I came across this post and just wanted to add that in our old house, we had the cheapest of cheap builder grade 80's oak cabinets that were a terrible shade of orangish. DH, like a lot of men, has an issue with painting "the wood!" "You'll never get the same finish!" Well, actually, yes you can as long as you use a good oil based paint. But anyway...so we comprimised and picked up some "Liquid Sandpaper" from Home Depot or Lowes (can't remember which). You put it on with a rag, wait a bit, and then you can apply a new stain--though it should be darker or brighter (cherry) to cover whats there. It works by opening up the surface and allows the stain to penetrate into the finish...then after 2 hours it "closes" back up and holds in the stain. It took us all of a night to do the entire kitchen. We took the doors off and all the hardware of course to get the best finish on the door fronts. Total cost...about 30.00 with plenty of leftover product. And we too had what looked like "wood paper" on the sides of the cabinets but it took the stain just as well as other areas. I believe thats because the stain doesn't actually get all the way down to the wood, but rather gets encased just under the top coat. But I'm not sure, because it certainly looked like the cabinets had always been the new color--the wood grain was apparent and the finish retained a beautiful shine after. I'm not saying its necessarily a permanent fix but the ease and inexpense created instant gratification. And in our new house when we remodeled the kitchen...it was off-white cabinets or else! :) They are just so timeless...

Bwah-hah! That knob would drive me nuts, too. I'm going to disagree with your mom on this and say you should go with a silvered/black iron kind of hardware. There is a lot of white in the kitchen and the few black things (Keurig, grates on range, window to oven) need more black things near them to feel cohesive. Your granite will help, and I think "black but not totally black" hardware will help, too. Any plan to update the floor while you are doing this? Assuming the current floor is vinyl, there are some really pretty vinyls that will work well with your new counter tops and aren't that much money. I'm linking to one we used in our bathrooms, it looks so real the appraiser noted it as "ceramic tile" (tee hee). Here is a link that might be useful: Vinyl that looks a lot like tile in real life

Hi everyone- thanks for the advices. I'm sorry I didn't call me back earlier to this thread but we had a very busy weekend with my 7y old breaking her leg! She is fine now, but is proving to be a little tyrant:) I don't have brass anywhere else in the house, although I'm considering getting a brass/blow glass pendant for my dining room, which opens into the kitchen. I read some material online about how to mix hardware finishes successfully and the designer said something along the lines of keeping the mixture restricted to different eye levels. I think If I had bought a faucet in stainless steel finish AND if the brass in my pendant were more golden, I could have the hardware I like best. However, at the lower eye level I have already mixed two different finishes: stainless for the appliances and polished nickel for the faucets. i definitely do NOT want stainless for the cabinets hardware. I'm considering polished nickel (or brushed) for it. What do you think? do you think it would be too clinical and cold? The backsplash is a warm white as is the paint (feather dove by BM). The floor is wood which also brings some warmth... And finally, I will add two open wood shelves either in walnut stain or the same stain of the floor (provincial). The hardware for the shelves will be dark, similar to the pendant's. do you think nickel hardware would work in this context?

I've painted plenty of kitchen and bathroom cabinets, in my own house and my daughter's, and recommended it for clients who hate their existing (but in good shape) cabinets and want a change. I'm getting ready to paint the cabinets in my new house, too. It's not rocket science, and if it's done properly they will look fine and hold up well. The cabinets need to be sanded/deglossed (either will work) and a good bonding primer applied. I don't sand extensively, just enough to dull the surface. I've always used an oil-based primer, but there are other good bonding primers. Then two coats of paint are applied. I've personally used Benjamin Moore Advance, Cabinet Coat, Sherwin William Pro-Classic, and even just the sample color can from Benjamin Moore and they've all worked well. I use a brush for cutting in and then a small foam roller for the flat parts. The trick to painting cabinets is allowing enough cure time before using them. This means no closing drawers/doors all the way for several weeks, and generally babying them a bit that first month. But one they cure they are great. Unless your painters are truly terrible I can guarantee you'll be happy with your painted cabinets. And white kitchen cabinets with new counters and backsplash absolutely will *visually* lighten your kitchen. It's a tried-and-true staging trick, to use white/light colored accessories and white lampshades to lighten and brighten a dark room. If you want bin pulls vs knobs, you may need to fill in the holes before painting.