cabinets for sale can be challenging. Cabinets no longer in style, even in good condition, may not sell. The Donation Guide from the Salvation Army provides a rough guideline, pricing kitchen cabinets at $25 to $75 each, depending on the condition of the cabinets.

Charity

Giving your kitchen cabinets away is the charitable thing to do. Try the Freecycle Network, which connects people looking for specific items or have items to give away. Post an ad in your local newspaper or church bulletin. Habitat for Humanity also accepts donated items. Your local Habitat for Humanity ReStore accepts deliveries or you can arrange for pickup of your kitchen cabinets. If you donate your kitchen cabinets, claim the charitable deduction on your income tax return.