Paint custom oak cabinets and get new doors, or replace altogether?
I spent months researching how to paint oak cabinets before I decided to replace them, concluding that the labor would be too expensive. I had a cabinet painter come here last year who estimated ~$20K to paint the oak cabinets plus 3 bathroom vanities, which is what prompted me to abandon this whole avenue. But...I'm pretty sure I'm keeping the exact same floor plan, AND my cabinets are very high quality custom cabinets, not builder's grade.
Both my prospective contractor and the kitchen designer, guys who have worked in the area for decades, took one look at my cabinets and named the guy who built them 30 years ago and then waxed on about how fabulous his work was.
Not surprisingly, the cabinet guy said it would be too expensive to pain them and it was more cost effective to replace. But the contractor suggested we consider painting them to save money and could modify the cabinets a bit and add matching new cabinetry above fridge, in shallow pantry and along a blank wall behind the kitchen table.
Now I'm thinking we should find a painter to test out the look on the bathroom vanity (also custom built). And if we like it, I'd also want to get new doors maybe from Scherr's, to get the Shaker look I want.
Am I crazy to be going back to the drawing board?
ETA: I posted a few other threads but don't know how to link to them - one on layout, and an earlier one about whether to remove the ceiling beams (we are going to remove them). :)
Comments (27)
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Replace honey oak doors w/white oak quarter sawn?
Comments (7)I bought quarter sawn red oak cabinets for my previous kitchen and although the doors were quartersawn, the interior faces of the cabinets were regular red oak veneer. That's the way they were manufactured. Since the doors were full overlay, the parts of the cabinets that were not quartersawn were never really visible and I had "furniture" sides so those were also quartersawn. However, red oak and white oak are different species, with the white oak tending more towards browner tones. If I were you I would buy a sample door and see how the color match goes with your current boxes. Or you can buy an unfinished door and see if you can play with stain to match the color. You might be able to find a stain close to your current cabinets in tone that will be good with the honey oak. ....See MoreKitchen cabinet doors - replace? sand and paint?
Comments (13)Partial inset commonly known as 'lipped' doors. Because fully inset doors take a lot more time and skill to accomplish. Actually, the partial inset doors are a bit more 'dust-tight' because the rabbeted edge helps seal the cabinet. (As compared to overlay doors w/ Euro hinges that hold the door proud of the frame by about 1/8".) Partial overlay doors pretty much replaced them because it eliminated the rabbeting step. They're in great shape for 50 year old cabinets. Probably all solid wood/ plywood construction with no mdf or particle board. Will be good for at least another 50 years but those years would be better served as basement or garage cabinets (with care taken when removed and some overhauling--adding plywood backing, etc.) because they generally have no bells & whistles w/ the possible exception on pullout bread boards. I doubt that you can remove the medallions. Suspect that they are glued and tacked on. But you might get lucky & find that they're only tacked on....See MoreCustom Golden Oak Cabinets - leave or paint?
Comments (18)I just supervised the sale of my mother-in-law's house and faced these same issues. Here are some thoughts: #1 - Realtors will want you to put money into expensive upgrades. Beware, because their tastes aren't your tastes and certainly won't be precisely your buyer's tastes. It's not their investment that will suffer a loss of return at sale -- it's yours. #2 - Some upgrades can recoup more than their outlay in the final sale. Replacing the "nasty" living area carpet and paint on worn wall areas are two upgrades that might really increase the sale price. If you paint yourself and get inexpensive carpet installed, try to keep it under maybe $4K in cost. Carpet is the cheapest flooring available. I disagree about ripping up carpet and leaving wood flooring unless floor is pristine because refinishing the wood flooring is time-intensive and expensive. #3 - You will never recover your costs in a sale from upgraded cabinets and granite countertops. With our culture of so many TV shows depicting total renovations to "flip" a house and profit an extra $20K, we have come to think this is necessary. It is not. A lot of those house flip shows make the majority of their money off TV advertising that runs during the airing, not on profit made from the house. If the Formica absolutely must go, look at the new Wilsonart 21 Soft Silk laminate finishes. They look like marble and have an amazing touch and feel. That's maybe $800 right there installed vs. $6000 for granite depending on your surface area, and some people won't even notice the difference. #4 - Oak cabinetry is coming back into vogue. Don't underestimate the power of custom cabinetry. That's $20K right there at least, and someone may want to paint it or leave it as is and love it. #5 - Really want to save a ton of money? Try to sell the house on the private market yourself instead of going through a realtor. You can profit tens of thousands extra. You'll have to show the house yourself, but you will be more interested in the sale than any realtor and will treat interested people well. Put a sign in your yard with an info sheet. Pay a reputable company to list on the MLS for you -- you shouldn't be paying more than $300 for any services they offer to list on the MLS, and do your research as to which companies are reputable or go through a local realtor who can list on the MLS for you for a few hundred (they pay a lot in fees yearly for unlimited access, so it is worth it to pay them to list for you). Then maybe get a disposable TracFone or pay-per-minute phone with a special phone number to take calls. Investors will call you indefinitely, so you'll want a phone number that's dedicated to the sale of your house. You can do it, and best wishes!...See MoreShould I paint the inside of NEW custom cabinets?
Comments (14)@Jennifer Michalec The drawer fronts and doors appear to be poplar, that's not a bad thing, I just wanted to point that out. The best I can tell from the pictures, the boxes were made from cabinet grade plywood that was unfinished on both sides. There is cabinet grade plywood available that has a UV cured finished on one or both sides. That's what is commonly used so the cabinet inside already has a finish. It sounds like your insides are unfinished plywood. Is that true for the drawer boxes as well? Don't paint the insides. If it's raw, unfinished wood, I would suggest you finish the insides with an oil based polyurethane. I recommend oil based because rather than brushing, you can wipe it on. They sell wiping polyurethane but it's easier and cheaper to just make your own. By wiping on the polyurethane you can get a finish that looks just like it was sprayed on. It's also faster and easier than applying by brush. Oil based polyurethane will amber over time. But it's inside the cabinet and many ready made cabinets have wood look vinyl covering on their insides as well. You can learn more about wiping poly here: https://thewoodwhisperer.com/videos/wiping-varnish-shootout/ Here's a brief description of wiping on poly from the Marc the Wood Whisperer: "The Wiping Method Now there is yet another way to apply polyurethane that I feel is the easiest, beginner-friendly method. And frankly, it’s the method I still use. It involves abandoning brushes all together. Here’s what you do. Thin the varnish 50% with mineral spirits, paint thinner, or naptha. Then get yourself a clean cotton rag (old t-shirt material works great), and fold it into a nice square applicator pad. I like it to be palm-sized. Wet the applicator with your thinner and then dip it into your diluted finish. Wipe on smooth thin coats, overlapping the previous stroke with each pass by about half. This method will result in a super smooth finish with no bubbles and no brush strokes. But remember, you will need to apply twice as many coats to get to your desired film thickness. Because you are actually applying less material to the surface, the dry time is significantly decreased as well. So in some climates (hot and dry), you’ll be able to apply as many as three coats per day. Just remember that when you use a wipe-on urethane, you aren’t trying to flooding on a real thick layer. You are just coating the surface evenly with a thin wet film." If you go the water based poly route, it has to be brushed. There is no water based wiping poly. It also drys extremely fast and won't get nearly as nice a finish appearance wise (i.e., brush strokes unless sprayed). Water based poly will not amber over time. If you had an HVLP spray rig, I'd say water based poly but I'm guessing you don't....See More
Rebecca
7 years agocyc2001
7 years agocyc2001
7 years agoThank you - all fantastic ideas and eam44, the pic is gorgeous. To give you a sense of where I started, here are some of my inspiration photos. My house doesn't get much natural light, and I wanted to lighten and brighten the kitchen.
Sarah Sherman Samuel ikea kitchen · More Info
Deluxe in Alexandria · More Info
eam44
7 years agolast modified: 7 years agoI have always loved that IKEA kitchen. I see what you're aiming toward, and I'm not saying you shouldn't go in that direction, but painting your cabinetry white isn't necessarily going to get you there.
What people don't tell you about sun rooms is that they darken the rooms they are attached to. All the natural light that would have poured into your space is now pouring into the adjacent room, and you're left with a small kitchen window with upper cabinets surrounding it.
So what do you do now? Remove the uppers around the window. That means taking out that corner-like cabinet and making the range wall uppers a straight run to the wall. It also possibly means moving those two uppers over the peninsula. Are you interested in making your kitchen window larger? Regardless... you're going to want to invest in really great lighting: cans in the ceiling, under cabinet lighting, and possibly pendants for your peninsula. I know that sounds like a lot for a small space, but it makes a huge difference.
Finally, I know you don't want to change your floor plan at all, but I bet the layout folks here can figure out for you how to re-use some of those uppers in the space, or how to reconfigure your existing space to make it function better. It's worth posting your existing layout just to see.
cyc2001
7 years agolast modified: 7 years agoeam44
7 years agoeam44
7 years agocyc2001
7 years agocyc2001
5 years agolast modified: 5 years agoHi everyone, still haven’t done a thing to my kitchen, but now I have a new idea that I want to run by you. I wanted a white kitchen originally, but the more I look at my cabinets I think I like the grain. I was at a restaurant and saw their beautiful old oak stained like this, and it looked gorgeous with marble counters. Do you think I can achieve this color/look on my cabinets with gel stain?
So my new idea is to gel stain the cabinets, get new counters and backsplash, new window over sink, add a new cabinet over fridge, add lighting, get rid of heat register on the peninsula and replace with toe kick, vent over range and move microwave into the pantry, replace bifold pantry doors with bypass doors. Idea is to not spend too much in hope that someday I’ll get a new kitchen.
nosoccermom
5 years agolast modified: 5 years agoTry the General Finishes gel stain in antique walnut. And look at their web site.
It might be a good idea to mix a bit of their gray stain with the walnut stain.
Or some black glaze over it.
cyc2001 thanked nosoccermom
eam44