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shortycake_gw

oak cabinets: paint, restain or reface? opinions please!

shortycake
16 years ago

Our house was built in '77, and our kitchen has oak cabinets. They look a lot like this veneer raised door style, with the arches on top and bottom, plus extra molding around the design.

http://www.kraftmaid.com/doorsfinishes/index.cfm?navigationid=322X0&doorstyleid=77

We want to give the cabinets a facelift and would just replace hardware, but all the cabinet doors have handles right in the middle of the cabinet door PLUS a decorative plate behind the handle. We don't like the handles in the middle and removing the plate leaves an outline.

Do we paint, restain or reface? This is our first home, and we plan to live in the house for at least 5-7 years, but probably not forever. Our dilemma is: painting is easiest/cheapest, but the cabinets seem to be decent quality wood (not the flimsy stuff) - would it decrease the value to paint? or would it be worth the effort to strip and restain it? Or is it worth the cost to reface the cabinets (with wood that is at least comparable quality)?

Any thoughts? Thanks!

Comments (7)

  • soupgirl
    16 years ago

    All I can do is relay my experience. Before I purchased my current home, I hired a company to perform a whole house inspection. The inspector labeled the kitchen cabinets "substandard" because the homeowner's paint job was not comparable to that of a cabinet factory. I went ahead and purchased the house because there were more pluses than minuses so, bottomline, painting the kitchen cabinets did not cost the homeowners a sale but it did decrease the value of the cabinets.

  • jessie21
    16 years ago

    i think you should paint/restain/ or reface! any is a good option. if you restain, i would only go darker because there are products out there where you will not have to strip the old finish. just a quick rough up of the surface with sandpaper. then it's almost as easy as painting. celticmoon did this with her oak cabinets and it looks fantastic.

    painting is also an option if you are careful. I don't believe painting would decrease the value of your house. if it looks great, that's what counts. also a dark choice, girlwithasprin is a great example, but i know it can be done with lighter colors too.

    my ugly cabinets are extremely well made wood mode that i can't justify throwing out. I hired a cabinet maker to make a new section for me (to replace a desk area that we never used), picked a stain, and he has built the new section and also refaced the old cabs i'm keeping to match. thought i could do this myself but thru much experimenting, decided to leave it to a pro and i'm so glad i did. i think they look great. not cheap, but not as expensive as new cabs.

    at the beginning of this endeavor, i hoped to paint...easy and cheap... but just couldn't do it because my door style was so awful, it would not have looked good. they were euro flat with the little oak strip along the bottom for handles.

    good luck and let us know what you decide to do.

  • huango
    16 years ago

    shortycake: I was in a similar situation as you are: my house had almost the same cabinets. We knew we'd be selling w/10 years. The kitchen needed updating (appliances were 13years old).
    We decided to leave the cabinets alone, but dazzled potential buyers with the brand new stainless steel appliances (French door fridge, powerful range/hood, dishwasher, huge sink/new faucets), new lighting, backsplash, and granite slabs. The kitchen looked completely different, which made me dislike the oak cabinets a bit less.

    Our buyers LOVE the kitchen. We're glad we didn't touch the cabinets, either staining them or painting them.

    joanie_b: can you please post your progress with painting your cabinets? I thought I would do what celticmoon did, but sometimes I get twinges of wanting creamy white/butter cabinets. thanks.

  • patches123
    16 years ago

    Here is my before and after. We replaced the fridge cabinet, new counters and new appliances. Of course painted the cabinets and added new hardware.

  • berryberry
    16 years ago

    Search for the couple threads here where people used BM Bittersweet Chocolate over their oak cabinets. It was an amazing transformation. I am not a fan of painting cabintes stark white - but really was wowed by the pictures of those who used the BM Bittersweet Chocolate

  • kitchenworld
    15 years ago

    I think that painting is an good option. it can be done with lighter colors.

    Here is a link that might be useful: kitchen cabinets world