Amazing. Your cabinets went from orange to a rich, beautiful color.

youngest dd has cabinets your original color. Will share this with her.

Wow. Just wow. it really made a huge difference. Good job. The funny thing is now the detailing in the cabinets show better too and yes the gray is the perfect color to pull it all together.

You did a great job!

Wow. I hope your photos become a reference for others considering an update/refresh. Super choices.

It looks beautiful!

Great work!

What a big difference and I agree that the grey backsplash really adds something special to the look.

Very nice! And the hardware really makes a difference as well.

Much better, fresher, and updated. Love the backsplash tile.

That looks very nice. Well done!

Big improvement!

It looks great!

Great job. The lighter floor and the warmer wood look stunning together.

like how you cleaned up the window wall with the shade, choice of paint color, and running the tile across as well.

Wow! Great makeover. It looks like a brand new kitchen. I love your flooring! Also, even though you do not gray, that backsplash makes your kitchen look unique and expensive. Can't beat that! You guys did great work! I am sure you are enjoying it.

I'd be very happy to find a kitchen like that in a rental! Wonderful, fresh update.

I can't get over what a difference the cabinet refinishing made - the wood looks beautiful. I really like the grey backsplash. Great job & thanks for sharing this - a great reference for golden oak owners.

Thank you all for your nice comments. We did this update with possibly selling in the next few years in mind as we didn't want to clean it up now and then re-do it again later. The floor tile was serviceable, but had a weird glaze on it, like it was partially wet, or maybe thousands of snails had travelled across it. Totally drove me crazy, and I don't even live there.

This is the third kitchen we have done, ours and another rental. We have learned from each one and the advice and experiences shared here (directly and indirectly) have been invaluable. Many thanks to all who have contributed over the years.

Thanks for posting. Makeovers like this are great to see. There are a lot of 1990 kitchens out there and it's helpful to see how they can get a new life and avoid the landfill. Great job.

I 2nd and 3rd the WOW!
It looks fresh, brand new, and really nice. Kitchens do sell a place, even to renters.
You did a beautiful job!
As one whose entire house is recreated from landfill saves, I also applaud your saving perfectly good cabinets and making them look so au currant!

I actually can't get over how nice this kitchen looks. and I'm am NOT a granite fan!

GREAT job!

Wow you accomplished the near impossible - you made 90s honey oak look fresh and modern!! REALLY good on you for making a better choice, environmentally. If my 90s honey oak kitchen had a better layout and less ornate door style, I would have restored it too. It kills me that I'll be ripping out an otherwise still functional and sturdy kitchen (it will be donated or given away).

Phenomenal- could you post your approx budget for this? It looks great!

Fantastic transformation. I am sure the folks who have oak kitchens that they are tired of will appreciate seeing your results.

That is amazing! You did a fantastic job!

Looks great! Can you give me some details on Restorz-it? How long did it take for you to do your cabinets? Do you think it is easier/faster than painting? Was there a lot of prep work to do?

Info. for me, too! I want to take my yellow maple bath vanities to a darker, maybe walnut color.

Looks great! More questions:

How did you handle the sides of your cabinets? Are yours solid wood? I have some cabinets that need a refresher but the few sides are laminated (paper?) and I'm not sure if the refresher would just trash those. They are Merrilat cabinets.

How did you use prefab granite when you have those corners? How did you handle the seams and sink?

Thanks!

On the Restorz-it finish, it's meant to repair damaged finishes, sort of like a tinted varnish (but it's water based). We used it because the cabinets around the sink and dishwasher pretty much had no finish left, but the majority of the cabinets were not damaged too badly. The "light" color would have matched the existing finish. DH ordered the "medium" which darkened the cabinets slightly. I didn't realize this till I was part way through the process. You are theoretically supposed to use what matches your cabinets. I'm not sure you could successfully darken light cabinets much with the "dark" color. I cleaned the cabinets with their cleaner and then went over the damaged areas with steel wool to smooth them out. Then you apply it with a cloth. I needed 2 bottles of the finish for this kitchen, and I did not do the inside of the cabinet doors as they were in good shape. I applied two coats. It's a wipe-on finish, but I found that I needed to use a brush to get into the corners of the cabinet doors to keep the finish from pooling and to even out some areas. You also have to be careful of drips. The working time is fairly short, so you need to do small areas at a time. It was less work than stripping and re-finishing, and less prep work than painting, but it is a "repair" type of thing. The sides of the cabinets are oak veneer, so the finish worked fine on them. It's not the answer for all situations, but I feel it worked fine for what we wanted to do here. Check their website for additional information. Restorz-it

Rough budget for this:

Floor tile $200, replacement shelves $125, hardware $100, sink $235, granite (3 prefab slabs @ $325 each) $975, granite fabrication and installation $900, Restorz-it $115, window blind $125, backsplash tile $380 (10 sq/ft), faucet $225, miscellaneous (grout, thin-set, sandpaper, rags, sealer, etc) $300. Approx $3800 total.

All work except the fabrication (cut to size/seams/sink cut-out) and installation of granite was DIY. We already had the equipment/tools from previous projects.

It looks terrific!

Thank you for that link. It says it won't darken cabinets, so I'll search what else I can use to darken the yellow maple vanities. I'm glad it worked out well in your kitchen.

I think you win the "bang for the buck and labor" award for the year so far (meaning there are really talented DIY'ers on this board who can do even more with a limited budget but what you have done with the cabinets seems doable for most of us).

This is kitchen should be a sticky to serve as an example of how to refresh 1990's oak cabinets. You were lucky to have a good layout to begin with. Congrats on a job well done!

It looks really great! I'm not a huge fan of gray either, but I like it here. Small detail- consider painting the white outlets on the tile gray to match.

Looks great! Can you give me more info on the backspash? Is it grey or is it blue? Where did you purchase it? I'm looking to do something similar in my honey oak kitchen :)

The tile is grey linen glass subway mosaic we found at Lowe's. Our local store had it in stock. It was a little under $10/sq ft. It is grey with subtle lines going the length of the tile. We needed something not too busy because the granite had plenty going on. If you need a color other than grey, perhaps a tile store can check to see if it is manufactured in other colors. Good luck finding something that works.

like this? http://www.lowes.com/pd/Bestview-Grey-Linen-Polished-Subway-Mosaic-Glass-Wall-Tile-Common-12-in-x-13-in-Actual-12-52-in-x-11-73-in/1000003330

Tara, that's it.

amazing transformation! Makes me wish the house I'm purchasing had builder oak instead of thermofoil white

Wow, it really added depth to the cabinets.

Thanks for sharing this information and the info about Restorz-it. My
kitchen refresh is almost done, except for touching up a few wear spots
on my cabinets. I think the Restorz-it will be a good option. Did you do all the cabinets in the kitchen, even the ones that didn't have wear, so that they would all match?

I know this is an old post but wondering how the Restorz-It has held up. Also do you recall how many coats you used? I also have golden oak and bought medium Restorz-It. I wouldn’t mind them a little darker. Started small with a bathroom vanity.