Ikea has a new oak kitchen in Europe.
{{!gwi}}

You could try to go more greyish like the link rococogurl posted.

I think yours are something I had way back when....they are sort of pink-ish, yes?

Today we are seeing a lot of gray washed oak. Probably not too difficult to transform yours if you like that look. There are tons of DIY tutorials on the web.

You can always use a gel stain to darken them if you wanted to go that route too.

I love the look of the gray washed oak! My countertops will be marble (or a marble look-alike) and I think the gray oak would be a nice partner. I think I may ask my contractor to do this for me... would any of you recommend a certain product I should request he use?

My g/f has white oak floors, which looks same. There is a granite I like that looks like marble, all white with grey streaks. I really like it, and it matches your cabinets better. ARE YOU PLANNING TO put on SS hardware?

One problem is the op appears to have red oak, and the grey look is usually achieved with white oak, ....can be a bit more challenging.

Turning what you have into "limed" oak can be done, but it won't be done by the usual contractor, i.e. Cheap Charlie. You need a specialty paint finish artisan or cabinet maker. If those are factory finished cabinets, then getting the finish off to be able to change them will be expensive. It's tough and darn near impossible to do without a dip tank of very noxious chemicals.

Painting them a light gray would be easier (and cheaper) to do than attempting to get them the limewashed oak color. Because even if you can get that top coat off, red oak is tricky to remove the red undertones that give it that pinky look that gives everyone that visceral backlash against the 80's. Sometimes bleaching can work. Sometimes using a greener tinted wash can work. It depends on the skill of the artist involved. It takes time. Time is money.

Sometimes "saving" what's there is a lot more expensive than donating it and replacing it with something that suits your taste better.

I'm open to painting them gray. Do you think it would look nice to use a lighter gray and have some of the grain show through? I also like the sound of a hint of green in the gray. Then adding oil rubbed bronze or SS pulls.

Also, they were built by a local carpenter and were not factory finished.

Thanks again for all the good information and suggestions.

I had the exact finish in our first house. Are both sides of the door finished? I would experiment with different techniques on the inside of a door. I Googled and easily found instructions . You might want to consider adding some green to your finish as it should help counteract the pink of the oak.

Here is a link that might be useful: How to gray wash

That link was very helpful deee! Thank you.