Staining Kitchen Cabinets: Not Just for Wood Tones

By Leslie A.M.
RefacingCabinet.com Columnist

Staining kitchen cabinets using a colored stain can provide you with a splash of color in a subtle and understated way. Stains come in every color from spearmint to butternut to amethyst, and many other colors. Even though the colors sound brilliant, they are translucent like stain, not opaque like paint. The natural wood grain comes through and is enhanced by the color.

Budget-Friendly Cabinet Refacing Costs

A gallon of stain is less than $30 and will cover 250-350 square feet. You'll want to sample the stain on your cabinet to make sure you will get the color you want. If you need more than one coat, you'll know by looking at the color saturation after one or two coats on your sample wood. Colored stain works best on a lighter wood like pine or oak than on dark woods like mahogany or walnut.

The Dramatic Transparency of Kitchen Renovations

There are several interior stain products. Some are ready mixed and some are custom-tinted at your local hardware store. Colors will change depending on the wood you are staining: the type, color, grain, and texture. You can also choose a satin or semi-gloss sheen. If you are really adventurous, you can experiment with an antiquing process using a colored stain as an accent instead of a wood tone stain.

Staining oak kitchen cabinets or other light woods can save you money in your kitchen renovations costs. But more importantly, it can make your kitchen completely unique. That might be a really important selling point for you if you have the same stock kitchen cabinets that all of your neighbors have. Create a kitchen that is yours alone just by staining kitchen cabinets to add some color.

 

About The Author

Leslie A.M. Smith is a freelance writer and desperately needs a new kitchen. Until she can afford it, she has her eye on refacing her cabinets.