This design problem comes up a lot on houzz. Oak has a wild grain pattern and tough to paint over without the grain "broadcasting" thru. My last home had tons of flat grain oak cabinets throughout the house. My painter suggested stripping the wood and doing a bleached stain for a white washed look. It turned out great and really toned down the wild flat grain patterns. You might take a door from a back bathroom cabinet and experiment with it before you decide. The raised grain broadcasting thru the paint might not bother you! Curious to hear what other posts say!

Photos, please ? :)

Thank you for the advice Kevin. I don't suppose you have a picture of the finished cabinets with the white wash you did in your last home?

Ed will post a picture ASAP. Thanks.

No I don't, sorry. But if you go to houzz "photos" under "kitchen" heading then type in: "whitewash oak" lots of pics come up. Scroll thru and you will see a range of options.

These look like bleached oak to me. You can also wipe with white paint to go lighter. You still see the oak grain but toned down a bit

Maybe just "punch" the island with something different? Yes I agree with above, tons of options for you to ponder! (Maybe too many)!!!

I do like the look and color of the cabinets of the

i do like the look & color of the cabinets you posted, but I don't think that will look good with the yellowish oak floors. I was thinking because it wood be a contrast to all the oak we have in our house!

That should say I was thinking "white" because it would be a contrast and brighten up the kitchen quite a bit. Make it more current and not so 90's looking.

Good point. Might be helpful for this thread if you could upload post a few photos?

You might talk to your painter about painting the oak. The look of seeing the grain thru the paint might not bother you. I'm an OCD guy, and the sample i messed with gave me heartburn!

Posted pictures of my cabinets. If you can see the grain it would bother me too I think but I'm not sure!

I can't see the pics! :(

I'm new to this site so I'm not sure how to put the pics in this thread. If you know please let me know. They are currently uploaded to my Ideabooks file.

Never mind I just figured out how to.

mgulkin, do you have any photos that are from a bit further out and include your floor? I did see your ideabook pics and it would be interesting to see how everything looks in one wide shot.