Bathroom Cabinet Dilemma. Paint or Stain Match?
Hi there! We are putting our bathroom back together and I am struggling with paint vs. stain matching. I have a vanity that is "tobacco" stained from the factory. We have a tall unfinished oak cabinet that will be placed right next to the vanity. I am struggling to find a stain to match the vanity. So, should I paint the cabinet instead?
Then the question is if I am painting the cabinet, do I paint it the same color as the walls, or do I find a complimentary color or contrasting color? The cabinet is quite large and our bathroom is small.
As I said, the vanity is tobacco, which is a dark brown with red undertones. The floor will be a white tile with dark brown grout. We will paint the walls a warm beige, similar to "Shaker Beige" by Benjamin Moore.
Please note. The vanity and cabinet in the mock-up are not as dark as our real vanity. Also, our vanity top is whiter, and the floor is white, not gray. The mock-up is mostly to show the placement of the vanity and cabinet so people can see the size of the cabinet in relation to the room.
Thank you for any advice.
Comments (15)
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Advice on bathroom cabinets - paint or stain?
Comments (6)I normally encourage people to just go for it because I do think people can do more than they think they can. I'm a cabinetmaker, but I began over forty years ago with an occasional project that I stripped, stained, and varnished. Had I listened to my fears, I never would have done any of those things. However, given your hesitancy and lack of experience, I'm not sure I would encourage your to stain your bathroom. The other part of the challenge that faces you is correctly preparing the surface. You really have to strip the old finish if you're going to put down a stain. And you have to get every single bit of the old finish. If you miss even a drop of itor worseÂa drop here and a drop there, you will see those drops when you apply the stain, because the wood will NOT accept stain wherever the old finish is still on the wood. I personally would not do that for a bathroom unless I were able to remove the cabinetry and have it stripped at a strip shop. And that's something that really cannot be done, because when the cabinetry comes out, it normally comes out in pieces. But unless I knew absolutely that the old finish were removed, I would not want to stain it. Just sanding it down, as you have, is not likely to get the job done, especially in corners and angles. But if you have carefully sanded the old cabinetry, and it sounds like you have, painting them is really pretty straight forward. Make sure the surface is completely clean and free of dust, then put down a coat of primer. They say water-based primer works just as well, but I still prefer oil-based primer. However, if you do use oil-based primer, make very sure that you keep that bathroom ventilated. I would recommend a fan at one end to keep the fumes out of the bathroom as much as possible. Or you can opt for the water-based primer. But either way, you will get much better results if you prime it first. Then you simply have to put down two or three coats of water-based paint. In California I can no longer get enamel that is not water-based, but by priming the wood first, I have always gotten excellent results. I would recommend a satin finish, which is what I have always used. You need some gloss in the paint to be able to wash it down as needed. I would not recommend going less than satin, and if I went more, I would go no higher than semi-gloss. Gloss makes the light just bounce off. I used it onceÂnever again!!!!! I don't know what is available in your area, but I use Prudy brushes from Home Depot, as that's about the best brush they have. If you're going to be cutting around corners and such, you will get much better results with a sash brush (it is cut at an angle). But do make sure that you get the best brush you can find, because it really makes a difference in the ease of application and the results. Then it's just a matter of putting down the paint. Brush with the grain, take your time with it, and with water-base, recognize that you really cannot spend a lot of time going back over it because it dries so quickly. It is best to just put it down, make sure that area is looking right, then go on to the next area. At the end, I always check for drips. You may want to use a hand-held lamp to inspect it from every angle. Drips most often occur on edges and spindles. Runs are the result of putting down too much paint. If, the following day, you find you missed a drip, you can remove it with a putty knife, sand it out slightly with 600-grit wet-dry sand paper and paint over it with the next coat. If you choose a good color and put down the paint carefully, the results will always make you proud. Good luck....See MorePaint or stain bathroom cabinets?
Comments (1)We are painting our master bath cabinet. Do what you would like best? There is no hard and fast rule....See MoreDo bathroom cabinets have to match the kitchen?
Comments (15)hi calimama.. Well...here's my story. We had leftover granite, so since we were re-doing our powder room as well, we used it for the vanity. The vanity cabinet is a similar stain color as our kitchen cabs, and I also had leftover backsplash tile, so we used that too!! I am not a matchy-matchy person at all...and I don't think it's required that your bathroom and kitchen match. But since you are remodeling both, I think it may as well flow nicely if possible. Mine just so happen to look ...well ...alot alike. But heck...I wasn't about to let my granite and backsplash marble go to waste! KA:) Here is a link that might be useful: my matchy-matchy powder room...haha......See MoreFeedback Needed for Bathroom Makeover - paint, gel stain, etc.
Comments (25)Here is what it looks like now after painting it Palladian Blue (thanks, sueb20, for the correct spelling): This is a spare cabinet door I have that is a dark alder (which is quite similar to cherry): I do like this much better. This shade still has a tinge of red in it. I'm wondering if I should aim for this type of finish or something without the red undertones? Also, if I were to layer a brownish/black gel stain (like a walnut or java) would it work better to reduce the red/orange of the existing stain? Other possibility could be a mahogany, but since the existing stain has quite a bit of red/orange, perhaps that'd be too much? I'm not going to sand away the entire stain there now, just enough to get off the poly layer. The cultured granite doesn't photograph too well, but it has little greyish/black flecks in it. Usually I find a java stain too dark for my taste, but I'm curious how it would look next to the cultured granite. I don't think it works too well with the existing finish--it's too orange and shiny for me, as the same time, is it fairly good shape and I don't want to ruin it. Next task, though, is to clean the grout in the floor tile and reseal before DH and DS return so the bathroom can be used again....See More
C F
last year
The vanity is mostly MDF. I'm not sure what type of wood the veneer is. So I think painting it is the best way to go at this point. Color has always been hard for me to visualize without actually seeing the colors together. We will already have a white tile floor with a white free-standing tub so I don't know about adding a cool white to the cabinet Lyn Neilson. We are going white and warm. Does adding a cool white work? Color theory is not my area of study.
Here is the vanity and the tile we have. I plan on changing the handles on the vanity to match our fixtures which will be oil-rubbed bronze. And the tile will have a darker brown grout.
C F
last yearThank you all for your comments and opinions. I realize I have not been organized or given enough info in this post. I will try to remedy that now.
We have an almost blank canvas for this project. The plumbing is in and we are drywalling right now. We plan to paint the walls and the cabinet before we install them. So, I am cutting things down to the wire.
First, layout. Second, a photo of the actual tub we have, except the drain and overflow are oil-rubbed bronze. Third, the fixture we have for the tub. Fourth, the vanity (it has a white quarts top IRL). Fifth, tile. Sixth, the same tile installed (taken off of the internet).
The cabinet that we have is unfinished oak and is 18W x 24D x 84T. It's a tall cabinet.
As for grout, we are staying away from white because it gets too dirty. Most of my friends who chose white said they regret it. The choice of brown is mostly so that it warms up the bright white of the tile.
The last photo is of a color scheme I am considering. The brown is the closest to the vanity I could find of the Benjamin Moore colors. I am considering the Shaker beige for the walls. The white would be for the trim. I will have to do more refining of the colors, but this is where my head is right now. Would a green like the one in the last photo work for the large cabinet, or would it be too overpowering?
Phew! I hope all of that makes sense!
C F
last yearWe live in the country, so all those styles you mentioned work for us. We did decide on colors and the bathroom is painted. We wanted to paint before we put the vanity, cabinet, toilet, and bathtub in. We went with Dune White as our primary color on three walls, Oxford White on our ceiling and trim, and Natural Linen for an accent wall behind the vanity and cabinet. We are going to paint the cabinet Raintree Green. I think it will all look nice with our red/brown cabinet and our varied white quartz vanity top.
iwonderwhileiwander
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