I wonder if you could get a piece of veneer and stain?

I’m not sure a piece of veneer would blend well unless I deconstructed the door and replaced the entire panel. We have some other cabinet damage as well, so it’s starting to feel like our only option might be to paint (which we’d really love to avoid right now due to a number of other unfinished projects in progress)

You’ve also got little raised pieces of veneer all around the hole that would have to be trimmed back. You could make it look better by cleaning up the hole and filling it, but even with artfully applied touchup dyes, it’s still going to be obvious. I wish I could come up with some inventive way to deal with this, but the nature of the damage and the location are stifling my creativity.

The age of the cabinets in the picture say to not sweat the small stuff. Start planning the bigger stuff.

you could try and patch it w/a good stainable wood filler, and then use some tools after it hardens to match the graining. then get a stain that matches and feather the whole thing together! a pro could do it and come pretty close. I could prob make it look decent.

or you could just get a whole new door and stain that.

OR.....Take out the entire middle panel and add a piece of glass. Frosted, seeded, whatever you like.

I vote for replacing the panel with frosted glass, any patch is always going to look like a patch.

Bondo the hole, sand it smooth, re-veneer the door, and finish to match.

the wood is splintered. you have to chip that away/level it/ fill it/ work w recreating texture / but its dubious. I know what I would be capable of doing.... and I'd probably get it so I could live with it ,but just barely.... ...... it would be FAR from great. So: to save yourself...get a new door in that praline oak w an edge profile matching the adjacent cabinet and be done with it. Other thing: get a fun chalk board applied in that upper section of the panel for messages....

Why not patch the best you can and paint with chalkboard paint?

If repair does not work, maybe consider pull or handle with backplate to cover.

mdln-

Not a bad idea. The location of the damage is such that it would look like it belonged there. And a lot less work....

that's actually a pretty good idea

(you can look on Etsy for 60's or 70's vintage cabinet hardware)

you could even do a standard, larger handle, put attach it do another piece of oak (stain it to match) and place that down the center. since it's a larger door, you can get away w/this look

I think this one, or removing the center panel and doing a frosted glass, would look the best.

(other than completely painting all of the cabs)

It is sounding more and more like a full paint job is going to be our next project...we have some other cabinet damage as well, and they all seem to demand creative, imperfect solutions. The cleanest approach may just be sand everything down smooth and cover it all with paint. We’ve been hesitant to go this route as we aren’t sure how it will hold up over time, but it seems like our best option given all the damage (including this ”lovely” cork board that is surprising hard to remove despite chipping and flaking off at the corners)

oh, those aren't even solid oak. they're fiberbaord bases w/plastic like veneer. I wouldn't waste the time/energy painting those things! seriously.

If youre strapped for money, then look on craigslist. People unload real oak cabs like those, but real wood, all the time. you can pick up an entire kitchen for a few hundred.

for instance, on craigslist near me, someone is selling everything in this kitchens. cabs, sink appliances, etc. 900. At least these cabinets are real oak and much better to paint.

Would you believe they are selling all of these maple cabs for $100?

I mean, these would be perfect to paint! So much better than what you have.

Heck, these are free!

I've also seen people move into homes with brand new cabs that they don't like, and sell the entire kitchen for 1K. or maybe they're a few years old and want to remodel.

The point is, you can find better cabinets to paint.

Or you can go w/Ikea.

Or, RTA cabs. If you can spare a few thousand, you can do these

https://www.usadistributor.com/kitchen/kitchen-cabinets.html

They are solid fronts and doors, the sides/end panels are the only parts that are fiberboard

You sure? I see MDF underneath that. it would be the side of your cabinet. A lot of those cabs had fiberboard bases, or interior (instead of solid plywood) It's not uncommon.

In any case, up to you. if you want to paint them yourself, it's a lot of work, but doable.

look at evolutionstyleblog.com for complete how-to on oak cabinet painting

https://www.evolutionofstyleblog.com/how-to-paint-your-kitchen-cabinets-like

solid wood fronts, yes I’m sure about that. The sides are fiberboard, but only a couple sides are visible in the entire kitchen

ok good.

If you want the best tutorial, I gave it to you. follow that to a tee and they'll look great.

as for that door, you can patch it if you're going to paint. the grain might be a problem (or lack of it w/the epoxy patching. and for large holes you want an epoxy. like a Bondo. you can use an exacto knife to add faux graining tho. )

or you can use this stuff and make them smooth

or you can do some good sanding and a few coats of good primer

redo the end panels like this. (or something similar). just get a thin sheeting

Let’s back up a little bit here. It would never occur to me that the fix for a small blemish like that would be to replace all the cabinets or to paint them. That’s the equivalent of using a cannon to deal with a mosquito.

kudzu,,,it's not just that one blemish. this is what she wrote:

It is sounding more and more like a full paint job is going to be our next project...we have some other cabinet damage as well, and they all seem to demand creative, imperfect solutions. The cleanest approach may just be sand everything down smooth and cover it all with paint.

kudzu9 - thanks for making this point. We know we’ll eventually need to paint if we want a near-perfect fix, but we aren’t prepared to do that right now (too many other unfinished projects, not enough time!). We’re considering starting to patch and sand all the blemishes (Without caring about blending with the existing oak finish) and we’ll just say it’s in the middle of being updated :) We’ve lived without baseboards for 7 months now since I ripped them out in the beginning of quarantine (then the weather got nice and outside we went)...Maybe I’ll have time during our long winter to get to it haha