Kitchen Cabinets....UGH!

[Kimberland30]

My parents renovated their kitchen years ago (we are buying their house soon). My dad built new cabinets on one side of the kitchen, then painted all of them blue. I'm talking 'country blue' that was in style back in the early 90's.

We could strip them, but the wood's don't match. I don't know about staining different woods to make them the same color...is this an option? I think the wood's used were oak and pine - but I'm not sure.

Painting the cabinets is another option. I originally thought of painting them sage green (my fav color in a kitchen), but I'm now thinking something more neutral, like taupe or a brown...something that if we change styles in the kitchen, we don't have to paint the numerous cabinets again.

Replacing them is out of our budget for the next few years...at least.

Any suggestions?

[Janey]

Forget about stripping them and trying to get them to match. You'll spend so much money on the stripper and time on the project that it's probably not worth it unless you decide it's what you really want to do. For me, I did one window, and that was enough to scare me off of stripping stuff for life. :P

Painting the kitchen cabinets White is always a popular option. Like you said - if you do that, then you won't have to change them if you change your decor. We painted the (super dark 70's brown) cabinets in my old townhouse white, and gave them new knobs. It made a WORLD of difference & really brightened up the kitchen!

[dana b]

how about painting them a creamy white and using the sage green on the walls? i have a similar combo in my kitchen - white cabinets, olive green walls and dark bronze hardware, they look great together.

[Janey]

That sounds similar to what we did in the townhouse. I had white cabinets, sorta-sagey-green walls (it was Home Despot/Glidden's "Lily Pond," and we did a rag faux finish), a white tile backsplash, and I used green glass knobs. It worked great. :)

Let us know what you decide to do, Kimberland. I'd love to see pictures!

[Kimberland30]

Do either one of you have a picture of your kitchens? I'd love to see how they turned out, they both sound beautiful! I'm worry about painting the cabinets a light color just because we have a dog...and kids...and we're slobs, but all the better reason to keep the kitchen clean right? :)

[e&d]

I love danab's idea! :)