What finish do you have on your kitchen cabinets? Many people have never given any thought to what they have or what they might want if they update their kitchen, but the finish plays a big role in how the cabinets look and how they resist wear. Let’s look at the most common options: paints and stains.

Painted Finishes

Painted wood cabinets can be customized in any color of the rainbow, and they work with every decorative style, making them ideal for contemporary, transitional, and traditional kitchens. Paint works best on smooth surfaces like medium-density or high-density fiberboard or smooth hardwoods like maple which don’t have a grain you can feel. More textured woods, like oak, can be painted but you will see the grain through the paint (especially on lighter colors). Shades of white, cream, black, blue, gray, and green are all great timeless choices. Painted finishes can show wear and tear over time, especially at door edges and around hardware, but they can be touched up (stick to a supplier-provided paint kit so the color and sheen match perfectly) or even repainted.

Factory painted cabinets commonly have a 20-sheen finish, which refers to the glossiness of the finish (just like you choose flat, eggshell, satin, semi-gloss, or gloss paint for your walls and trim, there are options for cabinets). Twenty sheen is a low to mid-satin finish. This is great choice for any color or style of cabinets. It’s more forgiving than matte (or flat) or glossy finishes and has some reflectivity. This is the standard sheen we use when we repaint cabinets.

If you’re trying to choose a paint color, I suggest looking to the decoration in the rest of your home and at the counters you plan to use. Both are good places to start forming your kitchen’s color palette. Try not to get sucked into what the internet tells you are the “in” or “out” colors as you will be living with these decisions for a long time and you need to choose what you like.

While not as popular as they used to be, glazing and distressing add more character to a painted cabinet. A glaze is a semi-transparent coating to add depth and dimension. It settles into the details of cabinet doors, creating an antique or distressed look (glazing is usually a brownish or blackish stripe along the crevices of the doors and works best with more detailed doors that have features to highlight). Glazing is popular in farmhouse and traditional kitchens. It costs more than painting alone due to the labor-intensive process. Distressed or antiqued finishes give cabinets a weathered, vintage appearance. Techniques like sanding edges, using dark glazes, or hammering create an aged effect. This finish works well in rustic, country, or shabby-chic spaces.

Stained Finishes

Unlike paint, which hides the underlying cabinet material, staining highlights and brings out the natural grain and character of wood. Stains are perfect for showcasing the beauty of woods like alder, maple, oak, cherry, or walnut. Stain colors and wood varieties go in and out of popularity just like clothing styles. Natural finishes on maple (think yellow) and cherry (think red) were popular in the 1980s through the early 2000s but now tend to look dated. Clear finishes on rift cut white oak and walnut are very popular right now. Stains come in a range of shades, from light and golden to deep espresso or charcoal. They can bring warmth to any style. However, stain absorption can vary based on wood species, leading to subtle tone variations. Stained cabinets need a topcoat for protection and durability. More textured or heavily grained woods may do a better job hiding wear and tear over time than more smooth-grained woods.

A mix of stained and painted cabinets is a great way to create an updated space without having too much of either. Consider a wood stained island with painted perimeter cabinets. Or wood stained bases with painted wall cabinets.

At Kitchen Tune-Up we want to help you make the most of your home. We would love the opportunity to see your kitchen, show you door and hardware samples, and create a plan to update and upgrade your space to meet your needs. Contact us today for a free design appointment and estimate.

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