Replacing A Kitchen Cabinet's End Panel
At a customer's house, she pointed out that the end of her kitchen cabinet was water-stained. Apparently, the dishwasher had leaked in the past and stained the end panel of the cabinet. She wanted to know what could be done about it.
The end panel was stained pretty badly and the chance of sanding, staining, and finishing it to look like it never happened was slim. A better idea was to re-skin the end of the cabinet. Basically, you buy a new piece of one-eighth inch veneer and stick it over the damaged piece. This isn't as hard as it sounds. They key is matching the species, color, and finish of the wood.
If you have the manufacturer (look inside the cabinets for a sticker or tag), you can remove a door or drawer and take it to them so they can determine the correct color. If you don't have the manufacturer, take a cabinet door with you on your hunt. You can buy pre-finished panels, or you can take it to a cabinet shop and have someone make it for you. You can also buy unfinished panels from some home centers, that you will have to stain and finish to match.
Once you have the correct panel, you can cut it to fit and glue it in. Some cabinets have corner pieces you can remove, install the new end panel, then re-install the corner pieces. This will cover any unsightly edges.