6 Reasons Not To Paint Oak Cupboards

Have you ever wanted to update your kitchen without spending a lot of money?

When we redid our kitchen, I really wanted to replace all our cabinets; however, our budget screamed, "No!" I strongly considered the idea of painting them. Painted cabinets were the new style and our cabinets were outdated with plank-style board fronts and cottage-style porcelain handles.

(The next two photos were taken by our daughter Keisha ten years ago, back in 2006, when she created a booklet titled, "Tour of Our Home." Oh! the memories!!)

I confess that I absolutely hated the lazy susan corner cabinets and wanted them gone! Besides the outdated door fronts, a few of the bottom cupboards were in need of serious repair while the upper cabinets were all in excellent condition. It seemed silly to replace cabinets that were still good.

For these reasons, and because we also needed to add a cabinet to replace the dishwasher (see 10 Reasons We Never Replaced Our Dishwasher), it seemed like the only solution to get that fresh new look and make the new cabinets match the old cabinets, was to add a fresh coat of paint. Problem solved, right?

Wrong. My husband did not want to paint the cabinets or have anyone else paint them either. While he worked on the walls and floor, he also worked on convincing me to leave the oak cabinets unpainted. Here are a few of his points:

1. He spent a lot of time refinishing the cupboards and he'd have done all that work for nothing. (He refinished them several years ago, see two old photos above. Never mind the fact that we've enjoyed them for years.)
2. If you want to do a really good job, it's a lot of work repainting cupboards. And if you don't do a really good job, they'll look like badly painted cupboards. (This is very true and I did not want them to look like a bad paint job.)
3. Painted cupboards are a fad and the wood look will eventually come back in style. You'll be stuck with outdated cabinets once again, because they will already have paint on them. It's easier to add the paint than to remove it. (Another very good point.)
4. In the olden days, people wanted the wood look, especially oak cabinets, because it was considered a sign of wealth to have them. (Well that makes cents. I mean sense.)
5. Just wash them good and add some new hardware and it'll spruce them up! (I'm liking the idea of not painting more and more.)
6. And my personal favorite: If you want them painted, you'll have to paint them yourself! (Wait, was that a challenge?! He already had me convinced!)

In the end, a very good friend suggested first cleaning the cabinets with Liquid Gold before deciding anything. She stated how another friend would only use Liquid Gold on her cabinets and they always looked like new. I decided to give it a try since I had nothing to lose. I purchased a bottle of Scott's Liquid Gold Wood Wash Concentrate.

We all teamed up one Saturday evening to remove the hardware and scrub the wooden door fronts clean. We couldn't believe the difference the Liquid Gold made; it was just the ticket the cabinets needed to remove the grit and grime showing the beauty of the woodgrain once again. (Thanks for the suggestion, Sharon!)

Our double kitchen sink had a small bowl on the left side and a large bowl on the right side. I absolutely loved it and insisted on keeping it. Unfortunately, the sink base was water damaged and in order to replace it, we would have to special order at premium prices because of its odd size. Since our cabinet door fronts were obsolete, and in order for them all to match, we decided to keep all the cabinets. My husband did a great job repairing the sink base.

We added two small cabinets where the dishwasher originally sat, and stained and varnished them to match the other cupboards. The fun part was adding all new hardware. I'll be the first to admit I have expensive taste. We had to special order the door handles, but they go so well with the drawer handles we picked out, and brought it altogether.

After everything was put back into place, I am very thankful my husband talked me out of painting the cabinets.

They truly are beautiful and I am loving my new kitchen!

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