You can paint over the back splash, at least for the time being. If you are willing to do that, paint it matte black (leather look). Paint the cabinets gray and change the hardware.

A gray darker than your floor, but in the same tone…Dovetail, possibly.

Brushed chrome for hardware…just like the finish on the doorknob above.

put some brushed aluminum or brushed chrome hardware on your cabinets. Get it closer to what your kitchen is. those handles altho I remember them, were not the best of the era by any stretch. They went with avocado and harvest gold and laminate that had wagonwheels and weird stuff. You have progressed now with your kitchen. But still right in that time frame. Don't paint.

Here is a warm wood kitchen Idea book if you want to work with the wood cabinets. Wood slab cabinets are a little in right now.

https://www.houzz.com/ideabooks/75202366/list/wood-kitchens

Those example don't have slab doors - so keep that in mind.

I would not do gray. Gray is OK when the doors have some variation - like a raised center panel or shaker. Then the shadows come into play and give interest. Gray slab doors sound drab.

If you want to paint, consider white or a color. The floor is not working great with the warm wood, so paint may be your best option.

Not a single voice to celebrate the mid-century glory of your original cabinets?!?

Mid-Century Modern Ranch Kitchen Remodel · More Info

Pacific NW Mid-Century Kitchen Remodel · More Info

Here is the hardware issue.

pic with both

I love the look of these cabinets, unpainted with new hardware in our main bathroom. New floor needed....it is amazing faux pebble linoleum;) An easy fix at some point as are the other aesthetic things in there.

Wish List · More Info

Wish List · More Info

let a local refinisher address the markings. There 's a way. I can't tell if it's rust..or bleeding..I can't tell if it's indented.. I can't tell how many layers of "what" composes those spots. I can tell you that a pro can handle that. And default is a backplate behind a handle...but not just yet.

You'll want to measure the center to center length (probably 2 1/4 or 3") as well as the widest width of the pull that needs to be covered.

Your bathroom floor was a wonder in the day. It was the best of the then-new vinyl floors, in 1963. We had it in our kitchen in the house my parents built that year. That and the then-new polyurethane finish ("Gym-seal") on the hardwood floors was a topic of conversation during the build..

herbflavor....these are all good questions. I couldn't help myself so I took some sandpaper to the darker part. It seemed to improve but is still there. It's not indented much... a very light sanding and it is flat with the rest. Looks like the layer is quite then considering my very mild sanding. I believe it's the same coating as my bathroom cabinets but those cabinets are starting to peel. I'll get a picture. But yes....I will reach out to a cabinet refinisher and see what advice he has.

tatts....thank you for the history! That's cool that you have those memories of homes built during that time. Our house was built in 1958 and I think the original owners must have splurged on certain things as we also have "nicer" brick on our fireplace and on part of the front of the house. I hear a lot, "I've seen a lot bad brick and that brick isn't so bad."

tatts, now that I have the info that this may be the orignial floor...I just might not be able to redo the floors:)

acm...might as well bring it back and celebrate the home's true roots. Oak cabinets, pebble linoleum and all!

Thanks everyone! Really appreciate your help as we navigate the updates!

a closer look at the condition of those cabinets and my vote is to strip them and redo. The pics that acm posted look beautiful, but they aren't the original cabs from the 50's. However, you can make yours look very similar.

Since yours are all flat panel, you could do the same stain color so as not to have to do the body (other than some cleaning and touch ups), just the slab drawers/doors and any side panels.

Your cabs are probably the easiest ones to redo. . In fact, you prob wouldn't even have to strip them. I've done similar wood with nothing but sanding off the existing finish, and coating w/a fresh stain and clear coat.

for the hardware change, you could apply wood filler to only the bottom holes (they have filler in different wood tones to make it less noticeable) before you sand and stain. if done right, you won't even notice it. Or, you can try and find hardware w/the same hole span and use those like they've done here (they redid the wood thought) . this is what yours could look like

Or, this one. this is a beautiful redo, paying homage to the mcm vibe. the blue is gorgeous w/the wood cabinets.

This is what you need w/your cabs. this cool blue tone. would look beautiful w/your flooring and the warm wood cabinets. And it would still work w/your countertop.

I would love to get my hands on your cabinets and redo them! The trickiest part would be removing them, keeping the exact hinges on each one (or removing and marking them so that they go back exactly as they were) and rehanging them.

to test to see what the clear coat, try a cotton ball dipped in rubbing alcohol. wipe it across the wood. does it get gummy? then it's shellac. If nothing happens, then it's prob a varnish. either way, after all these years it's been worn down quite a bit and an orbital sander with graduating grits of sandpaper will take care of it.

can I show you a few photos of some wood I've redone that were 100x times worse than your cabs? my point is to show you how amazing wood is and how relatively simple it is to get it to bounce back to beautiful again.

i bought this for $15. what? "you paid money for that??" lol. yes. I needed to learn.

this was a nice piece of walnut under all that mess and it took stain beautifully.

Mahogany drop down table had seen better days.

I'm only posting these so you can see that your wood cabs can look brand spanking new, and look beautiful! Refinish your cabs!

Are your doors veneered plywood? Are you sure they are oak and not birch? If they are original, I think veneered birch plywood would have been more common than oak, but I am not a MCM expert. Do the cabs have individual boxes or were they built in place?

It might be worth the time and effort to find someone to quote cutting new slab fronts out of birch or maple veneered plywood. Birch is easier to stain than maple, but maple would be easier to paint. That way you would only need to grain fill the cab fronts and paint to match.

the kitchen cabs aren't maple or birch. they look like oak. the bathroom cabinets appear to be one of the others.

My folks have the same cabinets. Painting them???? OMG...the doors are probably hand split with a tool on the inside so they close nicely. Paint on those edges would cause you so much pain in the ***... They probably took a wood chisel and took off about 3/8 deep, but half the width of the wood plank, of an inch on the perimeter inside, and they were built ONSITE as part of the house. The shelves likely, are built into the walls, by the carpenters that built the house!!

The drawer and door pulls are an easy fix. You can remove them and probably clean them with a very very fine steel wool? perhaps, and than spray paint them your favorite color with a metal paint, such as dark brown or gold or tan or taupe on the side you see only..? Than in the day, you have that polyurethane water proof finish, /or old fashioned varnish? It seals as you say and it will just bubble all over the place as air gets too it. Talk to a paint store veteran, and find out, I think LAVA bar soap can be used to remove it, or there are many products. Once they are stripped, than you can use any thing on them but NOT lacquer(not water proof, going to bad places quick if you do that). It's a big job, my folks did it twice that I can recall and thru the paneling on their walls in the den too, and built in bookshelves. If you can find a qualified old school, expert, you won't be sorry, and they will look so awesome! But there is no room for a paint tolerance on the inside of those doors.

The hinges and the drawers will not work with a layer of paint on them, and they would have to be stripped anyway, to paint them...and you can paint them again in less than 5 years likely...

steel wool and bar keepers friend will clean up the handles,,,but i think she wants to replace them. I agree. time for something different.

+1 for refinishing and keeping the woodgrain. Unless you were to change the style of the kitchen with something like a shaker door/drawer front, I wouldn't paint them. Good luck on your project!

Beth, I love your work! If you were close to the Pacific Northwest I would be more than happy to have you refinish my cabinets! However, I think this is absolutely something my DIY husband will take on. I absolutely plan to refinish them and will NOT paint them. After this post I have a new found love for this home and the original charm that is still here....it just needs a refresh. I really like the picture with the blue aqua backsplash. That kitchen is perfect and very mcm!

Rantontoo, I thought both kitchen and bathroom cabinets were oak but totally assumed that. I'm really not sure what they are. I took a picture of the inside of the door...as now I am very curious.

Redsilver, you are totally right! I can now see where painting would be a huge pain! The doors are carved out just right for a perfect fit. How cool is that!!! True carpenters! I had not even considered that the hinges and pulls would not fit after painting but either way I had planned to replace the hardware.

Here's a pic of the inner part of the doors.

Wish List · More Info

Wish List · More Info

great! your husband can redo them. they really are easy to do. if he removes them from the hinges, be certain to mark them!!! you must put them back in their exact place or they will never fit correctly. I use tape on the spines and number accordingly. also, if you remove the hinges to clean, make sure they go back on the same door in the same place! trust me on this one.

I love the blue mosaic tile. I can find you tons more when you're ready. post a pic when they're done. (and that current backsplash is really bad for this mcm type kitchen. sorry,,it just doesn't work)

I will say that my folks did not remove the doors when they stripped and revarnished them at all. Only the drawers were pulled out... They had single hole pulls so they removed, scrubbed and cleaned and spray painted them with a soft, gold metallic and they held up a long time, on the doors, and drawers were handles...NOTE: If you change them, the new shape and the wood discoloration, will not match that unique outline, really, unless you find handles that 1. line up with the existing holes and 2. buy handles that you can also** buy a strike plate to match that hides the discolored arrows completely... Than, you will have to find screws that are able to handle such a thin door, and that is not fun. I think you will save headaches if you can make the existing handles work. I think. Just a heads up to make sure every step in your plan is well thought out and planned for.

You will need LOTS of painters cloth(or newspapers layered)>on your counters, ..Use a good brush suitable for your clear coat and it should work fine. A shiney finish is more durable than a satin finish, they have said in other posts, so do a shiney finish first coat, and sand gently with recommended professional grit...and than do your satin finish. They will look spectacular. Go very light on those chiseled interior edges with your clear coat....so they close properly, as we said earlier..

Removing those doors will result in issues with stripped old screws, hinges, threads in the wood that may not accept the screws again...Let him work in only one area, like an upper or lower run of 3 or 4, and see how that reassembles, so that he can make adjustments on that small area, and doesn't have your whole garage in chaos and your kitchen for days and days... LOL...Seen or survived 8/ alot of kitchen redoos...none were as easy, but all were worth it, eventually....the bad experiences are the most memorable... LOL

OH, I am betting those are ASH cabinets. The premium wood for their day. Highly sought for the grain... The discoloration behind the handles is where moisture went because the handles were varnished over likely as you said, the wood was NOT sealed. Imagine, buying a kitchen of ASH cabinets for an old gutted kitchen...and having the expert come in and LACQUER thousands of dollars of beautiful plaque style kitchen cabinets after they were stained and sanded. Now, imagine several children later, having the tops of every cabinet door on the lower and every upper cabinet door between the stove and the sink, but absolutely BLACK like yours are behind the pulls....moisture, into the wood(Lacquer is great for the coffee table or bedroom headboard)swells the grain, and over time, the grain absorbs everything a cook can have on her hands when she opens the drawer or the door with the handle or pull..around that area and on the top or lower edges(times when the fingers went to the wood)....totally ruined....not one thing you can do about it, new doors and drawers are the extent of it.... So yes, polyurethane runs easier, dries slower, and varnish takes a while to get very dry, so you can sand and apply the 2nd coat.....but the wood will never turn swollen or black from moisture, as your cabinets have not where the finish was applied well. That is the reason, those pulls and hinges may be your best friend, so clean them and paint them if you need to on the fronts, so they can go back and hide the discolored or stained wood behind them now..if you cannot find door handle strike plates to camouflage the new handles you might choose..

Ash is very possible. as for the handle marks, if he strips and/or sands, the outline will disappear. I have done it on many pieces. filling holes w/wood filler takes a bit of finesse, as it can shrink and you'll have a divot. so those are a little more detailed work. that's why I said to find handles w/the same hole spacing.

if he can work on those while they're hanging, great. just know that stripped screws and holes can easily be fixed. you can also find replacement hinges to match those. RetroRenovation or any other hardware place that specializes in vintage hinges. it's just difficult to sand/stain around those hinges without leaving marks. the parts that screw into the door are ok to remove,,,it's the hinge part on the cabinet base itself that is a pain to screw with (no pun intended)

as for the thin wood and hardware, you can cut the screw backs if they're too long, or buy hardware meant for thin panels.

Have him practice on the inside of a few doors first to see how it looks.

Paint these cabinets. Just paint the exterior of the boxes and the front of the doors. I did this and it worked just fine for 30 years! Here’s a picture.

I left the hinges on the doors as we were afraid the holes would loosen up, so doors were NOT taken down. I use oil-based enamel both times they were painted (changed my color scheme!).

I coulld not have lived in my kitchen if I had not painted them. They’re screamed, “I’m cheap and very ugly!”. We did replace the old Formica countertops with Glacier White Corian; I reused them when I finally got new cabinets 2 years ago. They still look great after 34 years.

I agree. Corian, white, is the premium counter top. I would love to have that over the waves and speckled of the stone tops so many want today. The kitchen is a busy place. All that motion from dark outer space(flecks)and ocean waves(the wavey designs) just add to the chaos. But alot of folks have a higher tolerance and want to be convinced that Radon on the counter, is a great thing...LOL I guess it replaces the crazy wallpaper patterns in the kitchens of the 60's plaids, coffeepots and tea pitchers, or flowers, perhaps? But a little wall paper on a firdown is alot more fun that swimming in a G shaped kitchen surrounded by speckles, waves, and grout lines tooo yet. LOL Too, I guess that is why people want to paint the woodgrain? but a solid countertop makes things like woodgrain shine much prettier, than MDF painted cabinets and speckled granite? LOL Oh well, trends come and they go...

Adding a fresh coat of white on cabinets is a great way to make the space more modern and inviting. Switching out the handles on the cabinets is an easy fix as well!

3/8 step hinges? They pose an issue as the styles and colors are limited.

Try Barker Cabinets you can easily make those drawers and doors full overlay which means you would only see the doors no frames. This would give a very clean modern look. If you like slab doors as you have they are very reasonably priced and might shock you that for under $1000 you have a brand new looking kitchen.

If not I would sand not strip. Buy a nice random orbital sander and progressive grits from 180-220-400 and your ready for a nice fresh coat of General Finishes clear.

By the way that Bar Keepers Friend contains oxalic acid which will also take the stain from the handle off and can also be used to bleach the wood back to new.

If you like the tone they are now try repairing the areas that are damaged by sanding and applying amber shellac and then clear coat over what you have with a light sanding. General Finishes Enduro clear also has a slight amber tint to it like old non water based clears. I would not use a water based clear because it will not have the look you want on that species of wood.

Good luck!

I'm sorry. Those look like plywood cabinet door fronts. It may have an ash overlay, but it is plywood. They need to be replaced.

The countertop you have looks nice, from the pictures.

The backsplash is very gaudy and distracting.

I love the hardware for those cabinets. Classic!

If it were mine, I'd first refresh the cabinet finish, then replace the floor, then redo the backsplash. The floor is far more egregious than the backsplash. A cheery colorful linoleum (not vinyl) would be really nice in there.

Yes, they are plywood doors. And they are sturdy and beautiful and rather desirable. You can't get that tidy stepped/semi-inset/whatever it's called construction without using plywood. And you can't find anyone that makes them anymore. Yeah, I looked. It's a lot more labor and requires more precision than modern cheesy overlay cabinets, or even inset.

Plywood is a wonderful product for cabinetry. I'm surprised anyone would suggest that veneered plywood is anything less than totally acceptable.

You can never go wrong with a classic white kitchen. White will also be a lot more forgiving with the wood texture of your cabinetry and will also coordinate nicely with your floors. Check out Clare.com for a beautiful selection of interior designer curated paint colors. Get easy peel & stick swatches, paint and all the supplies you'll need to paint, delivered right to your door!

I would refinish them, and keep the mcm look. I have always removed the hinges, and no problem reinstalling them. What I have had a problem is, that the hinges are different than what they are now. You may find some that look exactly like what you have, in a chrome, etc, but, once you put them on, those doors wont close or fit properly. You are better off, to clean the ones you have very very good, and then prime them and spray them, with one of the brushed spray finishes. They will be a tiny bit different looking, than your new hardware but, it really wont be noticable, since not much of the hinge actually shows anyway. I agree on the blue backsplash, and someday, maybe you can redo the flooring. I like gray flooring, but, for your kitchen, it wasnt a good choice, unfortunately.

Fori and others...I found this cool article about plywood in the Pacific Northwest which is where I am. The unfortunate part is the company that eventually took over production of plywood stopped making it in 1963. The cool part is my home was built in 1958...so just maybe my cabinets evolved from the pioneers of plywood. M and M Woodworking Company

I have similar cabinets and hardware. I took off the handles and cleaned them with Bar Keepers Friend. It was just a temporary fix as I am remodeling the kitchen next spring and the cabinets will be going to the dump! Our house was built in 1960, but it's not MCM. It's a two-story, mid-century, colonial. I would probably keep my cabinets if my style was more contemporary, but I like a more traditional design.