How to Update Cherry (Red) Wood Cabinets Without Replacing Them -

Modern ideas for cherry, oak, maple cabinets & more

Oak, cherry, maple, pine – there’s something to be said about well-stained, well-grained wood cabinets. But if you have wood cabinets from the early 2000s, 1990s, or even older, you might wonder if they meet the standards of today’s modern kitchen.

Probably not.

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But if you’re on a budget and want to make some thoughtful changes, maybe your cabinest are good enough.

What is ‘good enough?

Well, while your cabinets might not be ideal in style, stain, or layout, they might have decent bones to play with.

WHAT ARE DECENT BONES?

That’s a personal question, but I’ve had a few (wink wink – and yes, that is my humor). Seriously, though…

Door profiles that are rectangular/square. However, in some cases, arched or cathedral-style doors can work, too.
Ideally, no exposed hinges
They’re in great condition, and the stain isn’t worn

The reality is that sometimes, the ideal kitchen design doesn’t exist due to budgets, partners who LOVE their wood (wink wink), or other reasons. This means we must embrace what we have (yup, even cathedral-style cabinet doors) and do what we can to update and remodel it while still honoring its roots.

And for all you wood lovers, the important thing to remember is…

Just because it’s wood doesn’t mean it’s good.

For example, a kitchen like this next one has some beautiful bones to play with…

However, this kitchen is a project for another day. Today’s update project focuses on red-stained wood kitchen cabinets – cherry, maple, oak, & more.

Let’s start with a little chat…wait, didn’t we already do that? Yup, but you know this lil’ Ginger loves to talk.

SURROUNDING FINISHES

Often, it’s not the cabinets themselves that date a kitchen, it’s the friends they keep.

Outdated granite or laminate countertops, older tile or vinyl flooring, wood flooring that doesn’t coordinate with the cabinets; a combination of 1 or more of these can make your glorious red-stained wood cabinets look old n’ fugly.

Sometimes it’s a combination of outdated finishes that kills a kitchen’s potential.

Older-style granite countertops, arched wood cabinets with a strong red stain, and a 12×12 tile floor. While you might think the above kitchen is beyond help, look at how much better it looks with a new paint color and a few other details…

When updating a kitchen and keeping some finishes, it’s not just about what you want; it’s about what your kitchen can handle.

This is based on what’s existing and what you are/aren’t willing or able to update.

Often, the first choice is to paint the cabinets, either a timeless shade of white or a trendier cabinet color. However, sometimes, there isn’t one paint color that all finishes agree on (in fact, you’re lucky to find a wall color in many situations). In this case, at least one dated surface needs an update…and it might not be about painting the cabinets at all.

In this next kitchen, sure, the arched cabinet door profile isn’t modern, and it’d be fab if the upper cabinets went to the ceiling…

But sometimes the ideal world doesn’t exist, so we have to work on living with or creating the ‘next best thing’.

In the above case, our best option was to paint the walls and see if that shifted gears a bit…

IT SURE AS HECK DID!

So, now that we’ve covered the basics, let’s see what we might do.

1. LET’S UPDATE THAT BACKSPLASH!

Updating the kitchen backsplash is one of the best, most affordable ways to update a kitchen (other than paint). This is even truer if you’re a DIYer!

But what backsplash looks good with cherry wood cabinets? While it can depend on the kitchen, your best choice is almost always subway tile.

Subway tile is the most timeless AND affordable option – that’s a win-win.

OPTION 1

If you’re keeping your countertop, it should drive the bus when coordinating your backsplash. If you happen to have a black countertop, white or off-white subway tile can look amazeballs.

This kitchen is only a gallon away from gorgeous. Once the walls are painted the right color, it will look fab!

OPTION 2

If you’re updating your countertop, too, you can choose to install subway tile, but these days, lots of people love slab backsplashes. This is where the countertop surface is installed (in a thinner layer) on the backsplash.

This kitchen isn’t cherry red (or even close), but it’s an example of a countersplash…

Trendy Backsplash Tile Ideas: Subway Tile, Zellige, & More

Here’s a kitchen with strong, red-stained wood cabinets and a slab backsplash…

2. UPDATE YOUR FLOORING

A new floor that coordinates with your existing finishes is a great way to modernize your kitchen.

In the above kitchen, the cabinets are pretty darn gorgeous. While they’re a mix of orange and red (rather than a raging cherry red), you get the idea.

While the flooring coordinates with the cabinets (it’s kind of like the carpet matching the drapes), the degree of orange in the floor makes for a lot of color. This combo has an early 2000s vibe – this floor isn’t doing these wood cabinets any favors – it’s regressing them.

Is the floor a dealbreaker?

As far as ‘updating’ goes, yes. Again, it coordinates, so clashing isn’t an issue; it’s just not ‘updated’ based on what the average homeowner might install today.

If the goal is to keep these cabinets in their woody goodness, the flooring/cabinet COMBO is dated, and there’s no way around that. With a new floor, the beauty of these wood cabinets could be better appreciated.

With the vibrant orange-red of the wood, I lean hard into a darker gray or warm gray-taupe floor to ground it. Even if the cabinets were restained and calmed, I still love this approach (although we could go a bit softer/warmer/more greige).

This next kitchen is an exception. Because the red oak stained flooring flows well with the cabinets, this is as good as it gets.

The wood strips are narrow, and the sheen is high for today’s broader strip, more flat-finish trends. However, with the idea of ‘keeping what you can and changing what you need to‘, it all works.

FLOORING TIPS WITH RED WOOD CABINETS

If you’re installing a wood floor, it should pick up on the reddish hue of your cabinets (with very few exceptions). Many people avoid this approach, thinking they don’t want MORE RED, but that’s a great way to make your cabinets look fugly, outdated, and out of place.
The best place to start is with a dark charcoal-gray or blackish floor. This contrasts nicely with red-stained woods and goes with a range of countertops.
While it’s more expensive, tile is also an excellent upgrade for a kitchen, and a charcoal slate tile floor (US link, as most of my readers are American, but there are always CDN options!) would really dance with these cabinets.
However, I also love the idea of a slightly softer look with something like this. Hopefully, it’s a touch less purple (undertone) in real life.
With tile, I’d do a small grout line (1/8″). With LVT, I always choose one with a ‘grout line’ as it doesn’t look as realistic if the tiles meet up with no tiny border separating them – trust the Ginger on this one.
I’d never…ever partner up a ‘wood-look’ product next to real wood floors – helllls no. It’s a tile look every time.

Online images can be deceiving, so ALWAYS get samples and compare them to your countertop, backsplash, etc., before installing or ordering on a large scale.

3. UPDATE THE COUNTERTOP

When it comes to red-stained wood cabinets, they’re fussy about their countertop partners.

While we need to account for flooring and other considerations, here are some of my favorite suggestions with red-stained wood or cherry cabinets…

White quartz with warm veining (for example, Cosentino Et Calacatta Gold is awesome). It’s way prettier in person than online. Here’s a link to some more of my fave countertops.
Dark charcoal gray or black countertops are great if you like a timeless finish.

The bottom sample is Et Calacatta Gold | See other options HERE

These next kitchen cabinets are red oak, and the stain is modest. Notice how the simple quartz countertop and marble, subway tile backsplash let the cabinets shine…

Here’s another striking kitchen with wood cabinets. This oak has a more committed red stain with less orange than some…

Again, a simple countertop and a timeless subway tile backsplash. Of course, there are slightly softer, less white combos for those who want a lower contrast, but the overall approach is right.

4. CABINET HARDWARE & FAUCET

Updating your cabinet hardware is another affordable update idea. In the ‘ideal’ world (again, it doesn’t always exist, so we find the next best thing), your doors will have knobs and drawers will have pulls. If not, life goes on.

This next kitchen has AMAZING bones…

Updating granite countertops like Santa Cecilia & Giallo Ornamental can be fun!

What would I do if I bought this home? How would I update it without going balls-out and breaking my bank account?

Change the hardware.
Install an off-white subway tile backsplash that connects with the warmth of the countertop.
I’d definitely paint the walls; probably a warm off-white that connects with the backsplash tile.

HARDWARE THOUGHTS

When it comes to red-stained or cherry wood cabinets, polished nickel can be a gorgeous choice. Many gold and brass finishes are too yellow for these red woods.
Black can also be striking and low-contrast if your red stain is a bit darker.
Not as many do oil-rubbed bronze, as it’s a bit of an early 2000s look if not surrounded by the right finishes.

As for faucets, personally (because it’s all about me), polished nickel is my least favorite finish. Compared to chrome, it can seem a bit dull and meh (of course, there are ALWAYS exceptions).

The Best Hardware to Update Wood Cabinets

5. LASTLY, PAINT YOUR WALLS

If you do the painting, freshening up your walls (and trim) can be the most affordable kitchen update.

When choosing the best paint color for your kitchen, it’s about listening to its needs. And when doing this, there’s a hierarchy…

Backsplash
Cabinets
Countertop
Flooring

While it might surprise you that your backsplash has higher needs than your wood cabinets, MOST wood cabinet finishes offer some flexibility. On the other hand, unless you have a white subway tile, backsplash tiles can be fussier.

In this next kitchen, the wood trims also play a big part…

To humor the orange-pink undertone of the wood trims and flooring, along with the red-orange of the cherry cabinets, we landed on Sherwin Williams Natural Linen.

As for countertops and flooring, if your kitchen is ALL well-coordinated, your finishes will suit the same colors. If not, those finishes are lower on the hit list.

When updating a home, but not replacing everything, sometimes there isn’t one paint color that makes 100% of your finishes 100% happy.

WALL PAINT COLORS

Choosing a new paint color is the FUNNEST part of updating a room (admittedly, I am biased).

The Best Paint Colors with Red-Stained Woods

The above link will take you to a wild and wonderful world of coordinating paint colors. If you want to get this party started early, here’s a shortlist of some of my favorites, as it relates to red-stained woods…

Sherwin Williams Egret White
Benjamin Moore Pale Oak
Sherwin Williams City Loft

HOW TO TONE-DOWN RED STAINED WOOD CABINETS (OR FLOORING/TRIM/ETC)

Many lean toward green or cream when coordinating with their cherry wood cabinets. However…

Opposites attract and make each other stronger.

As shown in this next kitchen, the yellow-green hue of the walls accents the red cabinets…

This next kitchen is in between – not contrasting much, but not softening either…

Whereas in this next kitchen, the contrast is softer and simpler…

So, while a color like green or blue is a great way to avoid red or pink tones on your walls, it’s also a great way to ACCENT your red-stained wood.

Remember, nothing will make your wood stain LESS RED – it is what it is. The key is to choose colors that don’t make it look even MORE redder than it already is.

Instead, one of the best ways to tone down red woods is to lean in a bit with ‘red-friendly paint colors’. Check out colors in the off-white to light-medium taupe range and see how they sit with your cabinets. While the odd beige (with an orange-pink) undertone can work, too, taupe is often a safter bet.

Then, if all else fails…

6. CONSIDER PAINTING YOUR WOOD CABINETS

I know this might not be your first…or last choice, but if you can’t find new finishes or colors that work with your existing finishes, you might need a coat (or 3) of paint.

How to Choose Your Best Cabinet Color

Before, this next kitchen was dark, heavy, and outdated. However, the homeowners only had the budget for paint and a few minor updates…

Ideas to Update Your 2000s Kitchen: Case Studies

After, you’d hardly recognize it!

We kept the FLOORING, COUNTERTOPS, & BACKSPLASH – all the big ticket items. Cabinet hardware, lighting, and fresh cabinet/wall paint gave this kitchen a new lease on life.

Again, when the ideal world can’t exist (e.g. new flooring, countertops, and backsplash), it’s about creating the next best thing.

Check out these beautiful painted cabinets below. This kitchen is bright, updated, and welcoming…

At the end of the day, when Online Color Consulting clients come to me with wood cabinets wondering whether to paint or stain them, I’d say that 25% of the time, I recommend keeping them stained. This means that I’m not a HUGE advocate for painting wood cabinets, but remember…

Just because it’s wood, doesn’t mean it’s good!

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