Painting Oak Cabinets White and Gray
See how painting oak cabinets white and gray, in the kitchen, can make a big impact to update the space. New countertops with tile and shelving for dishes, also add a nice touch.
Submitted By Mom and Her Drill
Here are some other projects of hers: Pallet Wall, Tree House, Powder Room
I an engineer and single mom of 3, I like tearing up houses and building tree forts, and I’m currently building a beach shack without enough money.
When I moved into this house (my current house), I immediately remodeled the kitchen.
I did it quickly and with almost no money. I didn’t put hardware on the cabinets, and I slapped some color on the walls that turned out to be a mistake…but I needed the extra storage and counter space, so creating a well-thought-out color scheme wasn’t a priority.
Now that I’ve had time to live with these colors, I got tired of them. I only picked the yellow/red accents to go with the furniture I owned. It wasn’t really me. I’ve been dreaming of an all-white vintage look for literally 10 years. Back 8 years ago when brown and “earth tones” were all the rage, I was dying for a little cottage where painting oak cabinets white could be done right.
I felt really constrained by a lack of money, and the dark, strongly colored furniture I already owned. It turns out all I needed was some time to think, and get myself to the point where I could “let go” of my things freely, (without living in terror that I should keep them to sell if we needed food).
(Excuse sink full of dirty dishes) heh.. and I’m debating on window treatments right now..
The blue tape on the front of the counter is holding the tile together while the Gorilla glue sets. I bashed a plate into the tile and broke it.
The top cabinets are still white, but i painted the lower ones Silver Mink by BM. The wall color is now Natural Choice by SW, which I decided to try after seeing it on The Lettered Cottage– it truly is the perfect cream. I *heart* the blogosphere!!
I stumbled on this Milk Glass hardware! I had never seen cup pulls done in colored glass. I found milk glass knobs for the cabinet doors on Ebay, but I couldn’t resist these pulls..
Here are some updated final kitchen images.
You can also see how painting oak cabinets white in these kitchens made a great difference:
I am the husband of the amazing Cassity of Remodelaholic. I love to problem solve and to design and build things inside and outside the house to make life better. I am a professional Landscape Architect by trade and love the outdoors.
Hi! Love your kitchen! I wanted to ask what color your cabinets were? I have natural choice on my walls too and having a hard time finding a white that is just right for my cabinets, yours look great! 🙂 thanks!
I’d love to paint my dark brown cabinet but am so intimated – is there a way to find the step by step process for doing it successfully so I don’t have to hire a professional – trying to keep cost s down,
Thank you so much for this post! I’ve been having a minor panic attack- having just bought a new house with a kitchen that looks like your “move-in” picture, and thinking that I wanted to rip it all out and start fresh, but I’ve just plonked down my entire life savings on the new house. The kitchen (and my lack of money to fix it) have been giving me nightmares– but then a friend suggested I paint the cabinets. I was skeptical, but I think this might actually persuade me to do it! Bless you!
I hope that it all works out for you Gwendolyn. Thanks for your comment!
Funny… I have an all white kitchen and I HATE it! Seems like I am wiping down the cabinets multiple times a day. Maybe it has to do with the fact that the cabinets are covered in laminate and are actually melting and peeling because of the heat from the appliances! I am having my FIL paint my cabinets a very pale brown, almost off-white. I had my floors done in wood and I’m replacing my white appliances (the plastic handles of which have yellowed) with stainless steel. And yet, I think this is lovely. I really like those drawer pulls, I’ll have to research and find out if they come in other colors. Love the moulding details you added to the original cabinets too.
Also, I used to have those red and white canisters. Mine never closed properly and I gave them away. Really odd!
Hello! Love it! Could u please lmk what was the paint color is called that u used? Thanks so much!!
Hi I’m sorry I didn’t see these questions here – in case anyone else reads this and wants paint colors:
my walls are Natural Choice by SW
my cabinets are Dove White by BM and Silver Mink by BM
When you painted the oak cabinets, can you still see the oak grain?
Be still my heart. Beautiful makeover and inspiring.
Just want to say your article is as surprising. The clearness in
your post is simply great and i can assume you
are an expert on this subject. Well with your permission let me to grab your RSS feed to keep updated with forthcoming post.
Thanks a million and please carry on the rewarding work.
You seem to have captured exactly what I’ve been picturing in my mind for our kitchen reno. I absolutely love the white and gray together! We’re doing our reno on a pretty tight budget and can’t get new appliances. Unfortunately our appliances aren’t all bright white like yours, the fridge is off white, but after seeing this I’m tempted to try out the appliance paint I keep reading about so everthing will at least match. Thank you for sharing, I feel very inspired now!
Hi,
Did you have to remove the cabinets in order to get the tile installed?
This looks amazing! My kitchen looks just like the before picture. I love these ideas! Don you guys have a tutorial on the counter top somewhere on your site? Thanks!
Hi Kobi, this is a post from one of our awesome guests, so there might a tutorial over on her site (Mom and Her Drill, linked up top) but I’m not certain. Thanks!
Question- we are considering doing this but wonder about the laminate parts – how do you paint those so they still match the wood cabinet doors? Any tips would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks!
You changed out the doors on cabinet to beadboard door’s, Right??? or is it some type of contact paper??? I LOVE the 2 colors’s mixed together, you made a plain bland boring kitchen into a beautiful one.
Hi Teresa, I believe Katy used beadboard wallpaper, but I’ve been trying to get in touch with her to verify. I’ll update the post when I have! 🙂
Wow! This is inspiring to me. I have not much money, an old 70’s kitchen and it’s time to update in 2018. Two-toned cabinets! What a grand idea. Love it! Thanks for sharing.
Your cupboard doors are not the original cupboard doors shown in the first picture?? My cupboards look exactly like the first cupboards (brown oak) with our stripes.
Yes, she added beadboard wallpaper in between 🙂