First I'd do wall paint, your floor, new counters and backsplash, and knobs/handles. It might not be so bad after all that!

Is the finish in bad shape or just blah colored?

I honestly don't mean this to sound glib but have you considered trying an alternative paint technique? Since the center panel is plywood, I would think painting is your best option and if done properly; I can't imagine that the color choice would make a difference. I wouldn't give up on trying again for the color you want. Could it be the brand/type paint you used as well?

did you use primer? how many coats of paint did you use?

So is the painting a DIY or did a professional take the door and it turned out crummy? When you say "refining the cabinets" do you mean restaining them? If you are going to be restaining them yourself, do you realize all that is involved? I just worry if this is a DIY and you couldn't paint the doors, then staining them dark is probably NOT going to be easy for you. My guess is the process you used if it was DIY was faulty-wrong paint, not enough sanding, or, if there was a lot of streaks, possibly the wrong brush. Also, are ALL of the cabinets pictured in this picture or is there another wall where you took the pic from that has more? I'm counting over 40 panels to do-keep in mind each door has a front and back to it, so those are like double duty. I didn't have any help, but it took me WEEKS to do mine and I don't have nearly that much cabinet space/doors/drawers.

If you are really going to do a DIY stain, I have instructions of my process in this link here. If you have any questions, feel free to ask away!

Here is a link that might be useful: Link to bahacca's DIY restain of cabinets

This kitchen looks already improved.
I question a white paint that >>did not turn out as nice as I expectedIf you're doing it yourself, you need to educate yourself if it didn't >>did not turn out as nice as I expectedCream and Mahogany is gorgeous. But the kitchen you're picturing is far from awful!

I also suggest experimenting with wall paint, changing what I think is God-awful tile (but all tile with grout is God-awful to me) and adding hardware to your cabinets. The lack thereof dates them. Update that floor to create contrast! I think it just lacks depth.

I think you have a heckova kitchen to play with!

Hey.

What I've just noticed in the few posts here, with which I agree, is to pretty much leave your cabinets alone and work with everything else in your kitchen.

"everything else" is far less expensive and permanent than playing with your cabinets.

I'm assuming you want to replace that white tile too. I believe 87% of all kitchen remodels are because of square white tiles, which will never come back into style until some future generation comes along who has no memory of them. Could take a few hundred years.

I don't see the purpose of that long counter and bank of drawers--is there even a sink there? If you got rid of them, the money you save on updating them could go toward new cabs for the range wall and a larger island with a sink.

I don't know what you could do in their place though. A French door to the patio? Is everything as long as it looks or is the photo elongating it?

Thank you so, so...so.. much for all of your comments. Just wanted to explain more: I'll change every thing in this house including this kitchen, done by professional. The floor will be wood floor, in mahogany color, counter top will be cambria, Lynwood color, all new stainless steel appliances, new paint on wall (don't know which color yet), the island will be extended with new counter top and new sink, as well, I will add some stool and use the island as a sitting area for casual meals. My contractor just finish only one door, showed to me to get approval before continuing with the rest of the kitchen. IT DIDN'T TURN OUT AS GOOD" meaning the frame of door is smooth, but the inner side between frame and panel still have lots of pinholes and rough in texture. The lines where frame and panel meet are covered with caulking and are covered with paint. My contractor said that overtime, the caulking will split and may show some cracking (since the door is white, it is very easy to notice that line). He convinced me to spent $4K more to reface all cabs with thermafoile, but I don't know if I want to spent more money for plastic door. He said he used 2 coats of primer and painted x3 more coats, total 5 coats in all and that is the best he could do. That's why I want to re stain with different color, instead. If I go with cherry cabs, the kitchen would be so dark, but if I go with light oak or keep the same color, would it look odd with mahogany floor? Hope you can help me out. Thanks a bunch.

More pic. of my huge kitchen.

sounds to me like he didn't sand between coats. He doesn't want the job of doing all of those cabs...

'He convinced me to spent $4K more to reface all cabs with thermafoile'

no way!!

what is that appliance built in with the lower cabs on the ext wall? a double dw? can be seen in last pic posted.

I agree that the thermafoil isn't a good idea. Here's your planned countertops and floor with your current cabinet color more or less.

I think your cabinets updated with a new countertop and some hardware works in this space. Alternatively you could get new cabinet doors and refinish just the boxes to match. OR, you could bite the bullet and replace the cabinets altogether with lots of lower drawers in place of all those doors. Considering the cost of re-doing what you have, I'm thinking your best alternatives are to either leave them alone and add new hardware or go all new.

Hi Desertsteph, it's a regular dish washer which is 6 month old and it'll stay. I think nothing would beat the look of soft cream white cabinets and dark wood flooring. I might just request him to put extra primer coat for that area and keep my wood door. He charged me 8K just for painting all that cabinets, he'd better do a good job, don't you think?

dw - it looks unusually wide to me. maybe it's just the angle of it in the pic.

8k to paint your cabs? holy moses, THUD!

So he would charge you a total of 12K to reface with thermofoil? I would urge you to consider looking at a company like Scherrs or Barker door. YOu can order all new finished wood doors for that.

He doesn't want the job.

First off, a good job would remove the caulking. You never, ever paint over it in a refinish job.

Second, you SAND between coats.

Third, if he knew anything (I love italics) he would know about Pore-o-pack or Timbermate, which you use to fill the unwanted grain on a door.

Find someone who actually does this for a living and get a (wait for it) REAL quote.

EIGHT EFFING THOUSAND? For a job he tells you is going to NOT be what you want? OMG. And therofoiling WOOD? HUH?

If you hate the doors, get new ones. Smooth would be maple, birch or alder, nice woods like that. Barker doesn't finish, but Sherrs, The CabinetJoint, Crown Point, etc., do. So you could get finished doors, but they wouldn't match the boxes.

If you don't mind the doors, which would be lovely painted creamy white stick with it and get someone who knows what they're doing. THERMOFOIL!?!? For that kind of money?

BTW, I strongly suggest BM's Cabinet Coat. They bought the company recently. Cabinet Coat is for trim and things that take a beating. It can only be had in pale colors and dries ROCK hard. With proper preparation, it goes on like butter and is absolutely gorgeous.

A PROFESSIONAL should paint them if you're going to pay to have them done.

This coming from someone who is doing it herself, who knows about sanding and grain filling products, and who has no money and all kinds of time. Mine are looking pretty perfect because not only am I OCD, I happily admit to being very anal.

Your kitchen is a beautiful space.

You have a nice looking kitchen and if you hire a professional painter they would look great. New counters, hardware, light fixture and flooring it would be a beautiful kitchen! I would not recommend thermofoil refacing.

I think you might want to look at getting bids from a professional painter. The Painters for our remodel sprayed all the woodwork in our house and it looks fantastic!

We just did a large whole house remodel and hired individuals that did one type of work for a living. We had a General Contractor give us a bid for our remodel they bid $135,00 for the work. We did the subcontracting ourselves and it cost us $50,000. This was a brand new kitchen, laundry/mudroom, new woodwork and doors through out custom fireplace mantel and buit-ins, new interior and exterior doors and all new trim in 3 bedrooms, living room and kitchen. We did do the demo work and cleanup between contractors. It required hard work on our part but with the savings it was well worth it.

"Jack of all trades, master of none" your contractor may be competent with many skills but is not necessarily outstanding in any particular one.

Where's the caulking even come in? Are you trying to lose that bead detail between the frame & the panel or something?

That's so weird...I mean, OK, with oak (ply or solid), it's hard to get a perfectly solid paint coat with no grain showing through. It's not *impossible*, nothing is, but hard--I agree with CEFreedman, if you know what you are doing, it's a matter of the right grain filler, and a lot of sanding--with those beads, a lot of hand sanding, for that matter.

Please don't thermofoil. It won't conform to that beading, I'd think, and...it's bad enough when done by the original manufacturer over MDF/whatever--very flat. I certainly wouldn't pay a sum that sounds like you should get GOOD stuff (new doors, maybe?) for it! I have it now & blech.

Holy cow on the quote! I'd personally RUN from that contractor. My cabinets are far from perfect, but I did them myself. A professional should make them PERFECT. I agree with finding a professional painter who can spray them if you really want the cabinets different.

Thank you all for sharing your thoughts. I knew I got trapped w/ this contractor, but it's too late to get out since I already signed contract. Please pray for me, hope everything else (3 bathrooms and all flooring)of the house will turn out nice. Thanks again.

DEMAND a professional painter. Feel free to show him these posts as support.

Look at how many crappy tile jobs show up here because the GC did it themselves rather than paying a professional.

I wouldn't allow them to practice on MY house.
And I was married to a GC from a family of GCs. No. Just No.

I can't get this out of my noggin.

This GC of yours is
1) trying to get you to spend a whole lot of $$ for a job he can do 1/2-assed, because....

2) He's already told you it'll look like crap, so when he does a really bad job, he can say, "I told you so..."

Do you see the BS in this?

You've got 3 days to get out of a contract. Is that passed?

did the contract specify who would be doing the cabinet work?

I'd let him know that for that money I expected perfection - and Angie's list would be printing my final review of all the work done.

find a local cabinet maker to refinish the cabs.

btw, does this guy have a license with the state contractor's office? I'd be calling them asap on Monday - or looking to see if they list licensed contractors online.

I'm still trying to decide whether to paint, reface or just replace all my cabinets. In my numerous web searches on painting cabinets, I came across this site. I got samples for a couple of colors in the Reclaim, not regular line, but if I do decide to paint, I'll probably go with something from here...might be worth a look, even if the GC would do the painting...

Here is a link that might be useful: Fabulous Finishes

I would STONGLY suggest broaching the subject with your GC of voiding your contract. He may even be relieved. It will be difficult but please don't end up like me and hate your finished room. I abhor our master bath that cost thousands of dollars and every day I have a fresh heartache about it having to go in that room as much as I do. I still feel sick about it if only I had the courage to break the contract. It would have cost me about $1800 but it would have been the best money I ever spent. Please consider it for this reason:

There are companies that could make those cabinets sing as if they had always been white or whatever color you want them to be. We have a company here that does so much prep before painting. You can't tell it was very grainy oak starting out and now is a very smooth white finish. They will build up your existing cabinets with new moulding and add a hood if you want it, add trim and all sorts of things. They do amazing work taking white kitchens to dark or dark kitchens to white. They painted my thermafoil cabinets and they look amazing. They added side panels and built them up a bit. Their process is strong and durable. You cannot tell a thing they look like they have always been the color that they are. They spray everything and never use caulk they use bondo then sand and sand and sand. I know that they travel to other places to work, they have gone to Florida and not sure where else. Here is a link that shows their work.

Here is a link that might be useful: Creative Cabinets and Faux Finishes

p.s. in that link above if you click on their before and after photos there are some cabinets like yours that they have painted white or a version of the many whites out there.

Thank you all for your supports. I feel sick whenever I think about this project. I can't wait until the whole thing get done, to call and report about this business. I don't want to get out of this b/c if I did, it would give me more headache. I did propose to remove the restain/paint cabinets part from the contract, but was not succeed. They will get my review on Angie's list, yelp. and all the website I could find. To GR8DAY, I wish I knew that link before. Yes, they did an amazing job. Thanks again.

gr8Day!
What a fabulous site and company.
This gives me hope that if I am particularly careful, less impatient, and focused, I can make myself a beautiful kitchen.

Wish I could afford these masters!

They did my master bath cabinets the only thing in there that I like, lol. I wish I could have them back to do my kitchen but still working on other projects right now. I will when I can down the line. Good luck OP and Christine.

you don't have to wait to check reg of contractors w/the state. or to file a complaint w/them and see what else is out there against him.

I cannot believe I woke up thinking of your GC's BS.

Does he expect you to think that everyone who paints their cabinets has a crappy job?
I'd show him that link and tell him that's how you want yours to look, that it is evidently possible, do-able, and you will not settle for a crappy job.

I'd start putting things in writing, because you're going to have a fight on your hands if you stand your ground.

Don't think because you signed a contract you have to settle. Unless, of course, it's so vague you'll be fighting about everything, anyway. Just do NOT let him put thermofoil on those nice cabs! It would look horrible with all that detail.

Please suggest to your GC to learn how to use bondo to fill in the grain and then repeat, sand, repeat, sand. Caulk is not the way to go. I'm so sorry for all this for you : ((( This should be fun and not a horror story. But if a horror story you should at least like it when it is finished. Boo hoo .... I feel your pain!

I'm currently painting our maple cabinets. I followed funcolors tutorial, I think....

Washed with both tsp substitute. Sanded where pulls/knobs were. Filled in with wood putty and where the cracks are in the raised door insides I caulked with painters (ie latex, not silicone- paint won't stick) caulk. I used a small screwdriver to get out any overage from the caulk and make sure the line was nice. Resanded everything with 120 grit. Primered one side, waited five hours (sanded again with 220), primered other side overnight (sanded with 220). The primer I have is FPE, which is really thick. It looked like a finished product already. Resanded and re puttied in areas (waiting five hours). Sprayed one side with paint. Waiting SIXTEEN hours to dry one side. After I do the other side, I'll repeat. Pretty much waiting a day in between coats. Then at least two to three days (they say it's supposed to be at least a week to two weeks) to cure. We have toddlers so I'm already fighting with them about it.

This is a really huge PITA! But, already, they look beautiful. If you have a grain coming through, you should look into FPE brushing putty. It will take another step, but it would at least be smooth. I used all Fine paints on our cabs and they look as good as a professional did in my opinion. I also purchased a sprayer hlv something sprayer. That helped out a lot! Average kitchen like mine, I think its like 14x14 was about 3-4k for repaint. Who knows if they would take the time that I have. I've already got a good week into this project and don't expect to be done until next week! Real painters deserve some kudos for this messy work!

He is being lazy and doesn't want to do it the right way. I'd definitely look into actual painters and ask their process, before I'd ever consider thermofoil. It works for some people, but I've read how it peels and discolors a lot on this forum. And even so, look at barker or sherr's doors! They are great and sherrs will paint for you. The barker doors are well made and dirt cheap. I needed a replacement and they look great! As good painted as my expensive maple doors. CEFreeman recommended them one day and I followed her link. She is a genius for saving money! You'll only have to do the stiles and the other areas then. I will assume that he is smart enough to figure that out. Also, if you paint, spring for the good stuff. I painted my cabinets in my old house with BM oil paint, I think that this FPE paint is gorgeous and is worth the upcharge for eco!

Good luck! And, stand your ground or get someone else. A real painter or a sucker like me who is cheap. :)

Kim

BTW, You could change out your doors to full overlay at either barker or sherrs. That way you won't have the hinge showing. I like cabinets without hinges better to keep it cleaner. Even so, I like your cabinet shape and if you want to keep them, just get them done right.

"I don't want to get out of this b/c if I did, it would give me more headache." I don't think this is a good answer. If you are not satisfied, stop now!