Hi- I just saw an advertisement for this in a magazine recently. I have not tried it and have not talked to any of the reps for it. I am having them come out for an estimate on wood paneling I have in my family room.
http://www.nhance.com/cabinets/

I shouldn't say until I am certain but I think Home Depot offers this N-hance cabinet service? That would be nice bc then they would guarantee it. They've been good about that.

@judygilpin I like the idea of two colours of cabinets. Especially if you want to test something first! : )

I did my 1982 oak cabinets with Restor-a-Finish by Howards, they sell it at Home Depot. I used Walnut all I did was wash the cabinets, rub this stuff in and an hour later rubbed in Howards Feed-n-Wax wood polish and conditioner. This picture makes it look lighter than it really is, I'm told it looks like the Early American stain colour. Johnny Choate recommends it all the time.

Before you go dark, consider the light element. How much natural light do you get daily? During the winter (when things are naturally gloomy) how will a darker kitchen affect you (will you have to turn on several lights)? Darker colors can make a space appear smaller too. Do think of touches to "warm" up the space if you go with dark cabinets.

Does anyone know if it is possible to paint over the thin veneer that is between wood cabinet doors and on the side ends of some cabinets?

Yes it is, you can also stain them or replace them with new ones from Lowes, like I did mine.

We just finished our kitchen remodel and we used Rustoleum Cabinet Transformations. We used the espresso (dark brown/black) and it turned out amazing!!!! However, I've heard really great things about the General Finishes Gel Stain also. Rustoleum has a lot of colors and the gel stain is a little limited but it will show the grain and looks more natural. We also did new granite (replacing worn grungy tile) with a subway tile backsplash and new SS appliances. Our original cabinets were circa 1996 Honey Oak - yuk. Love our new kitchen and it was worth every penny! Good luck!

loved rustoleum transformations. Used espresso on 1990's "builders grade honey oak"; loved the effect. The grain showed through, but that was the effect I was going for, not a heavy painted look.

I used gel stain on my oak cabinets in the bathroom and am happy. If you decide to stain, find a used cabinet door and do a practice run first. Just do one side, prop it up on your kitchen counter for time to decide. If there is something you want to change, you have the other side to adjust the stain. My dark cabinets do show dust rather quickly.

I used nuance to change my orangey oak cabinets to a beautiful dark cherry.

It would be much easier to glaze the cabinets a darker color.

I stained my honey oak cabinets a dark espresso finish (Because my husband voted against white). It is a lot more work, But can look like a whole new kitchen. We used TSP and a gel stain from General finishes, And followed up with polyurethane. If you have the time and patience, go for it! People think I installed all new cabinets!

I think this kitchen will end up being rather dark and gloomy if you go to dark cabinets. Keep your darker colors for your home in the North. You're buying a place that's in a warm, sunny place. Go with those colors. Your spirits will soar!

I agree with Keyscook, this kitchen will look gloomy with dark cabinets. I also agree with Carolyn from the very first post, and I vote orange !!!

I painted the top half of my cabinets white and stained the bottom with Restor-a-Finish. The restore a finish was so much easier. Painting requires filling and sanding all small imperfections (they will show up under the paint) then applying an undercoat and two coats of topcoat. Also unless you pay a professional to take all the doors off and spray-paint them there will be brush strokes. It wont look like the ones on these pages no matter how hard you try. Just remember, if you paint them they will need touch ups from all the nicks and dings; stained wood just ages, as long as you apply the occasional wood conditioner. I live in Texas, and like Florida, the winters do not get very dark or gloomy and we have that there new vention called lectricity which I'm sure has reached as far as Florida. Before you start stripping and sanding cabinets to stain them (which I've also done, and that's a biatch too) look into the other methods people have mentioned on this site.

My daughter did just that! She sanded them and painted them with one of the new gel stains, I believe from MinWax?? They look great and more modern. She used the dark walnut color. You also don't have to varnish. It comes out with a nice semi gloss finish as well.

There are so many colors that would look nice with your counters and floors. A color would give the room some personality. Staining will require lots of prep work--you've got to strip, sand, etc. Painting is far easier with more predictable results.

Has anyone who has painted or stained their cabinets also replaced hinges? I'd like to replace mine with hidden hinges and am wondering if anyone has any tips on this.

Avia, In answer to your question about "Cabinet Coat Paint". I used cabinet coat on the top half of my cabinets, it's not easy to use, it dried very quickly and I had to use an undercoat and 2 coats not the one it said. I had better luck when I painted the legs of the kitchen butcher block table. With that I used Lowes Valspar gloss paint + primer, that stuff went on real easy and blended the brush strokes so that it dried like glass with two coats.

Checked your link Christine Graves! Wow!! What a difference the light countertops made! Great job...I admire your free spirit and spunk. I can't wait to get started, but we don't take possesion until January. Hopefully by then I will have made up my mind...stain, paint or rustoleum cabinet transformations. Eveyone's pictures look so good, I just can't decide. Luckily, the whole house has large windows and plenty of natural light so I don't have to worry about the gloomy factor. I love the look of the painted cabinets but worry that I might get tired of the color. If I just have light cream and dark stain, I can use whatever color a accessories I want and change them whenever I get the urge. I'm also not sure what window covering to use. Any suggestions?

reginafalange, I have had my hinges replaced with hidden hinges. Made a huge difference along with repainting the cabinets white. We had a carpenter/handyman do this. We also took the opportunity to replace pulls with knobs. Had the two holes puttied and sanded and redrilled for knobs. Looks so much better.

We used Polyshades tinted polyurethane to change the color of our kitchen cabinets almost 10 years ago. They still look great.

Hi again. I found pics of my nhance stain on my honey maple cabinets.

Still have to paint the ceiling ang get new table!!

You could always paint the skirt and legs of the table.

@zoeygrl I love love love the style of your cabinets!!! Aaaannnd your beautiful ceiling!!! Very nice :-)

I just completed a bathroom project that had a store bought/finished vanity cabinet in natural oak finish. Since the rest of the woodwork in the house is a dark brown I wanted the cabinet to blend in better. I used Minwax Polyshades in a Royal Walnut. It's a stain and finish in one product (more like a glaze). I lightly sanded the cabinet and applied the product as you would any other finish. I used this product to freshen an older finish on kitchen cabinets in the same color and it's held up well. Wish I had thought of this before stripping and recoloring store bought cabinets and building them into an entertainment center.

I agree with the one person who said to replace your laminate countertops and to get matching stainless steel appliances, with the idea being you were putting the money in the important stuff that matters in a kitchen. I have lived with oak cabinets in my Florida home for longer than I care to admit and the oak has NEVER offended my senses. In fact I painted the walls a deep yellow ochre color, a very French looking color, and I love the walls and God love it, they also work with the ocean blue laminate counters the original builder/homeowner of the home had installed because she planned to redo the entire kitchen in a few years time (and I think she really liked blue: she had a Navy blue sectional in the adjoining family room. (Instead the U.S. Navy promoted her and sent her to Puerto Rico so she had no choice but to sell her beloved forever home). Of course we replaced all of the low-end GE appliances with top-of-the-line stainless steel Thermador and Kitchen Aid (remember this was when my husband was still able to work!) We bought this house thinking of it almost like a rental, knowing that we'd be back home in Southern California in two years time tops. That was 1999. Funny how stuff happens. Not always good stuff either. I will also comment that I find there are very few good ways to bring color into a kitchen through "accessories" other than the use of art, and this is especially true since so many of the smaller household appliances got the word and switched over to stainless steel (as well as bright color) to match the big appliances. So please make sure you paint your walls a color you love and which look good in natural light and also at evening time, when all sorts of extra lighting is burning bright it seems. The natural light in Florida is so different from that in southern California and I think you'll come to see that too. I'm not saying it's bad, it's just things you own and bring down here will look very different for the most part. You'll be wanting to replace a good deal of that stuff too. Good luck to you in your Florida home. Hope it always keeps you happy and warm!

Now here is an ignorant question for you, when you change the color of your cabinets do you do the interiors as well?

No just the inside of the door.

I've been wondering the same thing! My son just bought a new home with beautiful dark wood cabinets and the interiors are a different color (except for the back of the door, so I agree with Zoeygirl...just the doors.

Avia, this is my before and after oak cabinets. We painted inside and out with a bisque paint and then added the glaze to the exterior.

Wow that looks amazing.

Thanks flowerbill. I had the luxury of time before moving into the home. We closed on the house in May and moved into the home in August. The remodel included all of the "living" space..... living room, den, kitchen and dining. Now I am spending even more time working on the remodel of the remainder of the house..... master suite and additional bathrooms. I'm working on design and materials now. The remodeling will be done as quickly as possible because I abhor the dirt and mess involved in the process! Houzzers are helping me with this second phase on other threads.

Pictures! Give me pictures.....Please?

There are lots of options for your cabinets as this discussion reveals. You could even stain some and paint some. The photos below show the original (honey colored) oak cabinets with some stained darker and some painted.

A larger photo of the stain and paint mix.

flowerbill, I will give pictures when it is completed. My design thread has some pictures of the ugly "now". : )

Our house is in the Northeast - and the winters can be pretty gloomy. We painted our cabinets bright bright yellow. It's now sunny all year long.

I've also used java gel stain- purchased from Amazon.com...no stripping or major sanding. Very easy and durable. Highly recommend

kroze, I am just now seeing what you did with your kitchen and I LOVE it. Could you please share exactly how you did it? My husband and I just purchased a home and it has the wonderful 1990's oak cabinets and I really like how you turned yours around. Any and all help would be so greatly appreciated!!!

cmstdig, thank you. I'm glad you like it. I had a picture in my mind's eye of what I wanted but I wanted to hire a contractor to do all the work for me. But none of the contractors seemed to be able to capture my vision. I finally went dumpster diving and found a huge piece of cardboard and I actually drew out the surface of the new island. I cut it out and told them to build a cabinet to fit it and I drew out the cabinet configuration I wanted. IMO, that is the what made the kitchen exceptional. BTW, the nine foot island used up the space originally meant for a breakfast table which I did not want.

On the existing cabinets I had them take out the center panels in four of the doors and replace them with glass and make glass shelves for those cabinets. I knew what color I wanted the cabinets to be because I have them in my motor coach. I brought a draw from the RV and they matched it fairly well by painting over the oak cabinets with a bisque paint and then applying a glaze. The grain of the oak came through beautifully. Then I had them order an oak window shutter to cover that ugly window. They stained it to match and I had them build a decorative piece above the window to tie the upper cabinets together. I wanted the entire wall to flow without interruption.

I also concealed all light switches and electrical outlets.

I think the kitchen is the most important room in the house because we spend so much time there. It opens to the den, but we seldom spend much time actually sitting in the den. We mostly sit at the island to eat or use our laptop.

I would suggest that you go in search for a color for your cabinets that you like or ask your contractor to give you some samples of what they can do with a light shade and glaze. Mine has a touch of ash color in it.

Good luck! I am happy to answer any questions you have.

Thank you!!

I think you can only paint cabinets that are wood, not laminate. I don't think paint will adhere to laminate. They will need to be refaced.

Can anyone share some pictures using General Finishes Gel stain on Oak Cabinet finished years ago? I would like to confirm that the Gel Stain finish does not peel off after years.

I'd go light in the cabinets! Off white, light grey or pale khaki! I'd get the granite white/grey tone. It's not a big room might be better to keep it bright. somber but not boring

Since my post above we have completed phase two of the remodel which included the master suite. We added a closet and moved a couple of walls. The Houzzer contributors were invaluable!!

Below are two "before" pics and then the "after" pics.

I'm trying the gel stain on my bathroom vanities ! Small enough to do myself! A kitchen is a huge job! I have 7 people in my family! I've lived in my kitchen for 17 yrs. but refinishing them myself is a bigger job than I want to take on. I agree with the ordering new fronts! My kitchen has too many cabinets, lol!

Faye, If you would like advice on your kitchen, start a new post w/these pics. I'm sure we could give you some good ideas. (I would advise you to paint, not stain yours)

The one you're commenting on was posted 4 years ago and she's already finished them.

Beth is right. Start a new thread and post a link to that thread here.

I agree with Beth that paint is better than stain. A small amount of gel over the paint will make the wood grain pop out. Be sure and wipe off the gel quickly before it gets too dark. That is what we had done in our kitchen …. pics above.