How to Update Oak Cabinets
Partner post to The Best Paint Colours to go with Oak / Wood
Oak cabinets – you either love them (if you’re a man) or you hate them (if you’re a woman). And yes, I’m labelling here, but it seems that I come across the same gender divides again and again when it comes to decorating.
Here’s the great thing about oak cabinets – they are solid wood (not the interiors necessarily, but the doors at least). In particular, the 1980’s / 90’s oak cabinets are great because unlike today’s wood cabinets, they stand the test of time and only after 30 years of wear and tear do they need some love.
When it comes to wood ‘things’ I usually defer to my favourite saying ‘Just because it’s wood, doesn’t mean it’s good’. This means that while it might be solid wood if it’s ugly or worn out, it’s not adding value (emotional or monetary) to your home. Now before we get into the guts n’ the glory, you need to figure out what style of cabinets you have…
Cabinet Door Profiles
Figuring out which door profile you have can help you make the best choices moving forward.
- Top left: Shaker style with raised panel / Top right: Shaker style with recessed panel / Bottom left: Double cathedral / Bottom right: Single arch
- And I know that top right isn’t oak, but it’s the best example I could find of a recessed panel
- The door in the top right and left-hand sides are usually the easiest styles to update. The bottom left is a double cathedral and is the MOST difficult. The bottom right sits in the middle – not easy, but not as challenging as the cathedral
So, let’s talk about some solutions…
Oak Cabinet Update Idea #1 – Restain
This post is about ‘updating’ your oak cabinets – not about bringing them back to their former glory – or lack thereof. Therefore, when I mention stain, it’s with the idea of changing and updating – not resurrecting.
Resurrect: To keep the old golden oak and simply refresh it with a fresh coat of golden oak stain and lacquer
Update: Add value to your home by making it look more current and modern
So, if you are truly wanting to ‘update’, then you’ll want to restain with a darker, more modern stain colour OR neutralize it with a lighter, more natural stain that doesn’t have the orange/yellow tone. Realistically, most homeowners (if you have resale in mind) are looking for a more subtle look that is offered by maple, cherry, espresso or painted cabinets. This means that the colour of them is VITAL to their survival if you are hoping to appeal to the masses.
Consider these things before you restain your oak/wood cabinets
- Are you wanting to stain them a lighter colour than they currently are? Lots of work.
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Are you wanting to stain them a darker colour? Still lots of work, but it’s easier than going lighter.
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Stay away from the yellow, orange and red tones as they will not look updated – they will look fresh and fancy and awesome – if you still live in 1980.
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Stick with lighter and darker stains that don’t have dominant undertones.
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If you want to do it properly you will need to sand them down entirely. If you want to play around you can try Gel Stain which ‘can’ go over existing stains (it’s oil based and I find it easier to use than most water-based stains), however, even professionals have a hard time getting a consistent and quality look.
I’d love to give you a how-to on Staining Oak Cabinets, but I’d rather leave it to the pros…
House Painting.com (including Gel Stain details)
Refacing Cabinet.com (specific details for staining oak)
Oak Cabinet Update Idea #2 – Change the Hardware
More often than not, the 1980’s / 90’s oak cabinets don’t have hardware (handles or knobs). While functionally it’s not a big deal because you can still open them, decoratively it’s like you’re missing the last piece of the puzzle.
Transitional style hardware is great and works ESPECIALLY well with cabinets with a shaker or even arched profile. For cathedral style doors you’ll want to choose hardware that has slightly softer lines.
To view/purchase the above hardware, please visit the links in this blog post here: The Best BUDGET FRIENDLY Hardware to Update Oak or Wood Cabinets
Because cathedral and arched style cabinets (either single or double) have more shape to them, they suit hardware that has a bit more curves as well!
To view/purchase the above hardware, please visit the links in this blog post here: The Best BUDGET FRIENDLY Hardware to Update Oak or Wood Cabinets
And of course, there are always knobs!
To view/purchase the above hardware, please visit the links in this blog post here: The Best BUDGET FRIENDLY Hardware to Update Oak or Wood Cabinets
Oak Cabinet Update Idea #3 – Add Crown Molding and a Valance
Crown moulding isn’t just for ceilings you know! I’ve chatted about this before and it’s a GREAT way to update your cabinets. This idea takes your cabinets from looking like builder basic cabinets – to custom made.
Crown moulding is the ‘crown’ that sits on top of your cabinets – not to be confused with the crown moulding that goes at your ceiling line. The valance is the strip of wood (approx. 3″) that is attached to the bottom part of your upper cabinets – where you would hang under cabinet lighting. It increases the visual height of your cabinets, gives them a custom profile and offers the opportunity to hide under-cabinet lighting.
While it’s not easy-peasy to do, it’s still manageable for the average homeowner or a semi-capable handyman.
Read more about crown mouldings and valances for your kitchen cabinets on this post (cost/details)… How to Update your Kitchen on a Budget
Oak Cabinet Update Idea #4 – Paint
You had to see this one coming…painting your oak cabinets is a great way to update and modernize them. Now many men say, ‘but it’s wood, you can’t paint wood!’ and this is where I hand them a scotch on the rocks and calmly repeat…
‘Just because it’s wood, doesn’t mean it’s good’
And they will still BE wood – they will just be painted wood.
Why is it good to paint wood? Well, it’s good for resale. Generally speaking, oak cabinets appeal to those 70 and older. f that is your target market then just keep them stained and call it a day. However, if you’re looking to appeal to a younger and more modern crowd (69 years and younger) then you’ll want to consider painting them.
(I know your hubby is cursing my name right now and polishing his darts – and you’re checking the birth date on your driver’s license and yelling, ‘HONEY, SHE JUST CALLED ME YOUNG AND MODERN!)
Via Kylie M E-Design
But anyways…
There are 3 colours that I usually go to when I’m painting oak cabinets…
- The best white for painting cabinets – Benjamin Moore Cloud White
- The best brown for painting cabinets (for an espresso look) – Benjamin Moore Willow
- The best grays for painting cabinets – Benjamin Moore Amherst Charcoal/Chelsea Gray
Why these colours? Well, they are neutral, they are easy to coordinate things with (appliances and countertops) and they appeal to a wide variety of tastes. If you choose a ‘colour’ you are awesome, but you are also taking the risk of a) getting tired of it faster and b) not appealing to as many people upon resale. It’s easy to paint your walls – but paint your cabinets? Not so easy.
Read more: How to Pick the BEST Paint Colour for Your Kitchen Cabinets
Read more: The Best Gray and Greige Paint Colours for Cabinets
Before you paint those cabinets, think about your appliance colour
Contrast can look great in a kitchen when you’re dealing with countertops, cupboards and flooring. However, when you’re transitioning from product to product ‘horizontally’ it’s best to keep things low contrast.
This means that if you have black appliances and you paint your cabinets white, you’ll create a high contrast look. This will make your space look smaller and reduce the visual flow as there’s more ‘stop and start’ when your eye travels around the room. The same applies if you have white appliances and paint your cabinets a mid-toned / darker colour.
If you have stainless steel appliances you have the flexibility of going either way – just keep in mind that if your stainless steel has a lot of black detailing, this will contrast with white cabinets, so be sure to check out your details.
Other Things to Consider When Updating Your Kitchen Cabinets
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Sheen level. The shinier your paint/varathane is – the more the grain of your oak will show. While you want it to wipeable, you also want to avoid seeing your reflection in it. If you have cabinets that have little to no grain, then sheen isn’t as much of an issue
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If you have exposed hinges make sure that the finish of them matches your hardware – no mix and match hardware finishes allowed!
- Polished nickel and black are the most popular hardware finishes
- If you currently have knobs on your cabinet doors, consider drilling an extra hole and installing handles instead
- Your cabinet hardware in your kitchen should also coordinate with the metal finish on any light fixtures
- If you decide to paint the grain texture will show through. If you have the opportunity to have them professionally sprayed go for it. This will give you the best chance to reduce the amount of grain that shows through
- Discover how to update your oak cabinets without any paint here…5 Ideas: How to Update Oak WITHOUT a Drop of Paint
Not sure what to do with your kitchen?
For your own Personalized Consultation check out my Online Decorating and Colour Services
Read more
The Best Paint Colours to go with Oak / Wood
5 Ideas: How to Update Oak Without a Drop of Paint
Kylie M Interiors Affordable Interior Decorating, Interior Design Ideas, Home Staging and Online Consulting / E-Design in Nanaimo B.C.
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Great post, I wish I could add a photo of my oak oak and more oak kitchen for everyone to see :). (You’ve seen it before when you were here!). Cathedral style, exposed hinges, black appliances…
Ooooooh and husband who loves wood and would need much much more than scotch 🙂
Great post!! You’ve given me some very good ideas for a very outdated laundry room!! Thanks Kylie 🙂
I live in Kentucky but am interested in getting your professional help for my kitchen! How would that work?
I enjoy reading your articles-they inspire me!
Hi Connie! I’d love to help you out! If you hop into my Online Consulting ($30hr), you can purchase the time you think you’d like and then we’ll get the ball rolling! Looking forward to hearing from you…http://www.kylieminteriors.ca/online-decorating-design-consultation/
~Kylie
I love your ideas when it comes to oak cabinets. I have an open concept kitchen, dining room, living room area with oak cabinets, oak trim around the windows and doors, and oak mantel around the fireplace. If you paint the cabinets, do you paint all that other oak stuff as well?
Thank you Maija! Nope, you definitely don’t need to do that! However, if it were my home and I was painting my cabinets, I’d probably look at painting my mantle as well. The mantle feels more like a ‘major’ items – like the cabinets, whereas the trimwork can be a bit more in the background. You might eventually paint it all out, but I think you could do it gradually and see how you feel!
~Kylie
Nice post with beautiful before after remodel images…..
LOVE this post! Definitely going to check out your online consulting!
My question is: if my house’s crown moulding is a cream/vanilla color, do I have to paint the cabinets that color too (if I wanted to do white)? I am worried about it making the trim look dingy. Thoughts?
Hiya, great question! (and I’m sorry for the delayed reply – I’ve been a bit back-logged!!). You don’t have to do white cabinets, but you will want to make sure that your cabinets have a slight yellow/vanilla undertone that matches the undertone of your trim. Basically, take your trim colour and have the paint store make it in a lighter version (20% is pretty normal). It’s only when undertones don’t match that things get wonky. White can be pretty ‘stark’ which can make it look cool in comparison to creamy trim. I hope that helps!!!
~Kylie
I love this post on updating oak cabinets. It’s definitely time to do something about my early 90s white washed oak cabinets that are getting more and more pink with age. We updated our countertops a few years ago with a beautiful granite called Giallo Napoleon and that helped for a while. My walls are a pretty green by Ace Hardware called Olive Oil. My dilemma is this….the trim in my entire house is Porter Paints Super White Gloss, and I do not want to tackle redoing it. My kitchen chairs are a glazed, distressed off-white finish with a beautiful floral fabric with a slightly off-white background with florals in greens, browns, orange, amber, and my favorite turquoisey blue. There is also an old piece of furniture painted in this same blue color. The adjacent dining room has been updated with a beautiful pale blue gray called Smoky Candle. My question is what color to paint the cabinets. The trim is a very stark white and would not look good on the cabinets with the granite or the kitchen chairs. It works OK on the trim…don’t love it but don’t feel like changing the whole house either. I considered whether perhaps a very pale, almost white gray would work on the cabinets to flow with the dining room and pull in more of the blue tone that I love in a subtle way. Any suggestions?
Hi Donna, I would LOVE to help but I get quite inundated with questions and like to spend the proper time giving answers based on photos. If this interests you at all I could give you 2-3 paint colour options for your cabinets to coordinate with your existing décor for a $40 Consultation fee. Thanks for your understanding!
~Kylie http://www.kylieminteriors.ca/online-decorating-design-services/
We just moved into a new home (new for us, not the house its self)…its ur typical 1980’s contemporary house…you can tell it was nice in its hayday but its a bit outdated…what are some ideas for decorating the interior to coordinate with all the wood but still look modern. also, whats a good idea to decorate around a mirrored wall without having to remove it?
Loved the information. My house is dark dark panaling and my kitchen is dark as well like everyting from the 70s. I just don’t know if I want to color or stain I have a dmall kitchen. So I have to keep in mind grease on cabinrts. Thank u so much for ideas
Hi Beverly, thank you for taking the time to comment! And I’m very glad you found the info helpful, I do my best!
~Kylie
Kylie: Seems like you were speaking to my wife and me. Describes our situation. Thanks for the insights
So what Sheen level is best? Seems Semi Gloss or High Gloss would be too much. How about just eggshell?
For cabinets, I prefer a satin or pearl finish!
Oh my gosh, my husband and i were trolling Pinterest for bathroom ideas when we got into the whole painting oak debate…your commentary was spot on and had me howling and him grimacing. Fun times…
Wish me luck, I think I’m in for a long fight.
Oh Penelope, you have joined the club…I’m glad it gave you a giggle!! I will cross my fingers for you 😉
Thank you so much for this great post. My husband and I have been debating whether or not to paint our arched, honey oak cabinets from 1972. The only reason we are leaning away from painting is that the kitchen and the rest of the house has the same honey oak wood trim, baseboards, stairs, etc. doorways from the kitchen into other rooms are trimmed in oak as well. We can’t see a way to paint the cabinets and not have to paint all the other wood as well. Which we really don’t want to do! We will try adding new hardware and see if it makes enough of an improvement. Thanks for the great advice!
Hi Jen! That is a tough one. You’re right, you would probably want to bring it in SOMEWHERE else, otherwise it won’t be visually tied in to your home. If it were ME, I would focus on hardware and maybe wall colours. I just did an e-design consult yesterday where my client was planning on painting her oak cabinets, and leaving her trim/doors/etc… in oak. I actually talked her out of it and asked her to wait for the new paint as that can make a HUGE difference. So my best advice right now is to hold tight and see if there other more manageable things you could change out 🙂
~Kylie
Hi Kylie, I was wondering what are the cabinet colours in the photo under the appliance colour section? (the one with the grey island?)
Hi Patricia, I believe that was BM Gray 2121-10. It’s a lovely steely charcoal colour. And cabinets can be deceiving as they tend to look a bit lighter once all is said and done via the bit more sheen in the paint and light reflectance!
~Kylie
OhMG!!! Thank you Universe I found your blog. You are God Sent! I’m going to sign up for an e-consult soon because the oak has been driving me insane!!! I feel like my new (to-me) home looks so old. I want to paint the oak EVERYTHING but I feel like white will be out-of-trend soon and espresso is a challenge to keep clean. Plus I have brick flooring. Did I mention all the furniture I’m interested in is mirrored… will totally clash. So I want to keep some elements but I want my house to look more updated.
Please come over to my house and mentor me! Thank you for such detailed fantastic ideas!
Oh Tatti, thank you for the compliment!
~Kylie
hello Kylie! I love your work! We recently purchased a very large 90’s home with loads of oak EVERYWHERE!!! I am trying to get used to it but am not loving it 🙁
anyway, the kitchen is massively full of oak and I they are a decent brown tone, I plan on keeping them…. but would like to paint the trim and ( possibly ) doors in the rest of the house white. Walls will be a green toned gray ( SW conservative or aloof gray) Lots of natural light in this home with southern/eastern/western exposure.
If I do paint the trim white, what would you suggest that would blend with the oak cabinets? I am thinking alabaster white, but wanted to ask you first 🙂
thank you!
Amy
Hi Amy, I think Alabaster could be a great choice! It’s versatile for sure and will be softer than a more traditional clean white! The only other one would be BM White Dove which is just a touch lighter/less warm – just a touch 🙂
~Kylie
Thanks for the info! Do you think pickled oak will ever come back into style (since it often times has some grey undertones)?
Hi Cristal, I’ll never say never…but I’ll be surprised, just because they often come across slightly pinkish…
Hi Kylie! I’m so glad I found your website! Looking to paint my oak cabinets but I’m afraid I’ll choose the wrong color. What do you think of Edgecomb Grey on cabinets. Flooring is also oak. Also do the cabinets need to be sanded at all first? Thanks for your input!
Hi Kylie my cabinet doors are wood but my sides are a smooth almost like corkboardy like wood, do they need to be sanded to paint?
Ooo you betcha, but just a light sand as I don’t think you’ll want to break that surface. Then some primer to get things going!
After reading your article I am inspired to change the color of my cabinets. They are 9 yr old Timberlake Cabinets and I think the color is Maple Spice (brownish-tan). My appliances are black. Keeping with “low contrast”, what color would you recommend? We will be replacing the floor and countertops later.
Hi Tricia, thank you for your note! I actually have an E-design/cabinet package just for this! I try to give as much complimentary as I can on my website, but if that doesn’t work you might want to think about sending me photos and filling out the questionnaire so that I can spend some time with your home! https://www.kylieminteriors.ca/online-decorating-design-services/
~Kylie
I enjoyed reading your posts. I also am n a dilemma with the Over 70 husband so painting the oak cupboards is definitely non-negotiable. Having said that I at least got him talked into a new floor. What is your take on grey vinyl plank with the honey oak cupboards?
Hi Karen, new floors are exciting and those warmer woods ARE coming back! Now as for gray vinyl I’d be careful – it will HAVE to have some of those warm oak tones running through it or it will be a BIG miss and this can be hard to find, so you’re likely looking at a warmer toned vinyl plank, not a gray one.
Awesome tips!
I have oak ceilings, along with oak hardwood flooring & cabinets. I love the ceilings so i do want to keep them. I am not a fan of the oak kitchen cabinets but my boyfriend will not let me paint them!!!! Also wanting to change the flooring but unsure if he will allow me to do that either…. tips???
You know, it’s funny, but sometimes one wood can actually CANCEL another one out as in ‘too much of a good thing’. Wood comes to life when it has something to work off of, something to play with and when you have wood on wood on wood – it’s not always good. And I advise clients ALL the time to NOT paint wood this/that, but it sounds like in your case, you might actually not be doing the wood any justice – that’s my 2 bits anyway 🙂