I would not attempt to try and fill the grain, especially if the work is to be done on-site....the shop that I use for my cabinets does a wonderful full filled finish and it is not easy to do even with it being done in a fully enclosed automotive style paint booth using polyester type finishes

I am curious who the painter is that you are using, I am located in Boston and have a need for a painter to work on-site to do a hand painted cabinet project I have coming up

Thanks!

If you did replacements what would they be? How does that compare to what you think the doors will look like when painted? Do you have any inspiration photos?

What I meant by replacements was doing the facings in another wood like maple and paint those. Originally when we did the oak we did the facings since we could still use the cabinets themselves. I still may get an opinion from a cabinet maker to see the difference in price. Wonder if Thermofoil like we have in the bathroom would look too "fake" for the kitchen. Sorry I don't have any photos.

I had my old golden oak cabinets painted creamy white. I got new doors, drawer fronts, and end panels in paint-grade maple, shaker style with MDF inserts. All the new parts were painted in their shop and the boxes were done in a plastic booth in my kitchen. On the maple and MDF no grain is visible, but you can still see it slightly on the boxes. I don't mind it at all, as it's hardly noticeable.

I don't know how I'd feel about keeping the old oak doors and having more grain visible. Some people like to see the grain, so it's also a personal preference thing.

Here are some close-ups:

With filler:

I would ask your painter for a sample. It's probably personal preference, but I would prefer not to see the grain.

Here is a link that might be useful: how the painted kitchen is holding up and more close-ups

My "pickled oak" cabinets are painted and you can see a bit of the grain showing through. I like the look because I was going for a farmhouse style vibe.

Since we did a light sanding, then two coats of good quality primer and two-three coats of paint, the grain is pretty faint, but it does provide some visual interest in certain lights (especially when the sunlight streams through the window over the sink.

I like it, I think it just depends on what overall style you would like the room to have.

I'm definately in the smooth finish camp and faced this issue several years ago with my oak kitchen. Because of the modifications I wanted, and I planned on staying in the home long-term, my decision was to completely replace the kitchen. If you really love your kitchen except for the oak, my advice is to contact Rick at The Cabinet Authority (Conestoga Cabinets), and get quotes for replacing the doors and drawer fronts. He also sells the tape to cover the front of the cabinet boxes to reface. For a deposit, he can send you a sample box containing the many shades of white available. Your paint guy can give you a quote for painting the boxes and installing the doors and drawer fronts. I'm in the process of ordering some cabinets for a bedroom from Rick. He has the patience of a saint and is extremely knowledgable. Conestoga has top quality merchadise you will love. Good luck with your decision and please let us know how it goes.

I agree. Melamine would be less money than hiring this extremely competent and conscientious painter.

One of the photos above was of a very distressed technique. Yours, just painted, would look more like the close-ups. And IMHO, it would give the kitchen texture that the eye doesn't stop on, but it's there.

I also beg to differ on one point with Texasgal. I started a quote with Rick, but he couldn't handle my questions (I guess) and what I was looking for: beaded inset face frames.

I went back to Brian and The Cabinet Joint.com, who has done things for me in the past. Selling the same cabinets. I've done 3 orders with him now, because I can only order something when I've saved up. I just emailed him another question for my next, hopefully soon order.

My point is to shop within the same brand if you decide to go that route.