We are painting our old oak cabinets right now. My goal was to not have the grain show through, like nodirtthere's kitchen from this forum. Here's what we have been doing: -We removed an old cabinet when we remodeled our bathroom that was the same finish as our kitchen cabinets and used it as a test panel. Doing this has made us feel much more confident about the process that we are using and allowed me to play around with different finishes, glazes, etc. -We are using a product called MH Ready Patch to fill the grain. Use multiple thin coats, sanding in between each and you can achieve an amazingly smooth finish. No grain will show through. -Spray whenever possible! The difference between brushing on and spraying on the primer and paint is unbelievable, from the time/effort involved to the finish you can get. Check the primer that you are using-ours said it could only be used in an airless sprayer, so we had to borrow one. (The one my husband has works off of his air compressor.) -We sprayed two coats of primer, sanding in between each one, then have sprayed three coats of latex paint and will be topping it off with a satin acrylic poly for durability. -We are also taking the opportunity to add nice crown molding and light rail to the cabinets, giving them a more custom look, since everything will be painted anyway. That's where we are in the process...we are thrilled with the results so far-they are light years beyond a finish that we thought could be achieved on our own. Good luck!

Yes. It’s more of a problem depending on where you live, but yes. Cabinet makers have ways of working with this, so it’s not out of the question, but a solid walnut door is going to be expensive and it may warp. Plywood can also warp. The way to do veneer properly is to do it over dimensionally stable furniture grade MDF.

We ordered our IKEA cabinets in March 2020. They finally arrived, in flat pack, in August of 2020, after three months of zero communication. We were then unable to get anyone to do the construction (including the demo, electrical, plumbing, and painting necessary) until JUNE of 2021. It's been ridiculous. We're finally getting the countertops installed this Friday, and then we'll see when our contractor actually fits the backsplash into his schedule. I've already figured I'm going to be doing the sink/disposal/faucet install myself (which, okay, I've done before). The pandemic sucks. Now we've got another kitchen to do in the retirement home we're going to move into this fall. The plan was to do this kitchen while we were still in the first house, but the delays on that end mean we probably will be doing a full demo and rebuild of the kitchen, laundry room, and 2nd bathroom through the spring and summer of 2022, AFTER this house is sold. Good times.

Agreed--go with jaja06's shelf idea for the uppers over the counter. That's a quick and painless fix for the contractor and will be more useful than just adding fillers. I would consider paying to have it fixed for the refrigerator enclosure, though--you will appreciate having that storage space, and the short cabinets do look a bit odd there. That's also something that can be done without delaying the other appliances, counter installation, etc. and you could easily live there while waiting for the cabinets if needed. (It may just be the perspective on the photo, but I'd also double check your clearances in the refrigerator cutout to be sure you have the correct airflow space based on your model.)