Ask this question on the kitchens or home decorationg forum. They are really good with suggestions.

Painted oak looks terrible. The irregular grain surface show and make the paint job look like----well---painted oak. Which looks terrible.

I have had discussions with several home owners about painting oak and have a apinted piece of scrap I keep to show them what I mean. So far, 100% have decided painting oak looks terrible.

However, if the grain is filled and leveled, then it will be smooth. That takes a lot of work---and is virtually impossible to do with profiles and contoured surfaces.

Cleaning up/refinishing is the least expensive and easiest way to try. Staining can be done---darker only and all the old finish has to be removed.

Another upgrade is new doors and veneering the face frames of the cabinet cases to match the new doors. The sky is the limit to what you can do using this method---limited only by the availibility of doors/veneers.

Veneering is simply glueing a thin piece of wood to something. With newer veneer adhesives, veneer can be applied DIY with a roller and trimmer.

There's a thread on the Home Decorating forum where girlwithaspirin posted a picture of her painted oak cabinets. If you scroll down, you'll see a before and after picture of her kitchen and a close up of the cabinet. She painted them a chocolate brown color and IMHO, it looks much better than what it was. I'm posting the link below.

Here is a link that might be useful: Home Decorating thread

I've done a lot of kitchen cabinet refinishing. Oak is a very nice cabinet to refinish in paint. Of course, some wanted a grain filler, some wanted the grain to show. Either way, it's a preference and it's beautiful when done properly and professionally.

Michael

There are plenty of people who love the look of painted oak any many who prefer the grain to show. IMO the smooth plasticy look isn't as popular as it used to be.

Here's my cabinets, 70's dark stained oak that I painted using Cabinet Coat, it's a self-leveling latex enamel, has a good tough finish. (Love the stuff, have used it a lot, if you're interested, we've discussed it frequently over at Home Decorating, if you go over and search you'll find posts.) I'd strongly urge you to use a good oil-based primer if you paint. Older cabs tend to have lots of oils and polishes accumulated over the years. (Scrub well first with a cleaner like Soilax, Dirtex, etc.)

Moonshadow - You did an awesome job on you cabinets!! I have a couple of questions. You suggested an oil based primer under the latex cabinet coat paint. I thought that latex would not stick to oil base paint. Also, did you paint your doors by hand or did you spray them? I am wanting to paint my 90's pickled cabinets but I don't want brush marks. I haven't been able to find cabinet coat paint so I checked the website. What color white did you use? Thanks for sharing!!

Jo -

moonshadow - did you paint those cabs in place or remove them from the wall? May sound like a dumb question, but I don't know a thing about refinishing cabinets.

To post a photo:

go to http://tinypic.com (it's free and no sign up is required)

select "browse" and go find your jpg, png, gif, or tif photo file and select it (it will be automatically downsized to 250K)

select the "upload image" button

copy the contents of the "HTML" window and paste it into the text part of your message.

Now preview you message. If you can see the photo, submit the message.

If you are unsure of yourself try all of this first at the test forum which is linked at the bottom of the main forum page. You might have to play with the dimensions of the original photo to keep the downloaded version from being too large since that sometimes stretches the text of all messages to the right (possibly off the screen)

It is also possible to copy the contents of the URL window and to then paste it into the "Optional Link URL" box. You must also type a description in the "Name of the Link" box.

Good luck