When you say stain, are you referring to opaque stain that gives a more solid color while still allowing the grain to show? If so, then perhaps my experience with that type of stain will be helpful.

We didn't DIY but we did have cherry cabs stained with an opaque gray-blue stain. They are beautiful but it's a tricky application process to get the coverage to be consistent. My cab maker sprayed the island and hutch base at the same time but sprayed the hutch top at a later date. They were so focused on getting the color to match (didn't mix up enough stain for the whole job) that they goofed on application. It was so heavy that the top looked painted, not stained. They remade it. And remade it again before it was close enough to be acceptable.

If you want a heavier application so that it looks painted, that may be easier than a light coating that allows the grain to show. However, even with a heavier coating, you will see the grain unless you do a lot of prep, filling and sanding to hide the grain. There have been multiple threads on painting oak cabs, including the prep done, that might help you. A search on the forum will turn them

Here are two pics of my hutch.

HTH!

btw, one of the reasons why we chose to use an opaque stain was for durability.

With Oak, a whitewash works well because of the open grain of the wood. The stain will absorb into the open grain and then wipe off from the dense hard grain. White Oak will give the best results, Red Oak will tend to look pink.

Minwax and several other brands make specific white wash or "pickling" stains that work well. However, I've also used thinned down paint, and even primer to achieve the same basic results. I would put a clear satin finish over the stain or whitewash to make the surface more durable and cleanable.

General Finishes makes a water based Whitewash stain. Here it is on pine. Keep in mind that the red of red oak may shine through (and may make it pinkish).

I want an opaque look, but since I don't have to live there, I am not too picky.

I am doing the staining work work myself, and the kitchens have to be flipped on one month, so fast and easy are a must.

Haven't ruled out painting. There are some primers/conditioners that might do the trick.

That is nice, but not the look I am going for.

I need to be very neutral since this is rental property, and in the end I will have four kitchens that need to be almost identical that I can swap parts between and easily replace when there is damage. I will also be using basic white appliances. I am dressing things up with a nicer laminate counter that looks like granite, and adding dishwashers.

I want a fast and easy solid white finish. I am using Home Depot Hampton Bay unfinished cabinets, since the prefinished are about double in price. I will have 7 or 8 cabinets per kitchen.

I would take your questions (with a door from a cab) to a good paint store and ask them about stains. They should be able to give you a clear picture of your options.

We do not paint the kitchen cabinets because it is too much prep work between tenants. I would stain a fairly dark color and then use a good coat or two of an oil based varnish. We just rough up and revarnish.

fyi pick paint colors you can grab off the shelf, if you have students, consider tiling everything but the bedrooms. And carpet in "peat" is kind of traffic pattern color

I'm with Kippy. I'd stain with "General Finishes gel stain". I've used it three times now, and it goes very fast and it's easy to achieve excellent results. Search online or here at gardenweb, and you'll find plenty of info with pics.

If the painters are done, I will go shoot a photo or two of our 1970's stained cabinets tomorrow. Since we redid the counters, actual granite, we had the painters take them down to wood (sealed unfortunately) restained and fresh finish. They actually look pretty good for apartments. In my own place I have always preferred white cabinets. For tenants, I want what will clean or hide their sins. At this property I have 48 units, 88 bathrooms, 120 bedrooms to deal with, plus the rental houses and thankfully no more frat house. And 20 years experience.

Seal in the interiors of the cabinets too, especially the drawers. Stainless steel Top mount sinks, (moen faucets) in the bathrooms, order the all wood cabinets and buy a top you can top mount a replacement sink (moen single handle faucet) Check out HDsupplysolutions

Kippy, what stain do you use?

So 1989'd pink.

White stain is outdated looking. If the rental needs to attract prospective tenants based on its looks (meaning it's in an area with lots of available rentals) then I would not do whitestain/wash.

Nosoccer I can check, our painter usually is a SW guy but I think the stain is off the shelves at HD (oil based)

Even if the white with pink showing through it currently trendy (and I'm not sure if it is) I remember in the 80s it was popular and then very dated. A medium-dark stain, while maybe not trendy, would be more timeless.

Cerused (limed) oak is currently trendy. But I think it would be very hard to pull off that look with HD cabinets.

Rupert Industrial Loft White Washed Reclaimed Oak Long Sideboard · More Info

Or this stain:

Do you know what stain you will use? I'm interested in that, too, for rentals.

Lisa_a,

Would you please tell me what stain have you used to achieve that look on your drawers (the one that the grain is shown). I have red oak cabinets at are in great shape but I don’t like the stain). I did all the prep work: all cabinets are stripped and sanded to a bare wood. Now it’s time to stain them, and your light stained drawers I like very much. Not sure if I could pull the look but I’d try. Thank you!