Is your kitchen in need of a facelift? If you’re in the middle of renovating your kitchen, if you moved into a house with a kitchen you don’t love, or if you just need a new look, stained cabinets is a great solution. As demonstrated above in the gorgeous design by Carlay Page Summers, cabinets are beautiful–they showcase the gorgeous wood grain and can fit with any aesthetic.
Depending on the color and intensity used, stained cabinets can look warm and cottagecore, sleek and modern, or cozy and farmhouse-style. And stained cabinets aren’t just great in kitchens. You can also stain your bathroom cabinets for a fresh, new look, or your laundry room cabinets to show that room some love.
There’s nothing like staining your cabinets to breathe new life into a tired room. It’s an inexpensive upgrade you can accomplish in a short amount of time. Need help getting started? Read on to learn everything you need to know to successfully stain your cabinets.
Let us not forget how beautiful stained cabinets can be in bathrooms as well.
Design by Lauren Ashley Elder
Why Use Stain Instead of Paint?
Painting cabinets is also a good way to change up your space without doing a full overhaul. But stain has some distinct advantages. Stained wood cabinets last longer than painted ones and hide nicks and dings better.
Stain is easier to touch up than paint. Staining your cabinets is a fairly easy DIY project, and gives your room a natural, classic look. If you want to showcase your wood cabinets, staining them may be the right move for you.
Design by Melissa Manzardo Hryszko
How to Choose a Color
Some cabinet stain colors are classic and will never really go out of style, while others come and go (Orangey wood tones of the 1990s, we’re looking at you!). Since you probably don’t want to re-stain your cabinets a few years from now, it’s best to choose a color that you’ll love as much in ten years as you do now. Some good options to consider:
- Dark, coffee-colored stain
- Stains with warm undertones, like amber or honey
- Natural, light colors like driftwood
- Pale yellow stains with gray undertones
Right now, mixing wood tones with vibrantly painted surfaces (moody blues, matte blacks, or jewel tones) is a popular design choice. Staining cabinets darker for the lower kitchen cabinets and light or white on the upper ones is also on-trend.
What Kind of Stain Do You Need?
You basically have three choices. You can use water-based stain, which is easy to apply and clean up. It doesn’t have a strong smell. It dries more quickly than other types. The potential downside to water-based stains is that it’s generally not as vibrant as other stains.
Oil-based stain allows you to obtain a vibrant and dark color more easily, but it’s harder to clean up. Oil-based stain also gives off a smell for several days. Although it dries more slowly than water-based, it does tend to be more durable in the long run.
Gel stains sit on top of the wood–more like paint–rather than sinking into it. This means it’s great for less porous wood like maple, or wood that tends to absorb stains unevenly, like pine and cherry. It’s easy to work with, and it’s more forgiving than stains that penetrate the wood.
Some wood stains come with a sealer–polyurethane–already added. If you use this combo product, your project will go faster and more easily. But you can also stain your cabinets first and then seal them when you’re finished. This gives you a little more control over the shade of the stain.
How Much Sanding is Required?
Sanding is probably the part of the project that most people dread. But it really isn’t so bad. How much sanding you’ll need to do depends on what color your cabinets are now, and what color you want them to be.
- If you’re staining dark cabinets lighter, you’ll need to sand all the way back down to bare wood
- If you’re staining light cabinets darker, you really only need to rough up the surface of the wood
- If you’re staining cabinets that are currently painted, you’ll need to either sand all the way to bare wood or strip the paint and then sand. Any bits of paint left on the cabinets won’t take the stain and will make the final product look blotchy.
How to Stain Your Cabinets
Start by protecting your surfaces. If you get drips on your countertop or floor, they won’t come off easily. Lay down plastic sheeting or tarps over the floor, the countertops, the bathtub and vanity, and anything else that you need to protect.
Next, remove all cabinet hardware. You can use a screwdriver for this. Place hardware and screws in labeled baggies so you know where each one goes when it’s time to put them back on. Then remove all cabinet doors, and drawer fronts if possible. You can label these with sticky notes stuck on the back.
Clean all surfaces–doors, drawers, cabinet boxes–very well. Get all the grease and grime off, so the stain has a clean surface to adhere to. Wipe everything dry with a clean cloth.
Begin the sanding process. Using an electric hand sander will make the process go much faster, but you can do the sanding by hand if you prefer. You’ll want to use a heavier grit sandpaper first. Then wipe the dust off with a soft cloth, and repeat with a lighter grit. Make sure to thoroughly remove all sanding dust when you finish.
It’s finally time to apply the stain! Make sure to mix it well, and then brush it on with a high-quality paint brush or apply it with a soft rag. Move the brush or rag in the same direction as the wood grain for best results. Make sure to remove any excess stain with the brush or rag.
Leave the stain on for the desired amount of time. The longer you leave it, the darker it will become. Wipe it off right away for the lightest stain, or leave it on for five to ten minutes to make it darker. Remember, that stain will darken somewhat as it dries!
Allow the cabinets to dry for at least six hours (follow the instructions on the can), and then apply a second coat. After the second coat, you can stop if the stain is the color you want, or you can apply a third stain, or even more until you reach your desired hue. If you did not use a stain that contains polyurethane, finish your project by applying it as a sealer.
After your cabinets are completely dry, you can rehang them and replace the hardware. And that’s it! Your cabinets are fresh and new, showing off their gorgeous wood grain and making your kitchen, bathroom, or laundry room look updated and classy. Enjoy your new space!
