Nothing wrong with a Corona on an island as long as it has a
lime ;)

I would not paint over the oak. The grain is too beautiful to cover up, IMHO.

Did you oil your stone?

Personal preference comes in here. I love the oak graining in those cabinets and for me I would not paint them. If you do not like them the way they are now then by all means paint them!

I would paint them (or stain them) for sure. I think it might be too much medium wood on medium wood on medium wood otherwise. Having 3 different species of wood would be overkill, IMHO.
What colors are you picturing for the walls and bs?
I do hope you don't paint the beams on the ceiling ....

Those cabinets will look better with the walnut floors and soapstone counters IF painted white.

No advice. Are those arrowheads hanging over the window?

Nothing wrong with painting oak, but I have to agree that your cabinets are beautiful! I think I'd be tempted to change the hardware and let the cabinets be. If you do decide to paint, be aware that the grain will be very hard to hide and you would probably be better off with new door & drawer fronts.

Lots of people have painted their oak cabinets and they have turned out beautifully. There was a reno, very DIY, in a smaller kitchen where a gal and her girlfriends rearranged her existing cabinets and painted them DARK, maybe even black. She has an IKEA Domsjo single sink in the end of her U shaped kitchen. There was a patio door on the left if I remember correctly. I can't remember the name of the owner but it turned out just awesome! Anyone remember her name? You might look through the finished kitchen's blog and see if you can identify any painted oak kitchens to see what you prefer.

Personally, I would paint them. I agree on keeping the numbers of species of woods down. It gets distracting in my opinion to have too many different types.

Post more. We want to see the new island.

Ne

Honestly, not terrible (the oak looks pretty "rich" in the pics), but if YOU hate them, then paint or stain them. My personal preference is full-overlay doors (plus no stiles). If the quality of the boxes is decent, by all means replace the doors, paint the frames, and end up with a "new" kitchen that you really like. :-)

If you decide to leave the doors themselves as is, changing out the hardware will give them a new/fresh look.

The problem with leaving the oak as-is has to do with how they look with the walnut floors. An upstairs bathroom has the walnut into the vanity area of the bathroom with the same oak and it is not pretty. I'm ok with it in a bathroom but not in the kitchen. It dates the area. If we had kept the oak floors I wouldn't think so.

And no I am not toiching the beautiful beams! One of my favorite features of the house!

The decor belongs to the previous owners...

Here is a picture of the unstained walnut in the great room.

Well then it sounds like change is the only option if you don't like the walnut/oak combo.

My vote would be to stain the cabinets. Purely personal preference -- just can't face the idea of painting over the lovely grain.

We faced a similar problem in a previous home with very similar oak cabinets in color and style. Our updates were all DIY. I was able to sand the doors and face frames -- not completely, but enough to remove what was left of the old top finish (the cabinets were about 20 years old at the time). I then stained them a few shades darker using a gell stain and replaced all the hardware. We were happy with the result (as were the new owners when we sold the house.)

I like the finish on your oak but with the floors, the alder island and the sopastone it makes sense to paint. Once sanded back is there any reason you couldn't milk paint the cabinets so you wouldn't lose the grain? Painters probably think your expectation is a smooth factory like paint finish which is hard to achieve with oak. You need to fill the grain of the wood to get that sort of finish if that's what you want. Why not embrace site finished oak cabinets and go for a more variable finish. Did you have a colour in mind? It will change dramatically with all the new elements but it isn't crying for white in my opinion. I'd fool around with some finishes on the existing doors before ordering new ones.

I like the idea of working with the existing cabinets. Taking off the old varnish and stain like caryscott mentions above. I was wondering what a white stain would look like, sort of like a pickleing that was done when I was a kid to make oak look modern in the 50's-60's. Maybe the milk paint does the same thing, I've never seen it used. With the pickled look you defiantly see the grain and a very very light tan shows through.

The walnut floors sound lovely, and your sample picture is stunning. Years ago I begged my way into a mansion to get a look. It was built early 20th century by a very prominent famous/rich family. It had been given to the Catholic church as a parish house and the priest lived there. My friend and I were graciously shown about by the priest. My jaw dropped when I saw the floors! They were like 8" walnut pegged planks! Throughout! So beautiful.

The thing about painting oak is that it has to be primed correctly or the grain comes through.

An idea to explore? How about starting with the toe kicks? You could even just cut some paper to fit, try a pocket mirror, things like that. You might find that mirroring (with metal) or painting the toe kicks (dark) gives you enough separation that you'll be happy with the oak.

If not, find painters who don't mind the job. It may also be that the ones you've been talking to don't want to do all the prep work of removing all the hardware, removing the varnish, filling, prepping, and priming before they can paint, then putting all the doors back so that they hang correctly, etc. It's a big job and takes skills that not all wall painters have.

I have always believed there is a pecking order to types of wood, with cherry, mahogany, and walnut at the higher end. I have never been a fan of oak cabinetry personally, though yours are clearly well built.

I would want the walnut floors to be the star of the show. I think they will get lost with all that oak cabinetry. Aditionally, as others have mentioned, I think you will have too many types of stained wood competing in the same room.

Thus, I vote for painting the oak cabinets and allow the walnut floors and island to pop.

@ celtinNE I have not gotten the soapstone yet...it's on hold but I do have a sample but I have not oiled it, just wetted it down.

@ doggonegardener I will post the island when it gets in! I'm really excited to see it! And I was able to do some custom things in it (like trash pullout) that wasn't done often back when the house was built in 1995.

Thanks everyone for the ideas! We pulled out an oak cabinet from another room so I will experiment with pickling, painting and gel staining before we make a decision. It's not that I hate the grain, because I do like it, but the tone of the walnut is chocolate brown and the oak is orangey brown so it is more of a tone/color issue than an oak issue.

I will post a picture of the oak cabinets up next to the floors. Thanks everyone for your input! It is a personal preference issue but I have never remodeled before so I'm learning! Thanks for letting me lurk and occasionally post!

I think if that were my space I would paint the cabinets.

I would also think about where new pulls and knobs would go to best look updated. I don't think where they are now is where most new kitchens have them today. Since you will be painting, you can have the old holes filled in, and make new holes wherever you choose.

PS Love the flooring!

I did sneak a peak at pictures of your home, and its fabulous. Beautiful mountain retreat. I've always liked oak cabinets, but wonder if they are understated for your home as they are now. When I first saw your pictures, my reaction was "No, don't paint them". But the more I ponder it, I think it might be the right solution. I can't envision them white. It would have to be a color the blended well with the rustic alder and the walnut. The counters will be dark, so some lighter color might be just the thing.