Orange Oak Cabinets, Want Farmhouse Look

6 years ago

We just bought a house that has 80’s orange-y oak cabinets. We want to update the kitchen, but we’re not sure what to do with these cabinets. I would prefer not to paint them, but it’s not off the table. Trying to achieve a farmhouse-ish look. Clean, simple natural colors.
Our plans so far include white subway tile backsplash with gray grout, white marble or granite countertops, black hardware and light fixture, stainless steel appliances, either white or light gray walls. Not sure about floor, I guess it depends on what we decide with the cabinets.

Oh ya, the kitchen is currently enclosed with this odd wall that doesn’t go up to the ceiling and has an open doorway out to the foyer and a window cutout to the dining room/living room. We’d like to take that out and extend the countertop to make a space for barstools on the other side.

So, can this orange be tamed?

Thank you in advance for your thoughts!

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Comments (4)

April
Original Author
6 years ago
Here’s a photo that inspired me, just not sure if it would come out the same in our kitchen .
Cor
6 years ago
I'm not too sure about grey grout with all the warm wood you have. I love your inspiration photo and I think you can move your kitchen into this direction.
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"... is there such a thing as cottagey craftsman farmhouse, lol?" Mine! Although all of the original trim was replaced by the PO in the early 1980's with ... weathered gray barn siding. He even did shiplapped oak barn siding on the walls in the LR, and added gray sculptured carpet to match. With all the gray, that dude was ahead of his time, but I found it depressing, and cleaning that rough siding was not on my to-do list. We covered the shiplap with sheetrock so that the walls would be smooth, and I've used paint in the colors I mentioned above. I have mostly cream-painted cabinets and beadboard in the more cottage-influenced kitchen. The rooms we've added are more cottage style, but I've often thought about adding some wooden 'beams' to the ceiling to make the LR more Craftsman, and replacing the painted barn siding trim with a nice stained wood. My furniture is mostly earth tones, which matches the Craftsman vibe. I'd love to be able to afford some Batchelder tiles for the FP surround.
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I knew it was a dog food holder:) I would try moving the black cabinet next to the counter and putting the dog food container on the other side - just might help keep the upper cabinet from hanging out without a grounding lower cabinet. I would suggest you consider the cabinets all one color, or if you want a second color, do a group of uppers differently as in this pic: Or, paint the inside of open cabinets another color: You have movement in the floor, movement in the counter and also movement in the cabinets due to the two tone of each door - and the warm wood is not playing real nice with your floor. If you want some difference in some of the doors, consider removing the wood center panel and replacing with glass, chicken wire (behind glass), or a tin / metal. If you do glass and do not want to see into the cabinet, you can do frosted, beaded or even shirr a fabric curtain behind: I may be back with more. I have a cottage / vintage kitchen and for decor I try to bring in some real cottage / vintage decor rather than faux decor store decor - though I do have some of that. Get to some antique stores and see if you can find some old trays or china - real farmhouse - to mix with not so real farmhouse.
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I do like the cerused look myself and its really what I initially had in mind as my stain. Its not a finish everyone offers, is likely to be an upcharge if it is offered, and is going to look best on a rift or quartersawn white oak which isn't cheap wood to start with. I'm happy with how mine turned out and everyone who sees it seems to like it. It's driftwood on maple with an black glaze. Without the black glaze, the pink of the wood showed through and was too much. It's definitely grey, but it has an underlying brown and slightly pink tone so its warm and not GREY. I think it fairly different/unique/unexpected. Would probably have been a bit much for the entire kitchen though, I'd be careful of using grey flooring though, it's such a huge surface can be overwhelming.
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njmomma
6 years ago
Your inspiration photo is great!
jhmarie
6 years ago
I did not paint my cabinets, but I have solid raised panel doors and your doors, based on the grain pattern, may have a plywood or veneer center panel, and so I would understand possibly painting the cabinets. Just be aware that the texture of the grain of the oak will show through the paint - the texture, not the color - and this bothers some people, but not others. Some try to fill the grain, but lots of extra work and money if hired out. Also, wood moves with changes in temp and humidity which can cause hairline cracks in the paint at the joints - again, this bothers some and not others. This is why factory painted cabinets are MDF or MDF combined with wood - more stable to temp. The durability of a paint job over finished cabinets is less than a factory finish. How well it holds up will depend on how good the paint job was ($$$) and how active the kitchen. If you do paint, I would wait a good 6 months or more before doing the countertops to be sure the paint holds up and looks they way you hoped it would before the huge investment of countertops and backsplash.

One way to decrease the look of the wood somewhat is to remove some of the center panels and replace with glass. One poster replaced many of her doors with frosted glass for a more modern look.

Marble is a very unforgiving countertop and read up on it to decide if you really want to deal with it. There are lots of post on here about the plusses and minuses of marble. The prettiest light granites tend to be too busy for lighter oak cabinets, but there are many quartz counters that look good with the oak. Also, don't make the final decision on backsplash till the counters are in - the big picture can change your idea, and don't decide on the grout till the tile is up. Oak cabinets have movement due to the grain and this can affect the backsplash - usually needs a simple backsplash.

It looks like you have a lot of counter space, so consider getting a stainless hood and either a countertop microwave or retrofit a cabinet to hold one. I also retrofitted a plate rail into a cabinet if that fits your farm house look.

There are a few apron front sinks that can be installed on a standard sink base cabinet. Kohler make the cast iron Whitehaven and the stainless Vault in both short apron and tall apron styles. The "short apron" is the style for the standard sink base cabinet. I think Elkay has recently come out with one too - in fireclay. The short apron style is obviously shorter, which has a slightly different look. I have this style (Whitehaven) and in some ways it is closer to a vintage American "farm sink" than the European "butler" sinks that inspired the tall apron style. However, the Ikea apron front sinks are also short apron and of course are European too. The "short apron" is just as deep inside as the "tall apron" sink. I actually like that I have retained the larger doors that would need to be shortened for a tall apron.

My kitchen is more of a vintage style:

https://www.houzz.com/photos/my-pics-work-in-progress-phvw-vp~110720042

https://www.houzz.com/photos/my-pics-work-in-progress-phvw-vp~109854029

Orange Oak Cabinets, Want Farmhouse Look

Comments (4)

April
Original Author

Cor

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Orange Oak Cabinets, Want Farmhouse Look

Comments (4)

AprilOriginal Author

Cor

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jhmarie

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April
Original Author