Choose a paint color that works with the cabinets to tone down the orange. Lots of recommendations include greige or beige colors. I think the Agreeable Gray we painted works off the cabinets well and tones them down.
Oak cabinetry often features an orange finish that can make your kitchen appear outdated. To tone down the warmth and create a modern kitchen with oak cabinets, outfit the rest of the kitchen in cool refreshing tones such as blues or greens.
The simplest way to neutralize orange tones in wood is to use cool colors like blues and greens. Cool colors can balance out the warmth of orange and create a more uniform look. Gray, beige, or white can also be used to tone down the intensity of the orange.
As you can see from the color wheel, the color opposite to orange it on the color wheel is blue, as well as blue-green. So the way to neutralize the orange would therefore be to use blue-based colors.
Blue and blue based colors and toners cancel out orange and yellow orange. Violet, purple and purple based toners cancel out yellow and pale yellow.
Use Purple or Blue Shampoos
It's a simple matter of color theory, relying on the complementary colors of a color wheel to cancel out unwanted tones. "Using a color correcting purple shampoo will undoubtedly cancel out the overly warm, orange tones and keep that cooler, brighter blonde you desire," says Cunningham.
After your piece has been sanded and any finish has been removed, it's time to apply the Liming Wax. This white wash helps to neutralize the orange, and lighten it up. I used a small paint brush I already owned to paint in on, then a rag to wipe off the excess. It leaves a faint, white wash on the wood.
Coupling orange with neutrals like white, beige or gray is a great way to offset the intensity of the color.
If you look at a color wheel (google it)… the color on the opposite side is the “neutralizer”. So by painting the walls with a gray that had a purple undertone, it reflects onto the cabinets neutralizing the orange on them. Try it.
Use a wood stain with blue or green undertones. Applying a wood stain with blue or green undertones can help neutralize the orange tones in the wood and produce a more balanced color. Be sure to test the stain on a small, inconspicuous area before applying it to the entire cabinet to achieve the desired effect.
If your goal is to update the look of your existing cabinets, the cheapest route is to simply reface them. This process involves either stripping the stain or paint from the existing cabinets and adding new stain, varnish or paint; in some cases, you might even want to refinish the cabinets with a stick-on veneer.
Cabinet refacing is a great option for folks who want their cabinets updated with as little fuss, expense, and destruction to their kitchen as possible. Much like the cabinet refacing process described above, cabinet resurfacing is a more cosmetic, less extensive process than fully replacing your cabinets.
Pine takes on a pale yellow-orange tone after exposure to sunlight. Most finishes exacerbate the problem leaving wood which ages to a "cigarette yellow" tone. The best way to create a pale bleached effect is to treat with a thin coat of diluted White Wood Dye after sanding.
For pieces where you have a dark finish and want to go lighter, you will need to remove the existing finish first. Then, determine what undertone your wood has and counteract it with an appropriate stain color. For pieces that are a light finish, and you want to go darker, you can simply apply a darker stain!
Bleaching kitchen cabinets can be done using a household chlorine-based bleach or a 2-part store-bought bleach. One removes dye and the other removes the wood's natural color.
In order to bleach the wood, you want to oppose the orange color or brassiness in the wood. So apply a water-based stain with a neutralizing greenish tone. It doesn't need to be green, but it does need to counteract orange. Since the stain is just for this purpose, you can dilute it with a lot of water.
You can give your wood cabinets a quick makeover with a fresh coat of stain. Using a different color stain—even as simple as going one shade darker or lighter—can give your kitchen, bathroom or other rooms in your home the new, updated look you want.
Try a burnt orange with red this will tone down the orange and make it more complementary to the red. Orange's complementary color on the color wheel is blue so if you want a perfect pairing stick within the blue color family.