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deeprani

Help with old double wall oven

last year

Hello. We have an old but perfectly functioning double wall oven (Kitchenaid) in beige. All other appliances in the kitchen have been replaced over the years to stainless steel. I hate the idea of replacing a functioning appliance especially older appliances that seem to last! I am seeking ideas for how to solve this problem. I was considering adding wood panels (that match the cabinets) - if I can get panels for the oven, where can I find mounting brackets for the oven doors ? Another thought was adding a faux stainless steel finish. I would like something that looks tasteful and can blend into the rest of the kitchen.


I will be re-staining current cabinets, adding new cabinets on the top to the ceiling, fixing the gap above the refrigerator, changing the countertop and backsplash to quartz. Most of the project is to update rather than demo and replace. Thanks much.




Comments (19)

  • last year

    Take the oven doors to an auto body shop and have them painted, or have them powder coated in the color you desire.

    D . thanked HU-867564120
  • last year

    Quite frankly, I’d be more concerned about the lack of ventilation above the gas cooktop in the skinny island. A definite health hazard. I don’t think a cooktop on an island that narrow would meet code, nowadays.

    D . thanked darbuka
  • last year
    last modified: last year

    Are you handy at all?

    You can remove doors and handles, use a power sander, sand the doors and surround down to shiny bare steel, then spray a heat-resistant clearcoat over that.

    Way back when, I knew a guy who bought old refrigerators, sanded the paint off, and with a circular sander applied an engine-turned finish. It looked fantastic.

    If you have to pay people to do this, it’s not worth it. Powdercoating, where I live, will cost $200 in itself, but at best you can get a silver-gray color. There are powder coat ”chrome” finishes, but I don’t know how good they are..

    The control panel may be trickier. You can sand it or paint it, and apply new lettering. Definitely a DIY project.

    D . thanked John Liu
  • last year

    Thank you so much for so many ideas.


    Is there a way to confirm that powder coating is heat resistant given that it is the oven door ?


    I wonder that if I can find the door panel from OEM vendor it would be the safest option.

  • last year
    last modified: last year

    Ask the powder coater about heat resistant coatings. Also look into automotive paints, there are definitely heat resistant paints for underhood applications. But none of that will give you a ” stainless steel “ appearance.

    I doubt you will find a ready-made stainless steel door set or door panel set for that model and age oven. Maybe you’ll get lucky - take the oven make, year, and model number and search - the link provided above would be a good start.

    You could bring the doors to a stainless steel fabricator and they could custom make a SS covering. May cost nearly as much as a new (lower end) oven.

    Then what about the surround, control panel? Are you up for disassembling the oven and removing those pieces for paint, powder coat, etc?

    The only way this will work is if you are handy enough to DIY much of it. Otherwise, buy a new oven.

  • last year

    What's the model number?

  • last year
    last modified: last year

    Its a Kitchenaid from 1990s. KEB6207BAL2 is what's on the oven but the closest match I see online is KEBS207BAL2 The unit is almond color and the alternatives are black and white. I think I can make black work (if I can even find the parts!)


    I could ask the contractor doing the cabinets to disassemble the door and get it powder coated if I can find a shop to do it. The door panel on the outside is glass. Yes, I would get the trim kit painted. I am thinking black if stainless steel look is hard to achieve. The control panel replacement part in black is something I can call and order in.

    I will get an estimate for all this and decide if it makes sense to attempt to avoid some waste!

    As you folks have already mentioned, it might add up to be the cost of a low end replacement.

  • last year
    last modified: last year

    Buy new ovens and donate these to Habitat for Humanity. This lets them continue to function, you get to help people, and your problem is solved without unreasonable hassle and expense. Black will stand out more as a mismatch in my opinion.

  • last year

    We had a neighbor who had Auto body shop refinish her 1970s (Harvest gold)oven doors and they worked great. Another friend had the ovens stop working and found all the new ovens are different sizes and most did not fit her 1960s cabinets. So refinishing will probably be easier and cheaper.

  • last year

    Honestly I would keep two older working ovens in a finish that did not match rather than replace them with something that will probably not last nearly as long. And I would not fool around with trying to "fix" what they look like.

  • last year

    I think they don't look so bad with the current wood stain color. They don't stand out (at least as it appears in this photo) because there is little contrast between wood and beige. I don't think you need to refinish the wood unless there is damage we can't see? I guess that is to allow you to match new cabinets to the ceiling but I'm not sure that is worth it either to create hard to use storage. Imagine new counters, new backsplash, new hardware maybe new sink and faucet, and stop there?

  • last year
    last modified: last year

    The ovens in the older picture don't look too bad probably because they are the same color as the counter. Should I consider the new counter in cream quartz counter with taupe/brown veining and extend the life of the ovens? I was hoping to repeat the same quartz for the backsplash as since the space is small. I am also planning expand the angled bar seating space for when we have larger groups of friends over. I am not inclined toward collapsing the raised bar space and exposing my kitchen sink!!

    The question is evolving in the context of updates occurring as we speak. I am finishing a painting project for the living space and the ceiling is Pure White (SW) and the walls are Egret White (SW). Picture of the work in progress is attached showing new colors and new pendants without their glass covers and not yet at the right length.

    ps: I had bought the lights a while back and while I had them installed, I do think the dining area could do with a larger statement chandelier. A work around I'm thinking is to install 2x the same light fixture (it is a discontinued product :( and I will keep looking online).



  • last year

    I am quite envious that you have two wall ovens that have given this many years of service. While we cannot assume exactly how many more years they might work, I would hold onto them as long as you possibly can. Before manufacture starting using powder coating, which is a kind of polymer that came with some level of Heat, tolerance, more of the appliance finishes were once covered in porcelain fired onto the steel. Yours may still be porcelain in which case that is the best finish ever. It is very scratch resistant and easy to clean because it behaves somewhat like glass. Now if they are panels of glass on there now, these two represent a really nice finish and one that is easy to clean. There are an amazing high number of ways to do design well, and you can always think of your heritage ovens as a focal point or some other word, You can either make them a fun focal point of your kitchen. Or, you can follow a as others have suggested and keep the cabinet colours the way they are because the ovens tend to blend in with them. Either way, just remember that most modern appliances, and even the majority of luxury brands appliances are not designed to go decades like these were. Even the fancy luxury brands and all the way down to the basic make they are so-called “durable goods“ with planned obsolescence in mind. And you are already astute enough to have figured that out. This is especially true with wall ovens because they can be problematic given the fact that the enamels are not as robust as they used to be and all of the electronics and iPad elements they put in modern ovens are ticking time bombs for failure.. While there can be a tendency to overly match anything in a design
    overhaul, this is a time when I would embrace tie vintage with the new while noting that, even at this age , they might STILL last longer than the new ones. If you can strictly avoid any further use of self cleaning cycles and just manually clean them when needed, I would not be surprised if these last long enough until the original colour actually comes back!!! I have seen that happen before !

  • PRO
    last year

    I also have KA wall ovens 18 yrs old not one issue and I use my ovens everyday I really dislike qurstz IMO nort an upgrade . I think the idea of the auto shop refinih of the doors could work but honestly I would not do anything just enjoy a great oven until it dies moving them could create many more issues .I cannot see the benefit of tiny useless cabinets above the ones you have but thta is your choice . I find refinishing cabinets really expensive and when the ones being done are dated it really makes little sense to me thta same for the counter if it is in good shape my advice let it stay the way it is until you can redo the whole thing to bring it all up to being kust better . You really cannot put anything on the oven doors at all .

  • last year

    "Its a Kitchenaid from 1990s. KEB6207BAL2 is what's on the oven but the closest match I see online is KEBS207BAL2 The unit is almond color and the alternatives are black and white."

    It's KEBS. There is no KEB6. B in eighth position indicates 1994 model-year of introduction so you're correct on that. The serial number is coded for the year and week of manufacture. AL is almond color. 2 is the engineering revision.

    The door handle and a couple trim pieces are color-matched to the door panel.

    All three door panels are NLA (no longer available) from parts sources. Chances seem slim of finding new black panels from a servicer or parts source that happens to have a set on-hand for the specific model. Used parts can be found on eBay but that's also unlikely in this instance.

    The control touch-panel and trim is also color-matched ... all three are also NLA.

  • last year

    Thank you all for such valuable inputs.


    I think I am really warming up to the idea of appreciating the vintage appliance and leaving it as is. I plan to keep the cabinets in similar tones and hope to lightly refresh them if that is possible. I do need storage on the top to free up space in existing cabinets and store the appliances that are cluttering the counters. I will also add some drawers under a desk like counter.


    I would love suggestions on options for the countertop replacement. The current ones are Corian from the 1990s and I would really like to change them out. I would like guidance on both the material as well as color especially if I should integrate the existing wall oven into the look and feel. We use our kitchen everyday and enjoy cooking. TIA.


  • last year

    I think quartz could work well for you but look for one with speckles or subtle colorations, NOT the big prominent veins which will look out of sync with your kitchen.

  • last year

    I'd try to make it work as is. My double walll oven looks very much like yours but it is from 1978. And still working fantastically except for the clock. (No bg deal.) The dealer in my area who respairs and sells older models of kitchen appliances told me never to replace them, that they'd last another 40+ years easily. So I have learned to ignore the color in order to keep the quality.