If you are planning to add some molding to the doors, drawer fronts and perhaps even to the sides of the cabinets, you will need to decide how best to attach it. Melamine cabinets usually have a core of 1/2-inch or 3/4-inch particleboard. Particleboard is not particularly good at holding screws and nails, and the thinner it is the less effective it is at this job. So the best approach would be to use some yellow wood glue. Coat the entire bottom surface of each piece of molding with some glue, and then press the molding into place. The wood glue will bond best if you keep some pressure on the molding for about 30 minutes, either by carefully placing some weight (evenly distributed) on top or by driving a few small brads through the molding. Glue that seeps out beneath the molding can be wiped up with a moist rag right away, or scrapped away after it has dried. In the project featured in this Trading Spaces episode, Doug used a simpler molding pattern on the drawers than he did on the doors, and he carried a similar pattern to the visible sides of the cabinets.

Finishing Up

When all the paint and glue have dried, replace the doors and drawers. If you used brads to attach the molding, countersink the heads, fill the holes with wood putty, sand the putty when it dries, and then touch up with primer and paint.