Staining Cabinets

I recommend painting but it is a lot of work. We had ugly dark cabinets when we bought the house and it was my job to paint them. The hardest part is getting everything prepared for the paint. You need to wipe them down with a special cleaner, sand them, wipe them down again, prime, sand, wipe again, and then paint. It took me 3 weeks to get mine done, but I also work full time so it wasn't a full 3 weeks of non stop painting.

If you go to home depot or lowes and tell them what you want to do, they are very helpful. Also you really do need to sand after you put the primer on, there is a big difference on how the finished product looks.

I agree with Carol T. The cabinets may even be made from different woods like mine are. There is also that part of the cabinet frame that is almost always laminate and therefore unstainable. Painting may be better but don't forgot the sand the cabinets first and use a primer like Bin or Kilz.

LOL....Let me just tell you, In the summer of 2006 I saw this great episode on DIY Network on refinishing kitchen cabinets. They transformed this kitchen into magical beauty in 30 mins! Of course I knew in real life it was going to take more then 30 mins so I blocked out the whole weekend for my "big project". My honey begged me not to do it swearing that it wasn't as easy as they make it look. Well my hard headed bootie disregarded him, took all of the cabinets (15 total) down and started sanding away. I was anxious to see the final product so I stained 1/2 of them a deep mahogany. 3 months later and I dreaded even looking at those cabinets. About 2 months after that I found out I was pregnant. A pregnant woman can't be breathing in all of that dangerous dust now, can she? NO WAY!!!!
Needless to say, it is May 2008 and I STILL do not have cabinet doors :(
I have considered just painting them also but my S.O. seems to think the cabinets have to match the baseboards (which mine are wood)
My honey is a big meano pulling the "I told you so" and won't finish them. He insists we just buy all new doors and he'll put them back up. I have been pricing them and plan to give in and just buy them.
Hopefully my cabinet disaster experience can provide you with a little insight.
Good luck!

Hi R.,
I stained my cabinets recently. I can tell you it is harder to stain them than to paint a solid color. It is hard to get the stain to look smooth and even. Also, if you are going for that tuscan look and the black ties into that, then go for it!! If you go to sell and it looks pulled together, it probably won't matter (the color of them). Other than that I say do whatever makes YOU happy :) !! You are probably the one spending the most time in there, you wanna love it.
Good luck!!

R.:

To stain the cabinets you need to strip them. That can be time consuming and then you might find the wood isn't very pretty (ie. pine). What you might want to consider is painting them - a faux finish could would well.

First you need to apply a primer - then paint - then seal.

I painted my kitchen cabinets and then looked great.

Good luck.

Hi R.,
You need to do a lot of prep work to get them ready for staining or painting. It is especially hard if the doors are fluted (grooves). If you're staining them you have to sand them down to bare wood, making sure they are completely smooth. If your painting you don't have to be as thorough with the sanding. If you decide to paint them black, then the counter tops & walls should be a lighter color. If everything is dark it will make your kitchen look small & depressing. Just be prepared for this to be a lengthy project & a lot of hard work.

Hi
i found the net and cheap way that looks so good, vinegar and rusty nails lots of rusty nails, all you do is soak the nails in a 5 gl bucket with 3 gls of vinegar for about a day the key is the more nails the better the stain. you apply to how dark you want from dark gray almost black to a deep dark wood finish old style look very rustic. dont worry about the red rusty look it can be easly removed with i wet towle or some wet and dry sand paper 220 grid to 320 gridand then i went a seim gloss over it, it came out really nice just what i wanted

hope this will help
R&S. az

Is the cabinets currently stained, painted or have a veneer finish on them?

If they are currently stained or painted you will need to strip off the old stain or paint, when sand them back to the natural wood. Before starting to stain them. You must get the old stain or paint off or there is no telling how they will turn our. Be aware that this will take some time. It is best if you take down the cabinets and do this in your garage. The smell of stripping, sanding and restraining can be very over overwhelming. You would need to keep your window open 24/7 and I would not cook in the area.

If they have a veneer on the door fronts there is really nothing you can do.

the truth of the matter is that if you paint or stain your cabinets black it probably will effect the resale value. Most people prefer brown or white stained/painted cabinets in their kitchen/dinning area. Black gives a dull and depressing appearance to an area that is usually a joyful and cheery family area. I would recommend talking to a Realtor in your area. Each community tends to have its own style because each builder has their own style. Black cabinets would not be a contemporary move. You might want to consider a walnut stain because that could be almost black.

One last thing to think about, if you paint or stain your cabinets black you will probably have to change the trim in that room. You would have checkerboard effect if you have white trim and black cabinets.

Good Luck,
S.

Hi R.,
I painted my kitchen cabinets a dark green and loved it. We had ugly "80's dark brown" oak cabinets and no $ to replace them. I had to go buy a certain type of cleaner to wash 20 years of grease off of them. The prep was the hardest. Once the cabinets were all scrubbed up, I used a tinted primer that was the same color as the paint(Home Depot adds tinting for free). Then I bought a high-gloss paint that they recommended for the cabinets (easy to wipe down). It was a lot of work doing the actual painting. (My husband deemed this as my project.) I used a brush at first, but then went over with a foam roller to hide the brush strokes. It worked well. The key is to let the paint really dry/cure before you flip the doors over to paint the other side (learned that the hard way). It can take a few days for that to happen - especially if you're doing it when it's hot or humid out. So be patient. It took a few weeks for me to do the painting (it took two coats of paint plus the primer). I loved the finished result. It was a brand new kitchen for me at a fraction of the cost. Good luck!

Dark cabinets are in vogue. Just make sure your kitchen is large enough to carry it off. Dark yellows and greens go well with the Tuscan feel. Staining is a projest that takes time but beautiful. You may have to strip first. Take one of your cabinet doors to Home Depot and go to the paint department. They will explain exactly how to do it and probably have a phamphlet on staining. Good luck

No advice about how to do it, because I never have, but you should definately paint them! I love the Tuscan look and painted cabinets are the way to go! I have a neighbor with off white cabinets in her kitchen and they are lovely. I recently saw a beautiful kitchen with sage green cabinets. I loved them. And here I am, stuck with boring cherry! Good luck!

Dear R.,
My husband and i re- did our cabinets 2 years ago. i'm not a fan of painting cabinets. i think you should stain them. you need to sand the finish off the cabinets, to the bare wood. then you can stain. they have such a wide variety of stains now that you can still get your tuscan look.we also bought new hardware which gave our cabinets an even newer look.i hope you decide to go with staining. you will like it better in the end. if you are not sure about color or type of stain, your local home improvement store can always give good advice. hope this helps.
B.

Hi R.,
Staining or painting newer cabinets is possible but you will find it is a great deal of work and may NOT get the look you want. Wood species and newer impermeable finishes will affect the outcome.

"Tuscan" kitchens can look great with bleached wash cabinetry as the contrast to the deeper rich colors of walls and other surfaces. A recent project I did (B. B Builder LLC) used creamy cabinets on the perimeter with a rich rustic alder for the island. The same effect could be achieved with a distinctive furniture piece elsewhere within the kitchen space. If you work with a good designer, the mood of the room can be attained without the time and expense of cabinet refinishing.

Hope this helps!

B. Biernat

Lowes.com
bhg.com
thisoldhouse.com

All have advice on painting or staining cabinets. I painted my mother's cabinets a few years back because her's were very dark in a really small dark kitchen. We painted the top cabinets white and the lower cabinets a green my mom picked out. Then we installed nice hardware...which makes a big difference.

Whatever you do follow the directions on the web site you find or the book you buy...don't listen to the sales associates at the home improvement stores. Lord they love to give advice and half the time they don't have any idea what they are talking about. Stick to the instructions you get from a reputable source.

Are the cabinets Oak or Maple? Maple does not stain darker very well... you may end up with light and dark spots and it really doesn't look great. If it's Oak, I have personal experience trying to change a medium Oak stain to a dark Walnut stain. We tried two different stains, plus a gel stain... it never really got as dark as I wanted. Even after four coats! We finally gave up and painted them. We ended up mixing our own brown with black (because Lowes didn't have quite the color I was looking for) and they now look fabulous!!! I highly recommend painting. It was super easy and just took a light sanding.

Since you want your cupboards to be darker, you might want to paint over the finish as it would be easier to remove should you want to change it again. Stain is permanent! I have painted my cabinets several times in the 30+ years in this house. No matter what you decide, be sure to use the right prep for the job or it will chip & peel and you will be angry. Go to a paint shop and ask lots of questions before you make a decision. Doesn't mean you need to buy from them if you are on a tight budget. Hope this helps.

Hi R.,

I'm not sure about the logistics of a project like this, but I do watch a lot of HGTV :)

A few tips i've picked up is to make sure first of all that the cabinets are wood, obviously. sometimes they're not 100% wood. I have seen them take out the center panel and replace with a frosted plexiglass because they can't stain that part... I really like that look.

Second, if you're going for the tuscan feel, you definitely need to warm them up and ditch that bleached wash.

Edit: also if you're going to stain them it is best that one person do it, because of the differences in technique and the amount of pressure you put on a brush vs. somebody else... to make sure they are uniform.
As for your comfort level with the black... I can appreciate that... I painted a whole wall with dark chocolate brown, a color wash with a caramel color and a black curve going through it all (it was an abstract print I saw online and I decided 'I can do that!' and so I did it... over the WHOLE WALL. It took time, but it was easy... and it was risky but I figured if we don't like,.. we just paint over it. But the black cabinets are REALLY in right now... it's hard to decorate/remodel a kitchen with a style that will be timeless... a lot of cabinets are now coming in a black finish... I think it spans the spectrum.... it can be casual, and it can work in a contemporary kitchen... if your appliances are stainless that can look really sharp.

And painting them can be a low cost way to update...

I say go for the black.... :)

We considered resale value when we chose the color for our granite countertops... in the end, with no plans to sell any time soon, we chose the color we wanted.

With the money you save you could get some really nice light fixtures with wrought iron to accentuate that tuscan feel :)

there are multiple approaches. you need to assess the finish on the present cabinets. remove a door and take to a paint store like Thybony. they will tell you what you need to do to prepare the wood and help you pick out stain color and sealer as there are many stain colors. stain a sample area for color and effect, then stain and seal with a varnish of your choice P.

READ THIS FIRST...
I am a contractor...Re-staining cabinets is a tough. Homeowners usually cannot do this on their own with good results. Painting is easier, but do all the prep work required. Sand off the current finish, use a good primer, oil base is still best. Use paint that is recommended for cabinets or trim. Let them cure completely. Spraying with a professional spray gun works best. DO NOT ASK QUESTIONS AT YOUR LOCAL HOME IMPROVEMENT STORE. You may contact me is you are looking for help/advice or recommendations on low cost cabinets. ____@____.com
No matter what anyone tells you, do-it yourself cabs. do not sell the house. Too often the cabs is what the homeowner is replacing to get the house sold.