After a couple months of living here, I gathered some courage and decided to paint the honey oak kitchen cabinets white. The end result is incredible, and I am so happy I did it. In this blog, I am going to teach you everything you need to know about how to paint honey oak kitchen cabinets.
A: You can paint the oak cabinets and the laminate ends, provided you do the prep work necessary for a good finish. Start by cleaning the cabinets with a strong detergent to remove surface oils. Then, use a fine grade of sandpaper to lightly scuff up the oak and laminate surfaces.
Painting our oak cabinets white is one of the most worthwhile DIY projects I have ever tackled. Seriously, one of the very best. It certainly isn't the flashiest project I have done and it wasn't the fastest by a long shot. But the difference this one simple step has made in our home is unbelievable.
However, oak cabinets are currently in the middle of making a comeback. There are several possible reasons for this. First, homeowners are looking for warmth and authenticity in their kitchens. Natural wood checks all the boxes.
Honey Oak Cabinets
A staple in kitchens of the 1980s and '90s, these golden-toned wood cabinets have fallen out of favor as white and gray cabinets have risen in popularity. If you don't like your light-stained cabinets, but they're in good shape, consider refinishing or painting what's there.
What kind of paint should be used on oak cabinets? Advance from Benjamin Moore is a great cabinet paint for painting oak cabinets. It's an Alkyd paint product that is easy to clean and very durable once it has fully cured. Benjamin Moore Advance paint is a water-based hybrid paint that acts like an oil.
If you don't clean before sanding, contaminates (like cooking grease) will be pressed down into the wood. Contaminates will keep the soon be applied paint for sticking. You can remove the doors here in the process or wait until after you wash them down. It is totally up to you and situational dependent.
Even if your cabinets are GOOD, as shown next, you can still paint them if you want a LIGHTER and BRIGHTER look. Don't feel bad, they're still WOOD, they just have a few coats of paint on them… And as you now know, there are many factors that can devalue the look of wood, which in turn, can devalue your home.
Cost to Paint Cabinets White
The average cost to paint kitchen cabinets white is $3 to $10 per square foot or $30 to $60 per linear foot of cabinetry depending on the condition of the cabinets, the painting method, and labor costs.
Don't Go Overboard on Sanding
You should sand cabinets before beginning your how to paint kitchen cabinet project to give the new paint a good surface to grip. But you don't need to sand to bare wood. If your cabinets have a factory finish, sand lightly with 120-grit sandpaper or a sanding sponge.
Painting your wood cabinets isn't hard, if you follow some simple instructions. Plus, you need to get a product to fill the wood grain, a great primer, and a high quality paint.
You can change the color of your stained oak cabinets, but it will require time and effort. Stain sinks into wood pores under a sealed topcoat of lacquer. The only way to properly lighten the wood is to remove the lacquer, sand off the dark stain and replace it with a lighter color of stain.
Painting cabinets preserves their integrity and provides a fresh new look without the cost of replacement. Once you've painted oak cabinets, consider adding new hardware, a glass tile backsplash, and affordable laminate countertops in modern patterns that replicate stone as a way to transform a kitchen on a budget.
Ideally, spray painting cabinets is the most sought after method today. The quality of finish you get from using a spray gun is second to none, and it's by far a faster and more efficient method.
The good news is that oak can be painted and it can be beautiful when done professionally. The problem with painting oak is that oak is a very open grainy type of wood. It can be very hard to fill the open grain with paint to give the surface a nice, smooth look and feel.
When the existing finish is a clear coat, the best course of action is to strip the finish down to the bare wood before painting. This eliminates a potential adhesion problem between the old finish and the new paint. But while stripping may be the ideal for purists, it's not always practical or absolutely necessary.
What is this? Wood cabinets are continuing to come back into style. No, not your honey oak cabinets from 1980's and 90's – they are most definitely not coming back.
The answer is – no! The oak trim and oak flooring finish (the golden color known in the industry as “honey”) will never come back in style. Today, there are many beautiful versions of stained oak on the market that allow it to appear more contemporary and aesthetically pleasing.
Honey would be closest to the natural wood color. The Golden has a yellowish/orange tint but still close to the natural wood color and Red oak is much darker and a brownish red.