would it cost much to just make it a white door & frame? Your cabinets look good.

honestly, i don't like the oak door mixed in there. when i opened the photo, my first instinct was telling that it should be white.

I love your cabinets !

You didn't say what color the base moldings in the kitchen are going to be...are those going to be painted white? I would think that the door and frame should match whatever the base molding color is.

I am in the middle of de-oaking my kitchen/family room. Our doors and moldings (as well as cabinetry) are all oak (except I think the moldings are that cheesy fake oak stuff)...I'm priming and painting them all white today. I'm on oak overload here....so I'm coming from an anti-oak position anyway..lol!

sorry to say it would bug me too :( it looks like the trim and door in the background is white, so I would keep a continuous look throughout the whole house with trim/baseboards. I wouldn't think it would cost too much to have the pocket door and trim painted if you didn't want to do it yourself. I think white would look so nice and crisp with your choices (which I love BTW!)

It is a gorgeous door!! But....it would bug me too since your cabinets are even more gorgeous. I think I'd paint it white to match the other doors.

If the door is going to be left open most of the time that you are in the kitchen I would suggest leaving it oak. If it will be closed then you might want to paint the side that faces into the kitchen.

It might look a bit more pulled together if your trim was a consistent colour everywhere in the kitchen, so I'd definitely paint the trim the same colour as the baseboards which - if it was my room - would be a couple of shades lighter than the walls but still the same colour, not a stark contrast.

Kitchen side of sliding door and its trim would look best matching the rest of the kitchen molding. Other side of sliding door should be white to match the hall doors.

I can't tell from the photo if the door slides external to a wall or within a wall. If it's the latter case, adding the extra coats of paint it will take to cover the oak might cause the door get stuck in the wall.

I agree with the posters above. The oak detracts from your beautiful new kitchen too much. To me, it screams "We remodeled!". The new kitchen is great!

I agree you have to get rid of the oak door. It looks dated next to your new cabinetry. If the rest of your millwork will be painted, then paint the door. Otherwise, you will probably have to start pricing out a new door.

$50 on primer and a quart of nice white paint, and you have yourself a new white door and trim. :-)

Ya, I wouldn't like that either - it would really bug me (part of the reason I chose dark cabinets that matched the rest of my dark woodwork - even though dark cabinets weren't popular at the time.)

What does the rest of your woodwork adjacent to the kitchen look like? Windows, baseboards, etc? Is all of that medium oak or is it painted? I think you need to be careful about getting a hodge podge of mis-matched stuff if it's all visible at the same time.

I don't care for painted woodwork but that may be the "least worst" option. I'd rather have dark wood door and trim but if all the rest of the house is painted or medium oak then not sure I'd go that route - plus there's the added expense. If you never used the pocket door it wouldn't be that difficult to change just the trim.

Can it be re-stained dark?

OTT, but wouldn't the middle of that door be a great spot to paint a chalk-board panel?

Thank you all for your comments.

pbandj, the oak door itself and the trim cost several hundred dollars several years ago. To replace it would mean labour + the cost of the door and trim. No option to do the labour myself. Since I am at the end of my renovations and running out of cash, I need to see what else I can do right now.

To everyone else, the trim in the rest of the house/kitchen is white so you have basically confirmed what I thought. I'll have to paint it white myself. Would I have to sand it first and then prime it or can I prime it directly and then paint it? I'll have to have the trim removed so I can get the door out. But you are all right, it does not look good with the new kitchen. Thank you for your opinions.

We ran into that problem in our last house. We were able to get the paint brush in between the door and trim enough to paint it without removing the door. Good luck.

I don't think I would like it stark white either. I think it would look great stained BLACK!

Click on link below to see a door stained black. Or you could also stain it some cool, muted color that's in your tile backsplash.

Here is a link that might be useful:

I agree with kompy- I don't think the stark white would work- I'd try to match it to the cabinets as best I could. You want it to disappear, even when closed, not stand out.

My first thought was black trim with a white door. Great kitchen by the way

Thanks dreamywhite! And thanks everyone for the suggestions. The reason I thought white would be better is that the base board will be white, as it is in the rest of the house. I didn't post more photos but the kitchen leads to a sunroom where the baseboards are white and the upper beam across from the wall shown has white ogees as well. The cabinets are chocolate brown. Would black actually look good? Also, could I paint it black or brown on the side facing the kitchen and white on the side facing the hallway to the rest of the house?

As soon as I saw the picture, I could hear the door and molding screaming to be painted black (dark brown)!! To me, that would be stunning and add to the kitchen. I would rather paint it dark and show it off rather than paint it white so it blends and hides.

Maybe instead of black... take a sample of your kitchen cabinets to the paint store and match the color of your cabinets (chocolate brown). To me... that is the only option!

I think you should either match the color of your cabinets or paint it white to match the rest of your trim. Or, as kompy suggested, use another color from your backsplash. I think black would be too close to the cabinets without matching, which would seem like a mistake.

And, yes, you can paint one side one color and the other side a different color--we have several doors in our house like this. Sanding first is always a good idea, but with a very high quality primer, it may not be necessary.

Ahhhh....love the cabinets and the backsplash! The room is really beautiful! I wouldn't let that door steal the show just because it doesn't fit in. I agree with all the other posters who suggested painting it white so it will blend in better.

It is a shame to pain over the beautiful grain on the oak door. It would be A LOT of work to achieve a smooth paint surface. I would try to find a dark opaque stain that would match the cabinets.

gibby, your kitchens was one of the ones I looked at when trying to decide between white and dark cabinets. I have white trim everywhere except around a bow window which has the same oak trim as the door in question. I know if I change the door, the trim around the window will probably have to be changed as well.

holligator, thanks for confirming that I could use 2 different colours on the door and for confirming my thoughts on using black.

lukkiirish, thank you!

cotehele, I know, but I also know that I am tired of the golden oak and would like to de-oak, just like jiggreen above!

Would it look weird if I painted the trim in white, like the rest of the house, but the door in the same brown as the cabinets or would I have to go all chocolate brown?

Thanks again for your suggestions.

Paint the door and trim white.
It will disappear better than you think.
Especialy if the trim throughout your house is white.

I think it would be very classy and totally make the kitchen if it were stained ebony! I would not paint it white, it will contrast horribly with the granite!!
Good luck!

I would pick one of the middle tones in your backsplash and match that in a gloss paint for the door and the baseboards.

We have a pocket door in the kitchen right next to our mahogany cabinets. It is just a flat door with no panels and so it blends in more and is not a decorative feature. It is painted white, just like all the window trim and baseboards.

In your case, I'd go with Kompy's alternative idea- a lighter color from your backsplash and do the trim in that color. I'd paint the other side to match the other room.