Forget Paint: A Smarter Way To Update Dated Honey Oak Cabinets

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One thing I've learned over the years as a professional woodworker is that color trends come and go. My major point of contact as an expert woodworker is kitchen cabinets. While not as certain as death and taxes, if you have a specific color palette on your kitchen cabinets, one day you will likely decide it is no longer for you. Honey oak cabinets were once hotter than chili peppers in kitchen design. Now you'd have to turn in your cabinetry card if you suggested a honey oak look, which begs the question: If you have a kitchen full of honey oak cabinetry, how do you change that? Is painting the only way? Forget paint — there are ways to update those old oak cabinets to something that will make you happier. 

The easiest way — and one that is DIY-friendly — is putting a coat of modified stain over your existing finish. By modified, I am talking about products that combine stain (the component that adds color) with a polyurethane finish (a protective topcoat). It is true that you can apply a typical oil stain over an existing finish, but the application process tends to be fussy (challenging to keep the color uniform) and it requires a separate topcoat of some sort – a water-based or oil-based polyurethane finish – to protect the application.

Shortly, I will recommend my two top products for changing your honey-colored oak to an appealing upgrade. But first, there are some other considerations. Are your cabinets in good condition? Do the doors hang properly, and are the hinges and hardware sound? Do the drawers move in and out properly? Are there deep scratches or surface flaws in the finish? If none of these apply, all is well. If there are problems, they need to be addressed. 

The two products I suggest (and have used) for this task are Minwax PolyShades and Varathane's Stain + Poly (Behr also makes a good product, but I have never used it). Although different in chemistry, they are similar in concept. They combine color and topcoat, and can be used over existing finishes. PolyShades is an oil-based solution, while Stain + Poly are waterborne. Both are brushed on, with the main challenge being keeping the application, and hence the color saturation, even.

You'll first need to super-clean your cabinets, using something like TSP to clean the wood. Take all the doors off the cabinets and remove all the hardware. Use a fine synthetic abrasive pad to uniformly smooth the existing finish. Starting with an area that is not prominent (the back of a cabinet door), practice applying the product evenly. Do a small area so that you can see if it gives you the results you want. If you are happy with the look, proceed with applying the product to the rest of your cabinetry. Keep the doors and drawer fronts close by, so you can verify that the results (the depth of color) continue to match as you work.