It’s amazing how much of a difference it can make to paint old cabinets! My most recent project of painting and glazing oak kitchen cabinets definitely demonstrated this.
My clients Suzy and Dave were faced with a common kitchen remodel challenge… Their cabinets were in perfectly good shape, but the honey-colored finish looked dated, particularly in contrast to their new marble counter-tops. They knew they didn’t want to invest in all new cabinets, but they weren’t sure about painting them a flat color either – which is why they called me.
After looking at the colors in the kitchen, the counter tops and the adjacent rooms, we settled on a dark brown for their bar/island and a warm light grey for the remainder of the kitchen. Using the different colors adds some contrast and interest to the room, while also making the island stand out almost as a piece of furniture.
To give the cabinets more depth and interest, we also decided to glaze, or “antique” them. Suzy loved the look of the glaze, but also preferred it to be more subtle, so we went with a medium grey-brown for the glaze color.
The end result transformed the kitchen and looked great with the new counter tops! We unfortunately didn't get many "before" pictures, but the couple we do have give a good idea of the contrast with the "after" (below).
Enjoy,
Jason
Cabinets before painting and glazing
After
An older "before" shot
After
Close-up of glazing
Bontrasting brown bar cabinets