How to Upgrade Dated Honey Oak Cabinets

Montross Made
by Montross Made
2 Materials
$50
3 Hours
Easy

We needed to update the outdated kitchen in our cabin. These honey oak cabinets and gold hardware needed to go! We didn’t want to spend a lot to money or time (aka didn’t want to have to replace the cabinets, or remove and paint all of the doors), so we decided to stain them. This was such a cheap and quick way to update the kitchen without breaking the bank!

What we used:

Wood stain

Steel wool

Updated hardware


Step 1: Remove hardware and “scuff”

After taking off the horrible hardware, we scuffed up the doors with steel wool. Again, we didn’t even take the doors off the hinges, which saved so much time and headache!

Step 2: Stain

Next we stained the doors with a darker wood stain. You could also choose to white wash them if you want! This was so much easier than painting because it didn’t need to be perfect, and it only took one coat!

Step 3: Replace hardware

Finally we replaced the gold hardware with some more modern silver pulls. It’s amazing what a difference hardware alone can make!

To finish off our updates in the kitchen, we painted the trim white, updated the light fixtures, and removed the dated window treatments.


We are SO happy with the results! It just took a little stain to remove that harsh yellow from our dated honey oak cabinets, and its a whole new kitchen!! We found this to be much easier and faster than painting the cabinets. Its amazing what some stain/paint can do for a space!

Suggested materials:
  • Wood stain   (Steel wool)
  • Cabinet Hardware
Frequently asked questions
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3 of 68 questions
  • Valerie Allard Valerie Allard on Sep 10, 2023

    Did you do the inside of the cabinets as well? It looks very nice.

  • Glu25932280 Glu25932280 on Sep 11, 2023

    How to white wash the cabinets and what materials are required?

  • Christine Rue Christine Rue on Sep 12, 2023

    I too would like to know if your cabinets are wood or laminate pressed wood ,plywood veneer? Another person asked same question but you did not reply.

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  • Christine Rue Christine Rue on Sep 12, 2023

    I also wanted to know as another person asked but you did not reply, are your cabinets wood or

  • Candice Gollam Candice Gollam on Nov 10, 2023

    I have never heard of that process but i would love it. I agree… that is why i wanted to paint it. Thank you for the idea. I will definitely be reading up on that. If you know of a good site, please send it Thank you again for the great idea. a lighter color would would be welcoming.

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