Ugly honey oak cabinets


  #1  
Old 01-07-19, 07:23 PM
F
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Mar 2015
Posts: 70
Upvotes: 0
Received 0 Upvotes on 0 Posts
Ugly honey oak cabinets

I want to stain my ugly honey oak cabinets to look rustic. Anyone have any suggestions? Thanks!
 
  #2  
Old 01-08-19, 04:03 AM
M
Forum Topic Moderator
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: USA - N.E.Tn
Posts: 45,492
Received 800 Upvotes on 703 Posts
What is your definition of rustic?
 
  #3  
Old 01-08-19, 05:37 AM
P
Group Moderator
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: NC, USA
Posts: 27,066
Received 2,007 Upvotes on 1,799 Posts
Are you prepared for the task of stripping your existing cabinets? You can't just put on stain. The current protective finish like polyurethane must be removed first.
 
  #4  
Old 01-08-19, 07:13 AM
J
Member
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: USA
Posts: 4,463
Received 128 Upvotes on 113 Posts
#1, Are you 100% sure the doors and boxes are real wood?
Willing to spend many days sanding down to bare wood, and dealing with all the dust in the house?
Got a place to work on the doors away from the kitchen?
Depending on the look your going for it may be better to just buy new unfinished doors then just have to deal with the box frames.
Got a picture of the cabinets?
 
  #5  
Old 01-08-19, 11:11 AM
F
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Mar 2015
Posts: 70
Upvotes: 0
Received 0 Upvotes on 0 Posts
I want them to have a barnwood look. And I cant figure out how to put pic on here from my gallery.
 

Last edited by fracman58; 01-08-19 at 01:13 PM.
  #6  
Old 01-08-19, 11:17 AM
XSleeper's Avatar
Group Moderator
Join Date: Dec 2004
Posts: 26,818
Received 1,838 Upvotes on 1,654 Posts
Click the go advanced button then try to use the paper clip icon to attach a file.
 
  #7  
Old 01-08-19, 01:19 PM
F
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Mar 2015
Posts: 70
Upvotes: 0
Received 0 Upvotes on 0 Posts
I cant find the advanced button
 
  #8  
Old 01-08-19, 01:53 PM
Shadeladie's Avatar
Super Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: PA - USA
Posts: 4,861
Received 370 Upvotes on 299 Posts
Under the Quick Reply box, there's 2 yellow buttons. The second one says "Go Advanced". Click on that one.
 
  #9  
Old 01-08-19, 04:35 PM
F
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Mar 2015
Posts: 70
Upvotes: 0
Received 0 Upvotes on 0 Posts
Ugly honey oak cabinets

Pic of my cabinets

Name:  20190108_130857.jpg
Views: 3898
Size:  3.51 MB

Name:  20190108_130907.jpg
Views: 1308
Size:  3.06 MB
 
  #10  
Old 01-09-19, 04:31 AM
Norm201's Avatar
Member
Join Date: Sep 2013
Location: United States
Posts: 10,854
Received 703 Upvotes on 625 Posts
I agree with Joe on this one. Would a much easier on you nerves to just but new doors and refinish the way you want.

Those doors look great. I would hate to see the nice finish ruined.
 
  #11  
Old 01-09-19, 05:17 AM
S
Member
Join Date: May 2006
Location: upstate New York
Posts: 373
Received 3 Upvotes on 3 Posts
I've got almost identical cabinets- wish mine looked that good!
Steve
 
  #12  
Old 01-09-19, 05:19 AM
pugsl's Avatar
Forum Topic Moderator
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: United States
Posts: 8,161
Received 77 Upvotes on 70 Posts
I think cabinets good great also but I don't look at them.
 
  #13  
Old 01-09-19, 05:26 AM
P
Group Moderator
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: NC, USA
Posts: 27,066
Received 2,007 Upvotes on 1,799 Posts
My concern is that most people are not accustomed to hard physical work. Sanding down the doors and cabinets to remove all the old finish will be laborious and tedious. Leave a little bit of poly in the nooks and crannies and it will show when you apply the new stain. So, watch some videos and do some reading to insure that you are fully up to the task. Once you start there really isn't any going back.
 
  #14  
Old 01-09-19, 05:56 AM
M
Forum Topic Moderator
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: USA - N.E.Tn
Posts: 45,492
Received 800 Upvotes on 703 Posts
When removing poly you are almost always better off starting with a chemical stripper. For what you want to end up with I think I'd buy new doors and refinish or paint the cabinet carcass.
 
  #15  
Old 01-09-19, 06:36 AM
H
Member
Join Date: Nov 2012
Location: USA
Posts: 2,268
Received 279 Upvotes on 239 Posts
Better idea-
Swap or sell them to somebody who wants good condition honey-maple cabinets-
Then get rustic cabinets.

I'd take some photos and put an add up on craigslist...
 
  #16  
Old 01-09-19, 10:35 PM
Y
Member
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Oregon
Posts: 881
Received 24 Upvotes on 23 Posts
Hire someone to dismount the doors and take to their shop and stain as you wish. Next, they will seal off the kitchen to sand and apply 2 coats of stain and a finish. Last, remount the doors. Trust me on this....

Or......leave them alone, they look fine.
 
  #17  
Old 01-10-19, 03:48 AM
M
Forum Topic Moderator
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: USA - N.E.Tn
Posts: 45,492
Received 800 Upvotes on 703 Posts
While they can be stripped and stained a different color, I'm not convinced you can take those doors and make them look like barnwood.
 
  #18  
Old 01-10-19, 04:24 AM
Norm201's Avatar
Member
Join Date: Sep 2013
Location: United States
Posts: 10,854
Received 703 Upvotes on 625 Posts
[QUOTE]I'm not convinced you can take those doors and make them look like barnwood./QUOTE]

I have to agree. It would take a custom mix and a lot of stain to give the look you seek. It seems the majority think this is not a DIY or you should have it done professionally .
 
  #19  
Old 01-10-19, 05:11 AM
M
Forum Topic Moderator
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: USA - N.E.Tn
Posts: 45,492
Received 800 Upvotes on 703 Posts
The barnwood color shouldn't be too hard to duplicate but the look of the grain wouldn't be right.
 
  #20  
Old 01-10-19, 08:25 AM
Shadeladie's Avatar
Super Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: PA - USA
Posts: 4,861
Received 370 Upvotes on 299 Posts
They have all sorts of faux paint and techniques nowadays. Maybe it would be easier to do that than refinish and stain. You could use a browish gray color first, distress it, and follow with a whitewash, for one.
Marksr may have more info on this than me!
 
  #21  
Old 01-10-19, 10:07 AM
M
Forum Topic Moderator
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: USA - N.E.Tn
Posts: 45,492
Received 800 Upvotes on 703 Posts
While we studied faux painting back when I was an apprentice, I've done very little of it since. Back then they didn't even have the term faux painting yet and each technique was called by the name that described it. That said, faux painting might get the look you desire although when I think of barn wood I also think of the texture and open grain that goes with it.
 
  #22  
Old 01-10-19, 10:40 AM
I
Forum Topic Moderator
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Near Lansing, Michigan
Posts: 9,785
Upvotes: 0
Received 45 Upvotes on 43 Posts
I'll double on the advice stripping commercially-applied urethane varnish off that type of cabinets is a really tough physical job. You really need to start with a chemical stripper, but the good ones are now not available to residential users. The non-toxic/citrus stuff does not work well on this type of finish. At most it makes it a little gummy which makes further scraping and sanding a nightmare. Best to remove it with a methylene chloride based stripping product if you can find it. It is banned in some states and all of the big name retailers no longer sell it due to idiots who used it in enclosed spaces without protective equipment, died and their families filed lawsuits.

That leaves you with mechanically sanding and scraping all the urethane off every nook and cranny of the ogees and stepped round overs. If you're not really careful with it, you'll round over all the machining detail and the job will look very amateurish. That type of oak finish also has a pore filler applied that you will never be able to remove. This makes the oak smooth rather than the open textured grain you see in weathered oak.

If you're up to the job, go for it, but before you get started understand this will be a ton of really hard work.
 
  #23  
Old 01-11-19, 03:33 PM
Join Date: Jul 2017
Posts: 10
Upvotes: 0
Received 0 Upvotes on 0 Posts
To take an easy route, you can try a gel stain right on top of the existing cabinet finish, similar to this technique:
******************************

But it may or may not turn out that great. I would probably try it on the inside of one of the cabinet doors first.

Or Minwax polyshades stain.

Note: I'm an amateur.
 

Last edited by Shadeladie; 01-11-19 at 06:04 PM. Reason: Links to blogs not allowed
  #24  
Old 01-12-19, 09:09 AM
Norm201's Avatar
Member
Join Date: Sep 2013
Location: United States
Posts: 10,854
Received 703 Upvotes on 625 Posts
If you're really bent on doing this, I would suggest a professional cabinet maker to have it dipped stripped in a chemical solution.
 
 

Thread Tools
Search this Thread
 
Ask a Question
Question Title:
Description:
Your question will be posted in: