kitchen cabinets: stain or paint?

11 years ago

We moved into a house with a beautiful large kitchen that has gorgeously crafted cabinets and fronts for the refrigerator & dishwasher. Unfortunately they are stained a rich dark color which makes the kitchen feel heavy and dark, while the rest of the house is more light and airy. I was thinking of painting the cabinets a creamy white color, but my husband likes the wood look and is thinking more of a light stain. We have light colored wooden floors and green-toned granite countertops. (sorry the images flipped when I tried to post)

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Comments (4)

C&T Brooks (VA, Zone 7a)
11 years ago
last modified: 11 years ago
Please do not change the cabinets. They are gorgeous.

Can you post another picture of the full kitchen so we can see what else you're working with. From the little snippets I see...

-I recommend changing the countertops to a white/light color. Even though your granite is nice, it's going to darken the space and the green isn't neutral enough so you're really locked into decorating around it.

-You could add a light colored fabric to the back/inside of your glass front cabinets. Add lights in here as well

-How is your lighting and wall color in the space? Maybe change out fixtures or paint the walls a lighter/brighter color.

If you really want to lighten the cabinets, how about doing just the island (if you have one) instead?
Meg Cairns thanked C&T Brooks (VA, Zone 7a)
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Patricia Colwell Consulting
11 years ago
If wanting to stain or pickle you will have to strip all the old finish off and then restain and re apply protective finish so a lot of work to keep the woodgrain. Painting still a lot of work IMO these cabinets would look really beautiful painted a creamy white you would still see all the detil just not the wood grain and I think would be a better choice with the wood floors
Meg Cairns thanked Patricia Colwell Consulting
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Meg Cairns
Original Author
11 years ago

The backsplash throughout the kitchen is a yellow tile interspersed with vegetable motif tiles -- completely not my style but I'm not ready to take on that project yet. We do have lighting inside the glass-fronted cabinets, and canister lights in the ceiling. The massive hood over the stove feels so heavy -- I call it the barn roof -- and I would like to change that to something more modern. However, my husband is not ready to take on a full remodeling project right now and suggested that changing the cabinets would be quicker, easier and less expensive than changing the counter?
C&T Brooks (VA, Zone 7a)
11 years ago
Beautiful kitchen. I have to disagree with your hubby on that one. I've found that tackling cabinets can be the most time consuming project in the kitchen. I really think you should keep them in their current finish, paint the island & order countertops/tile (you only have a little bit).... but, if you do decide to go that route, spray it on. Nothing screams DIY more then telltale brush/roller marks.
Meg Cairns thanked C&T Brooks (VA, Zone 7a)