# Golden Oak Cabinet Re-Finish



## ThreeSistersPainting (Jan 7, 2017)

This is an interesting cabinet set that belongs to an interior designer I have been working with. She had a sample door from one of her projects that was either alder or maple (Very smooth grain, unlike oak) that was stained dark walnut. When I originally sanded the door down I used dark walnut stain, but the hue was different and the grain was still very prominent. I then dyed my WB lacquer with dark walnut dye, this resulted in too many coats to achieve the right tone. 

I am so use to just painting oak cabinets that I didnt know what to offer except a faux finish that would take away the oak grain but still show its wood. So I busted out the Old Masters Dark Walnut Gel Stain, brushed two coats on over a two day period and finished with Rudd NuWave WB lacquer. This is a remodel so the flooring, tile, and paint were picked around the cabinets being dark. At one point we discussed going black but decided that it would be very plain with white tile, light floors, and light grey walls. The stainless pulls I installed definitely help tie them to the surrounding decor.

Everything was sprayed using HVLP using Rudd NuWave Water-Borne Lacquer in Satin, undreduced. The boxes have 3-coats, the door backs have 2-coats, and the fronts have 3-coats. Total amount product used - 1.5gal. Total amount of time - 6 days.


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## RH (Sep 7, 2010)

Great looking work!


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## Gymschu (Mar 11, 2011)

Beautiful! Very unique.


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## Wolfgang (Nov 16, 2008)

Nice! The hardware, counter tops, and wall color pull it all together. I like the little bit of grain and base color that shows through.

If you ever get some time and want to experiment with doing something like this again; try brushing on some heavy bodied wiping stain.


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## finishesbykevyn (Apr 14, 2010)

Curious. Did you spray the stain on too and wipe after or leave ? Were these bare doors or did you strip them first.? Looks great.


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## ThreeSistersPainting (Jan 7, 2017)

finishesbykevyn said:


> Curious. Did you spray the stain on too and wipe after or leave ? Were these bare doors or did you strip them first.? Looks great.


I brushed Old Masters Gel Stain (20% thinned) onto a sanded oak door, then with a dry brush I brushed over it again (wiping the bristles off every stroke) to remove and spread out the finish. Did this process for two coats with 24 hours in between each.


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## finishesbykevyn (Apr 14, 2010)

ThreeSistersPainting said:


> I brushed Old Masters Gel Stain (20% thinned) onto a sanded oak door, then with a dry brush I brushed over it again (wiping the bristles off every stroke) to remove and spread out the finish. Did this process for two coats with 24 hours in between each.


Wow. It covered really well for 2 coats. So just to be clear, you didn't completely remove the old finish? Just a light sand.. 
It's an interesting option as I'm mostly painting over stuff like that to White these days..But whatever the customer wants..:biggrin:


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## ThreeSistersPainting (Jan 7, 2017)

All doors and drawer fronts were sanded down raw. Every wood project I come across (Decks, Doors, Cabinets, Garage doors, Interior Trim) I sand the surface for a fresh start.


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## Brushman4 (Oct 18, 2014)

I worked on a bank addition and remodel back in the early 90's and all the doors which were six panel, four-piece 18 in.base, and five -piece crown molding were all solid walnut, which we stained with either P&L Tonetic or Star oriental walnut stain! All the huge custom windows in the 4- two- story staircases were only available in poplar, not walnut.
The cost of all this solid walnut was crazy expensive and the windows in poplar looked just like the walnut when finished with the exact same process applied!

I just can't understand why you would take a beautifully grained wood like walnut and stain it so dark that very little grain was visible, it defies my sense of logic.


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## PACman (Oct 24, 2014)

ThreeSistersPainting said:


> All doors and drawer fronts were sanded down raw. Every wood project I come across (Decks, Doors, Cabinets, Garage doors, Interior Trim) I sand the surface for a fresh start.


Great idea! And i took a look at this thread because of all the replies and wow! Great looking cabinets! Very unique and trendy. I could get you a bunch of work in Columbus!


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## ThreeSistersPainting (Jan 7, 2017)

The remodel _design_ is what I would call "modern shabby chic". Unfortunately after a few days the homeowner decided against her choice of placing the upper cabinet handles in the middle. Luckily I ran out of time last friday and didnt drill all of them. Had 5 smaller ones and two larger doors which needed the handle edge holes filled. Since I used gel stain the cover up was fairy easy but time consuming, all doors where sanded and lacquered again, but I only stained the sanded faces. I was trying to avoid too much build up of lacquer compared to the doors I didnt drill.


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