Do NOT paint your wooden cabinets

I’m about to share an unpopular opinion here- do NOT paint your wooden cabinets! Let me see if I can convince you to see the value in what you already have.

I was dead set on painting my kitchen cabinets after our offer was accepted… until the inspection. The inspector was a well qualified professional who knew a lot about homes, value, etc. When he walked in our kitchen, he was drawn to the cabinets and started admiring the maple wood and the craftsmanship. He looked at us, and said “don’t paint these”. I nodded, but in my head knew I had to paint them white so they matched everything I saw on Instagram and Pinterest. He continued, “they are such a beautiful wood, and made so well. You really have a great value here”.

That different perspective planted a seed of doubt In my plan to paint, and I’m so glad it did. Not only did it save a lot of time and effort, but keeping the wood tone cabinets makes the kitchen feel warm. I have received multiple compliments about how homey our space feels compared to so many “modern” spaces that tend to feel cold, white and sterile. Believe it or not, the current trends are favoring wood tones. Once you go painted, you can never go back!

Why you should NOT paint your wooden kitchen cabinets

Below, I’ll outline 5 ways to work with your wooden cabinets to save you time, energy and money by not having to paint them. 

1. Focus on balance

Wooden cabinets bring warmth, whereas too much white can feel cold and sterile. The recommendation from Growitbuildit.com is 2 warm features, and 2 white features between the flooring, cabinets, counters and walls (including backsplash and/or paint) in your kitchen. My kitchen follows this rule. My wooden cabinets and dark granite counters are warm, while my light tile floors and light greige walls bring in some white balance.

2. Two Toned Kitchen- AKA  a tuxedo kitchen

According to Zillow, homes with tuxedo kitchens can sell for as much as $6000 more. Keeping your wooden cabinets allows you the option to paint an island or breakfast nook to create contrast. And according to my research, this is trending in 2021. See this post here for more trends to watch out for this year!

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3. Add glass to feature doors

Relieve some of the visual weight of the wood and add reflective value with glass inserts! See my post here on how we did this to create a home wine bar with glass cabinet doors. In addition to adding glass, a modern trend is removing upper cabinets. If you have enough storage below, I would say this is a great option. If not, you could also remove the uppers and go with open shelving instead!

4. Consider value

If you have wooden cabinets, that means they are made out of real wood (most likely oak, maple, or pine), which are far superior to many of the laminate cabinets that are installed to be painted. Do not de-value what you have! You can hire the job out to paint cabinets and it will cost you. But if you want professional results, doing it yourself can be risky. It’s a big undertaking, and the last thing you want at the end is to pay to replace them because they’re didn’t turn out well.

5. Tone down the orange

If your wooden cabinets are stained a shade that pulls orange, you can do this by changing your wall paint color and cabinet door hardware. Choose a paint color that works with the cabinets to tone down the orange. Lots of recommendations include greige or beige colors. I think the Agreeable Gray we painted works off the cabinets well and tones them down. I would still prefer a lighter stained wood (I feel like if anything, ours looks like it has yellow undertones), but I think they work with our dark granite counters and soon to be installed white subway tile backsplash (tutorial to come).

Hardware can make a huge difference as well. I chose dark, oil rubbed bronze knobs and handles which work so well off the wood tones. See the comparison of the silver hardware before, and bronze now.

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Ok, so I may have still not convinced some of you. So I will offer one final piece of advice if you do decide to do away with your wooden cabinets. Angela Rose has come out with her own line of cabinet doors through Nieu cabinets! You can order pre-painted cabinet doors to reface your cabinet boxes. It’s an affordable, designer option to get the look you want without having to completely replace your cabinets.

Her line allows you to reface the cabinets in the event that your doors are not a style you like. Sure, you can always re-paint or refinish your current cabinet doors, but that will not fix the design or style. Here is an example of a dated kitchen cabinet door style…

In this case, I would replace the cabinet doors to a more contemporary style. You could paint your existing doors, but the arched style design would still be prominent and date your space. You can’t go wrong with a Shaker style cabinet door.

Last but not least, I’m going to ask for your advice! We have a wonderful sunroom off our kitchen that has wood doors, trim, ceiling and beams.

I know I’ve just stated my preference for keeping wood tones in your kitchen, but should I keep them in my sunroom? I feel that the stain pulls orange, and it’s a lot in such a small space. My ideas are to paint it all a mushroom/taupe color like Ashley Petrone did in her living room- check out the before and after!

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Or, I could try to take the orange tint out of the wood. I have found a few tutorials, with this one looking to be the most promising here. What would you do? Let me know in the comments below!