You mean you never changed the cabinet color? Great transformation!

Very helpful post. Thank you. I am making these same decisions. I am going to a greige, hoping that tones down the cabinet color. Also, My cabinets have scuffs and worn edges. I've tried to touch them up, but haven't figured out a final solution.

My daughter and her hubs used the Rustoleum product on their natural oak cabinets and it looks amazing. they went from natral oak to ebony brown cabinets and it was pretty easy, time consuming, but pretty straightforward and they are so happy they did!

looks great!!

what a difference, looks fab!

Ugh, thank you so much for this post...same dilemma, so frustrated. Now I have some ideas to consider.

The type of light bulb you use makes a big difference in toning down the pink of the pickled oak so I'd recommend playing with different lighting options too.

HI Terrilk, I have the exact exact same dilemma. Pickled oak cabinets (hate the pink!) yet painting or replacing them is not an option. i'm desperate to update the look. I have white appliances I'm replacing with stainless steel or black stainless (that's dilemma #2) and trying to modernize the look of the kitchen as best I can. Great feedback here with the grey paint, modern hardware. Do you like the long handles? I have the exact same drawer pulls now. Do you have a larger photo you could upload? I can't see the detail in the small images. Now that you're living with it, anything you'd do differently?

Hi Terrik. Great to find this thread!!! I am struggling to update my cabinets. They're practically same as yours.

Jbarbie I have been toying with be weiramaner paint. Samples on wall seem tone down pink. I am currently considering granites and exploring lighting. I have fallen for black stainless but have not committed. Interested in any ideas anyone has. My floors are light natural oak. I am debating using dark brown granite with movement. Honestly indecisive n struggling. :)

I opted to paint my very pink pickled cabinets with a griege -- and am really pleased with how they turned out!

ruthannwidner I love this. What color did you go with?

Minimom I used SW Accessible Beige on the walls and Balanced Beige on the cabinets.

In same situation as original 2013 post; moved into house built in 1993 with custom pickled wood cabinets throughout house in kitchen, family room, bar area, laundry, bathrooms, basement kitchen and flooring in hall. Need to find ways to tone down the pink everywhere! So many cabinets and wood it would be way to costly to replace or even paint all that are within site with this open floor plan. Hoping to change wood flooring to different color in a few years but what paint to help tone it down? Kitchen has two Granite's; one in black and grey tones while other is grey, brown and tan tones. Basement kitchen has same black granite as part of kitchen while family room and bar have grey, tan and brown toned granite.

We had the same dilemma. Our kitchen was painted a pale yellow that did nothing for the cabinets. After months of testing colors on poster board, I finally chose BM Wind's Breath. It is a very light warm taupe, and the change is subtle, it made a big difference.

Thanks for the idea. We have been toying with a taupe. Family room has vaulted ceiling but kitchen does not. Weird with such an open plan.

I had pickled oak cabinets throughout my house and I had mine painted by a professional painter who took the doors and sprayed them. I love how they turned out! Look locally for a remodel business who specialize in that sort of thing.

Another option would be to glaze with a white or cream or even taupe chalk paint. I did this on a cabinet and it really changed the look, took about 15 minutes- well worth the time and effort. I used Annie Sloan and watered down the paint, used a large brush and dry brushed it onto the cabinet. Easy and fast for a whole new look.

I finally broke down and painted ours in a light gray and LOVE how it turned out. We can't even remember what it was like to have the pickled oak anymore.

You can see more of them here: http://www.tableandhearth.com/2016/08/rustic-gray-farmhouse-kitchen-reveal.html

I am so glad I found this!!! I had no idea it was called Pickled Oak. Ok in addition to kitchen, there is the banister/railing of stairs.

Yuck

What to do?

Painted my walls with Benjamin Moore Shenandoah Taupe, totally toned down pinkish undertones of pickled oak cabinets.

Wow those look great.

I have pickled maple Yorktowne cabinets from 1994. The finish has rubbed off on some of them by the knobs and on some edges. I do not want to change the color. Does anyone have any ideas on how they can be touched up with the same color. I live in New Jersey. Do you know if anyone that does this type of work.

Ruth Ann Widner did you use a cabinet transformation kit or just straight up sand-prime & paint all your cabinets?

Wow, great job and smart move! Congrats, your kitchen looks lovely now, very modern and sharp!

Mandydavidson52 - we did not use a transformation kit. We hired painters who lightly sanded, primed, and painted. It’s now been over 5 years and the cabinets still look good and wipe down easily. The beige color is bright yet forgiving.

It is January 2018 and we are remodeling our main floor bathroom. We have pickled oak with that slightly pink undertone. The cabinets are custom and the door panels are a bead board. They are in great shape and while I would love to paint them I worry about how it would hold up in the bathroom. I am so glad I found this post. I love the dark grey walls. I see some have mentioned other wall colors they used. I was hoping you all could post pics of you final paint choices. Thanks!

We had someone paint all our cabinets white. They were new from building the house and a very dark almost black /brown color. I hated them. He had a system and even sanded and sprayed them in place and no dust!

The best quick fix I advice received to tie me over until I can afford to replace these cabinets is the person that recommended replacing the par can overhead lightbulbs. I replaced the traditional warm yellow can lights with a new LED model. I played around with every color and every brand of new lights on the market. Everyone I could find from Lowes and Home Depot both in store and online. Each one had quite a different look.

I have 8 can lights in my kitchen. 4 are directly above the wall cabinets. 4 are over the island cabinets. The best lights over the wall cabinets were Sylvania ulta LED 75 Watt Bright White. However, they looked too harsh over the island. Those light are above most heads when in the kitchen and it was too harsh on skin tones. SoI I switched those island lights to a different brand and model for over the island Utilitech LED 75W Warm White. All on dimmers. What a difference!

Because these new leds are smaller bulbs than my traditional pars and sit further inside the par can units, they light stream is more narrow stream down. Not as diffused and wide as the old ones. Worth the compromise for less of a pink color.

There are so many cabinets and shelves in both the island and wall, it's going to be a big expense to repaint or replace them. My thinking is save up the money to replace them and remodel the kitchen. I don't want to look at that pink color inside the cabinets for years if I only refinish them.

I took photos but it's hard to photograph the exact color effect. The camera keeps adjusting the lighting and color. You'll have to play with the types of lights . The 3rd photo down is closer to reality. Less yellow look. This Spring I'm going to paint the walls light grey to try and help too. The

love love love the out come!

Your kitchen looks very nice. You really transformed it. I have the same problem and am trying to sell my house. I HATE the pink pickled whitewashed cabinets but bought the house anyway 7 years ago. I will be painting them all white. I painted the walls a very soft pleasant yellow and I think an all white kitchen is what a lot of people are looking for now. At least my friends are all wanting that and are tired of the stainless appliances.

I used your colours for my kitchen & I love it! I can’t believe how much better the cupboards look! Thanks for the idea!

Great -- glad I was of help in the decision. I've moved to a new house since then and wish I had that wall color here now!! LOL

I may be the only person who really likes pickled oak cabinets. I have them by choice. My walls are white but I do have an open accent wall in the kitchen that is painted in a Sherwin Williams color called "Zinc" - a dark gray green. This color really tones down the cabinets and is a good background for the gallery wall I have there. Following. Good Luck!

I would have those cabinets painted white by a professional who your friends have used and would recommend. The cabinets will always be dated in the pickled pink tone. You will be "tickled pink" with the improvement. Couldn't resist...

LOL. I don't live there now but to be honest with the right (newer) can light bulbs the pink is barely noticeable. I experimented with several can lights to get the one that took the pink out the best so I highly recommend that with a paint that works for your decor.

I have 1994 pickled oak kitchen cabinets and I am thinking of rubbing a liming wax over them to make them seem more white and detract from the pink hue. Any comments on that? Thanks.

It is definitely about what you can afford, nice design ideas to help! Unfortunately I can see the pink hue from pickled oak - no matter what change was made in the color scheme around them.

We have a 12 cabinet kitchen and the cost to have a contractor paint BM Satin Extra White was $1500. Maybe compare pricing of changing flooring, wall color, lighting, hardware, etc to the cost of having your cabinets painted by a professional, if you don't have too many. good luck everyone!

I have a 36 door/drawer kitchen with pickled oak and the estimates I’ve received are over $4,000 to paint or resurface!!!!

Thank you for this "very old post" lol. We have similar cabinets and I was chicken to do gray walls; I thought I either wanted a "much lighter" or "much darker" beige than the cabinets. But after seeing your results, I pretty sure I'm going to have the walls painted a darkish gray. It's nice that even "old posts" can be very helpful!

You're welcome. Those cabinets were a challenge. Changing my ceiling lighting to bright white bulbs also helped with that pink cast from yellowish bulbs/can lights so I'd experiment with bulbs/lighting too..

Hello terrilk, your dark gray wall color looks great. What paint brand and color did you use?

Behr Gateway Grey -- here's the label from the can for the darker gray wall paint.

Thank you!

You're welcome. Hope you like the outcome. Remember to play with your lighting -- the brighter the room with white lights (not yellow) the less noticeable the pink. My newer can light "bulbs " made a big difference. Also adding the white backsplash helped tone down the pink.

Paid someone to paint my cabinets. excuse the countertop it hasn't been changed yet. I could not be more pleased with my cherry cabinets being painted blue on the bottom and white on the top.

Following...

Lighting type can make a tremendous difference in color rendering of cabinets, countertops, walls, etc.

We inherited a 1993 "pickled oak" kitchen with off-white creamy pink linoleum floors and pink "marble" linoleum countertops in our new to us house. I painted the walls BM Grey Mist (while we wait to do a full gut) and switched out all lighting to 4000k LED. Cabs, floor & countertops now look more creamy beige than pink.

do you have a photo you can share?!?