Don’t Paint Your Oak Cabinets! Do These Things Instead
If you want an updated kitchen but don’t have time to paint your cabinets, then this post is for you. Keep reading to discover 12 ways you can makeover your small oak kitchen today.
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In our home, we have chosen to paint our kitchen cabinets and even repainting them. However, there are ways to update your oak kitchen cabinets without painting. This small kitchen makeover may have you rethinking your next kitchen DIY project.
Can oak cabinets look modern?
Finding the right color scheme to complement your oak cabinets, decor, and style will update your space. Our friends bought this amazing lakehouse and chose to do just that. From your countertops to hardware, adding modern elements to oak cabinets can really make an impact. Use these 12 ways to modernize your 90s oak cabinets without painting them.
The Before Kitchen
The red walls, mosaic backsplash, and plaid drapes gave this room a dated feel.
What Readers Say:
“You saved us A LOT OF MONEY! Hubby WANTED TO PAINT! I SAID ” NOT OAK!”“
charlotte
The Makeover Plan
Here is a rough sketch of the main ideas used to completely makeover this small kitchen without tearing everything out. You will absolutely love the final results and how they were able to do this on a budget!
1. Clean The Cabinets
Seriously, have you ever seen how much grime can accumulate on kitchen cabinets? Take a wet towel or kitchen cleaner and get the grime off. Look at the cabinets up close and in all the little grooves where dust can sit. A simple wiping can make all the difference.
2. Add a Modern Backsplash and Grout Color
We absolutely love the geometric backsplash they chose in this kitchen. While the color is simple, the shape of the tiles adds a more modern feel. Not to mention they played off of their black matte hardware when choosing their grout color.
Don’t want to replace your kitchen backsplash completely?
Check out how we painted our kitchen backsplash tile in our cheap kitchen makeover. Honestly, it is one of the best (and easiest) DIY projects we have ever done.
3. Replace A few Upper Cabinets With Open Shelving
There are mixed reviews on open shelving, but taking a few cabinets down added so much style to this kitchen and showcased the awesome modern backsplash. You can make your own floating DIY shelves or buy premade ones that match your existing cabinets.
4. Change Out The Cabinet Hardware
This might seem like a no-brainer, but sometimes all cabinets need is a little refresh with new hardware. These matte black handles and contemporary knobs can give the kitchen a whole new look.
Read More>>>Trendy Matte Black Hardware Ideas
Can you use spray paint on your old kitchen hardware?
You can for sure! When we added laundry room cabinets & shelving, we had a mix of metals that I wasn’t vibing with. We could have purchased new handles like the ones above, but we were able to spray paint the silver handles we already had.
You could do the same when considering updating your oak cabinet hardware.
Frequently touched handles may have a limited lifespan after spray painting, but properly cleaning them will help the paint adhere. On the other hand, hinges are rarely touched and are the perfect thing to spray paint to match your modern decor.
5. Change The Faucet Finish
The matte black sink hardware complements the white counters and oak cabinets. Shopping for black matte sink faucets doesn’t have to ruin your budget. Stores now carry a wide range of styles at different price points.
6. Replace The Countertops
This is the priciest suggestion on this list. Our friends did not have a ton of counter space, so they could achieve this without breaking the bank. And by adding a premade island, they saved money by avoiding the cost of installing a custom island countertop. Mixing and matching different surfaces can save you money.
Changing your countertops to a more modern and airy style can make a difference. Our friends went with a faux white marble quartz that added a clean element to the space.
They were able to give their kitchen a fresher feel by adding more light and bright colors to the surrounding elements.
Read More: 6 Tips For Choosing Countertops To Go With Oak Cabinets (plus our favorite 7 colors)
7. Paint A Light Color On Your Walls & Trim
The “before” red-painted walls made this kitchen feel small and dated. The space immediately opened up by using a bright white color on the trim & walls.
The classic color palette of neutral brown, white, and black will always stay on trend. You can always add fun colors to your accessories and items you choose to display.
8. Add A Pre-Made Kitchen Island
The original kitchen did not have an island. Instead of trying to match the cabinets, you can purchase a premade island or cart that could work. As you can see in the picture before, taping out the dimensions will help you visualize your space with the new addition.
Don’t be afraid to add color, repaint, or make the piece completely different than the surrounding cabinets. Finish your decor by adding modern stools.
9. Replace Some Door Fronts With Glass
The upper corner cabinet already had a glass front. However, if you don’t have that, you could always consider changing some of your upper cabinet doors to help break up the wall of oak cabinetry. Display cool cookbooks or dishes to really add some flavor to your kitchen remodel.
10. Change Your Light Fixtures
Have fun mixing materials and textures in your space. The neutral hanging lights exude boho-chic while still working with the oak cabinets. The basket light fixture is awesome, but we could also see a capiz-shell light there as well.
11. Add Modern Furniture & Decor
Our friends snagged a cool leather couch and other fun decor items for the open living room by buy-sell-trade. With our tips, you can score cheap home items and learn the lingo of the FB marketplace and BST groups.
The brown leather color plays off the oak cabinets, creating a complete mid-century feel. The contemporary furniture gives the impression that the oak cabinets were always part of the original design.
12. Buy new appliances
In this kitchen makeover, one oak cabinet was removed and a dishwasher was added for functional reasons. The range and refrigerator were also replaced. The stainless steel and modern appliances help to visually break up the line of oak cabinets that were previously there.
If this isn’t in the budget, white appliances would still feel modern in this space. Just give them a fresh cleaning.
Tips
- When choosing a wall color to complement oak cabinets, consider lighter colors with slightly warm undertones, such as warm whites, light sage greens, or creams.
- If matte black hardware isn’t your thing, you could consider bronze, champagne gold, or other modern brass hardware.
- Keep the permanent fixtures neutral. You can always add color with easily changed accessories and decor.
The Before and After Kitchen
I don’t know about you, but these ideas will make me reconsider painting cabinets.
Room Sources
Here are links to some of the exact or very close-to-exact products used.
- Matte Black Cabinet Knobs
- Matte Black Cabinet Handles
- Matte Black Faucet With Sprayer
- Basket Lights: similar to one over the island and table.
- Geometric Backsplash
- Black Metal Bar Stools
- Premade Island (similar to the one purchased)
Makeover FAQs
White counters or white counters with slight veins go well with oak cabinetry. Consider a granite color like Super White, which mimics Carrara marble, or Colonial White for a warmer, modern feel.
Add bright and crisp colors to the walls, backsplash tiles, and appliances. A pure white color can help brighten a space with honey oak cabinets. White or stainless steel appliances will also help bounce light around, making your kitchen feel larger.
More and more modern kitchen designs show lighter wood cabinets or a mixture of wood and colored cabinetry. To modernize your oak kitchen cabinets, consider refacing your oak cabinet boxes with newer-style doors, such as Shaker, adding modern hardware, and adding soft-close drawers.
Related Projects
- Best White Paint Colors For Kitchen Cabinets and Walls
- Tips For Installing Board and Batten In Your Home
- How To Whitewash Oak Cabinets To Get Rid Of Orange Tones
While we like painting cabinets, we know that you can still make oak look modern with these DIY projects and ideas.
Photos of before and after are not showing. But the tips were helpful, and really gave me something to think about.
Hi Anni. Thanks for the info about the photos, I will have to look into that.
Hello Nuts..
How can I “un-orange” a big bedroom set…if I apply a tinted gel stain will that just take me to a dark orange..I don’t want that
Thank you for any help!
Kelley
Hi Kelley. Check out this post about how we whitewashed our oak bathroom vanity. We stripped it, sanded and then add a transparent white layer. I wish I would have done it to all of my cabinets!
I used MSI Colonial White in my oak kitchen, honed finish and it was fantastic! Being basically white with flecks of copper, black and small amount of gray brought all the colors you mention, together. We had black appliances (which were fine for us) replaced the handles with black.
Replaced with neutral larger subway tile backsplash with crackle finish which was shiny so it helped lighten up the room more. Our cabinets had black veining so the black handles tricked your eye into noticing more the black in the cabinets and less on the ‘orange’ stain. Thrilled with the result.
Hi Pat! I am so happy you love your kitchen!