I did this reno a few years ago. We had a high gloss polyurethane kitchen, with flat doors. I wanted Shaker style, but we couldn't afford to have the kitchen changed by professionals. To change the doors, drawer fronts and end panels, I ripped down some 3mm ply into strips, and attached this to the fronts to create the Shaker trim. To allow for the additional thickness of the doors I simply adjusted the concealed hinges, to move the door ever-so-slightly away from the cabinet edge. I also created the illusion that there were more drawers, by adding trim to the tops of doors, creating a faux drawer, and by 'dividing' three large drawers, into 6.
I removed two of the cabinets over the stove, and converted the remaining centre cabinet into a custom range hood cover, using ply, pine and MDF. The front cover comes off that, so there is still storage there if needed. I extended the ends of the breakfast bar, where it originally cantilvered, just to give it more substance. I added colonial skirting to the base of the kitchen, and brought the kickboards out by adding 18mm pine to the fronts.
The cabinets were primed with ESP, and Zinsser BIN, then painted with water-based enamel, using a 4mm nap microfibre roller. I replaced the sink with a ceramic butler's sink, cutting down the doors below it to accommodate it.
This completely changed the kitchen's appearance, and has proven really very robust; no chipping or scratching to any painted surface. Having lived with it now since 2018, I'm thinking of changing the colour of the lower cabinets.
