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Home Staging Tip: Dated Oak Cabinets? Update them with Paint!

By Maureen Bray Portland OR Home Stager ~ Room Solutions Staging

Home Stager with Room Solutions Staging, Portland OR

March 24, 2011 05:57 PM

As a professional home stager based in Portland, Oregon I often see dated oak cabinets in kitchens and bathrooms. This was the height of style back in the '70's & '80's but today's buyers want a more modern, fresh look. Here's an easy fix that you can do yourself (or hire someone to do it for you).

My homeowner clients in Beaverton OR were planning to put their home on the market and asked me to provide a home staging consultation. Because the target buyer for this home was younger, one of my recommendations was that they update their kitchen cabinets -- but I told them that they didn't need to spend a lot of money replacing them, or even refacing them. Paint and new hardware can do wonders! We recommended an excellent Portland general contractor and this kitchen was updated for under $1,000:

Here's how the kitchen looked Before ... beaverton oregon home staging

And here's how it looked After painting ... home staging and redesign beaverton oregon

Before -- potential buyers would have walked in and thought, "Since we'll have to replace those dated oak cabinets, we'll have to make a lower offer for this house." Once the cabinets were primed, painted, and had new hardware added, this house was viewed as move-in ready. It was listed and had a pending sale in just 12 HOURS!

The products used for this project were:

Primer: Zinsser Bulls Eye 1-2-3 Water Base for Interior or Exterior

Paint: Behr Ultra Semi-gloss Espresso Beans (paint and primer in one)

Hardware: IKEA Vinna handles

Before you list your home for sale, contact a professional home stager for a cost-effective consultation. Our verbal staging consultation service provides lots of cost-effective tips and advice for a very reasonable price.

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Carolyn Huggins

Between Home Stages, LLC-Winston-Salem, NC - Winston-Salem, NC

The dark expresso (brown) looks great with the white appliances and countertop. What color would you recommend for oak cabinets with black appliances?

Mar 29, 2011 01:34 AM

Sharon Tara

Sharon Tara Transformations - Portsmouth, NH

Retired New Hampshire Home Stager

Congrats on the feature! This is a fabulous example of the power of painting dated oak cabinets! We can always use more examples of this, because convincing people to do it can be so difficult. Thanks for the great pics!

Mar 29, 2011 03:54 AM

Gene Mundt, IL/WI Mortgage Originator - FHA/VA/Conv/Jumbo/Portfolio/Refi

NMLS #216987, IL Lic. 031.0006220, WI Licensed. APMC NMLS #175656 - New Lenox, IL

708.921.6331 - 40+ yrs experience

Maureen: I LOVE the proof you provide here. It shows that with a little creativity, hard work, and small budget you can create miracles! I also love that you got so many to chirp in with their own contributions ... such as Tom. Testament to the value and quality of your posts ... Congrats on all! Thanks for sharing the post on my blogs too ..

Gene

Mar 29, 2011 04:48 AM

Maureen Bray Portland OR Home Stager ~ Room Solutions Staging

Room Solutions Staging, Portland OR - Portland, OR

"Staging Consultations that Sell Portland Homes"

Hi Carolyn ~ Choosing cabinet color would also depend on the color of the counters and the flooring ... so that everything coordinates well.

Hi Sharon ~ Seeing the Before and After is a lot more powerful than words, you're right!

Hi Gene ~ You are much too kind and I appreciate your loyal support!

Mar 29, 2011 04:57 AM

Shar Sitter

Rooms With Style - Minneapolis, MN

Home Staging and Redesign Minneapolis/ St. Paul, M

Love this! I wish I had these pictures so I could show clients. They just don't see how it will look and don't trust me. LOL Plus they think they are painting over something valuable, ugh.

Mar 29, 2011 06:53 AM

Patricia Kennedy

RLAH@properties - Washington, DC

Home in the Capital

Oh my! My kitchen cabinets are bleached oak! I had no idea that was no longer cool! Well, one more thing to add to my list! Really great before and after shots!

Mar 29, 2011 01:40 PM

Maureen Bray Portland OR Home Stager ~ Room Solutions Staging

Room Solutions Staging, Portland OR - Portland, OR

"Staging Consultations that Sell Portland Homes"

Hi Shar ~ You can give them a link to this post, no problem!

Hi David ~ It's true that everything else in that kitchen ended up looking better -- amazing how that happens :-)

Hi Pat ~ It depends on the neighborhood and what the other homes on the market there have .. if they're all selling with oak cabinets, no worries!

Mar 29, 2011 06:22 PM

Leslie Causey

LC Home Staging & Redesign - San Antonio, TX

Hello, chiming back in for anyone that would like to give advice on this project for a property about to go on the market. Maureen you just said it above, "It depends on the neighborhood and what the other homes have there..." There are only three other listing in this neighborhood and since there are no photos of the kitchen or baths, I'm assuming that they have not been updated. We are going to update with granite, a backsplash and new sink; however the question is whether or not to paint the cabinets. We cannot go dark due to the lack of light, so we would have to go white and I'm not so sure that the green color wash is so bad? I am also considering having a contractor bid on removing the four upper cabinets between the kitchen and eating area as well as removing the florescent light grid and updating the lighting. These clients will follow my recommendations, however with everything else we will be doing in this house; wall paper removal, texture, painting, tiling bathrooms, painting bathroom cabinets, updating light fixtures and more I don't want them to over invest for the neighborhood. I'll be contacting their REALTOR® today. In the meantime please let me know your thoughts.

Thank you, I look forward to your input.

Mar 30, 2011 04:25 AM

Lynda White

Bluegrass Homes & Farms Realty, Agent Know How - Louisville, KY

Admin. Mgr., Keller Williams Realty

Wow, the difference is amazing! I will definitely keep that in mind for our clients, and if I'm house hunting myself.

Mar 30, 2011 04:37 AM

Maureen Bray Portland OR Home Stager ~ Room Solutions Staging

Room Solutions Staging, Portland OR - Portland, OR

"Staging Consultations that Sell Portland Homes"

Hi Leslie -- I think you should post this as a separate blog post and ask the AR stagers for their input ... post it in Home Staging, Stage it Forward, etc. The overhead "grid" can easily be resolved with either one or more ceiling-mounted light fixtures, or can lights. For those cabinets, I think the green wash is pretty dated looking, but again it depends on what types of finishes the other homes this one is competing against have. You don't have to use white -- a rich cream color would look nice on the cabinets, especially if you use a granite that has cream as one of its colors. Good luck and I'll be interested in seeing the comments if you post this!

Mar 30, 2011 01:41 PM

Maureen Bray Portland OR Home Stager ~ Room Solutions Staging

Room Solutions Staging, Portland OR - Portland, OR

"Staging Consultations that Sell Portland Homes"

Hi Lynda ~ Thanks, it seems like a relatively easy process that a homeowner could do -- or you can hire a handyman like these sellers did -- and even with the labor cost, it was a good return on their investment.

Mar 30, 2011 02:45 PM

Shar Sitter

Rooms With Style - Minneapolis, MN

Home Staging and Redesign Minneapolis/ St. Paul, M

Just my two cents Leslie on checking back......I'm with Maureen. I'd paint the cabinets.

Mar 30, 2011 04:03 PM

Dennis Neal

RE/MAX, Big Bear - Big Bear Lake, CA

Your Home Sold in 21 Days or We Sell It For Free

We had some clients do this and it made a huge difference plus the home soon sold.

Mar 31, 2011 08:14 AM

Maureen Bray Portland OR Home Stager ~ Room Solutions Staging

Room Solutions Staging, Portland OR - Portland, OR

"Staging Consultations that Sell Portland Homes"

Hi Dennis & Terri ~ That's great to hear that it worked for your clients too! Thanks for your feedback.

Mar 31, 2011 01:20 PM

Rhonda Abbott

Howard Hanna - Wadsworth, OH

Wadsworth & Greater Akron, OH

Gorgeous! I've been looking at my own oak cabinets lately and wondering if it would be worth painting. Your photos have sealed the deal on that decision!

Apr 01, 2011 01:05 AM

Maureen Bray Portland OR Home Stager ~ Room Solutions Staging

Room Solutions Staging, Portland OR - Portland, OR

"Staging Consultations that Sell Portland Homes"

Hi Rhonda ~ Good luck with your project! I hope that you're happy with the outcome :-)

Apr 02, 2011 07:20 PM

Leslie Causey

LC Home Staging & Redesign - San Antonio, TX

Thanks Maureen and Shar, after further research I'll be taking your advice and recoomend painting the cabinets. Still working the rest of the proposal. Thanks again.

Apr 04, 2011 02:37 AM

Elisha Grace

Opportunity Mortgage - Bozeman, MT

Bozeman Montana Loan Officer

Hi Maureen, I like your post and all of the comments. It has been an interesting read. I will go back and read your other posts later.

Jul 13, 2011 01:18 PM

Steve Stenros

Poway,La Jolla,Del Mar,Mira Mesa,Carlsbad,Escondido,Temecula - San Diego, CA

CREIA MCI, ICC, ACI Home Inspector,San Diego

I can see your post is really dragging and you're starved for comments, Maureen, so I'll provide a quality comment that will hopefully spur some activity! My home has those same oak cabinets. Maybe I'll look at painting them! Thanks for the info!

Jul 13, 2011 01:57 PM

Maureen Bray Portland OR Home Stager ~ Room Solutions Staging

Room Solutions Staging, Portland OR - Portland, OR

"Staging Consultations that Sell Portland Homes"

hi Elisha ~ Thanks for taking the time to read this post and all of the comments, which make it more interesting!

hi Steve ~ LOL! If you have oak cabinets and you like them -- leave them alone! But when it comes time to sell, you may want to consider the less-expensive option of painting them :-)

Jul 13, 2011 02:29 PM