Personally, if you are doing stainless and black elsewhere, I think I would have them stripped and try re-staining in opaque black stain. They are pretty busy-looking, and I do not think adding more hardware will help. You can find posts elsewhere on houzz re: painting oak. The amount and type of grain make it difficult to paint, although I gather that there is some kind of primer that you can use that makes it work better.

Thank you for your quick comment. How do you strip the cabinet doors, as well as the visible flames inside? The sides seem to be laminate, not solid oak like the doors.

Do you mean laminate as in plastic, or are you talking about veneer?

I believe it is some type of vneer, because it looks different than the oak flames and doors. Also, I read that they use a vneer when they replace doors during a refacing job. But I am no wood expert.

Well, if it is veneer, you may be able to strip it if it's thick enough but I would ask a finisher. You might also just have it refaced with oak veneer if they think that is possible, then finish the new veneer at the same time as the doors. Stripping is a nasty business - toxic etc.

Thank you again. I will have to research the stripping process.

My brother recently painted his dated oak cabinets a chocolate brown color. They came out great! Trying to strip and restain is an option but you will still be left with the busy dated oak grain. If you paint them it will take away the business of the grain and really update the look. If vote for a nice deep brown color paint because it gives the illusion of a wood finish while toning down all of the busy grain. You don't have to strip things down and try to refinish solids and veneers and try to blend the colors. My thought would be you would start trying to strip and refinish and end up not liking it and end up painting them anyway. Painting is a really good option. I do custom kitchens all day - replacing cabinets with beautiful new ones and I was shocked out how nicely his cabinets looked and what a great update it is to his kitchen.

I just finished re-staining my oak cabinets. I used general finishes java gel.We sanded the old veneer off, used wood conditioner, followed by stain and several coats of satin finish. They look great!

Thanks for your advice! Do you have any pictures available??

Wow. Love the idea of updating the cabinets.

We stained one coat since we like the look of wood grain.

Looks good! Who stocks general finishes java gel?

I checked the general finishes website for local retailers. I found it at Woodcraft. A little goes a long way.

This is how my oak laundry room cupboards turned out. They were lightly sanded, primed with Benjamin Moore fresh start and painted with Benjamin Moore Advanced paint. It needs to cure for a few days before doing a second coat and then they need to cure for a few days before you put them back up. I would also add handles to your drawers and cupboards. A friend of mine says the handles are the "jewellery" of the cupboards. My husband sprayed the hinges with automotive spray paint. We had trouble finding new ones to fit so we improvised. Have fun with your project.

Looks very nice! Congrats on a great job!!!

I recommend painting them and adding new hardware. 2 of my friends, my sister and son all painted and they look fabulous. Both of my friends looked like they had installed new cabinets. Your cabinets look in real good shape so could look real nice painted.

My son and sister did lighter upper cabinets and black base cabinets as in picture above
my sisters are a lighter gray
My son ¸age 26 painted upper cabinets white with gray walls and red accessories and back splash. Looks wonderful with black and stainless appliances .

Also saw a Color Confidential TV Program where they painted all cabinets a darker grey with some bright green accents - it was so beautiful

Appreciate your comment! I wish you posted pictures of the fabulous looking cabinets.

Hi! Did you ever re-do these cabinets? I have the same exact ones and am having trouble finding any color/stain I want to do because of the grooves.. They're throwing me off. I really just want new cabinets but can't afford them.