Stain white kitchen Cabinets to Espresso?

[240sxer]

All,

Is it easy/cheap to stain white kitchen cabinets to Espresso?

Here are some pictures of the cabinets in question:
http://www.myvisuallistings.com/center/datacenter/tours-fs/74/74346/still/virtual-tour-74346-22.jpg
http://www.myvisuallistings.com/center/datacenter/tours-fs/74/74346/still/virtual-tour-74346-23.jpg
http://www.myvisuallistings.com/center/datacenter/tours-fs/74/74346/still/virtual-tour-74346-24.jpg
http://www.myvisuallistings.com/center/datacenter/tours-fs/74/74346/still/virtual-tour-74346-28.jpg

Does it depend on the make of these cabinets and finish?


Thanks,

[fakishan]

That doesn't look like real wood finish, bur rather veneer/laminate cover. Those cannot stained the normal way, but can be painted, which I don't recommend because it is still very hard to do a good job.


No cost-effective options imo. Looks nice as it is, should leave it be.

[CSK'sMom]

Looks like thermofoil finish on the cabinets to me. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermofoil You'd be looking at paint I would think and a ton of prep work with a really good high adhesion primer first. It can certainly ne done, but it's a big job to do it right and get good results..

[corbro]

I would leave it the way it is, it looks good. OR if you have your heart set on it, have a professional reface them unless your really good at that sort of stuff, there's certain things that are better left to professionals and this would be one of them in my opinion.

[corbro]

I just looked at all the photo's and wow that's a nice kitchen. Also if you do change it to espresso you'd have to change, fridge, stove, dishwasher, range hood to stainless steel, white appliances would look stupid.

[bigwood29]

In one place I used to own, I just used Rustoleum's Cabinet Transformations from Home Depot. It's a kit that gives you a bunch of colour options for both dark and light. I went from darker to white, almost like the one you want to change. It's a multi-step process but if you're willing to put in the time, it's cost-efficient and looked great at the end. Sorry, don't have any pics. There are some decent videos on YouTube showing people using it, but it always looks easier on video. Are you going to change the countertop too? Not sure if the expresso colour would look good with dark counters and that backsplash. You have a plenty of cabinets to paint for sure.

http://www.homedepot.ca/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/SearchView?catalogId=10051&storeId=10051&langId=-15&N=0&Ntt=cabinet+transformation&Nty=1&D=cabinet+transformation&Ntx=mode+matchallpartial&Dx=mode+matchallpartial&s=true

Anyways, good luck with it if you do.

[240sxer]

Thanks for the feedback guys.

Here's an artistic rendering of what it might look like in Espresso and I must say we like it alot more than white.. but alot of people dont for some reason:

http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t186/GPWR/DONTDOIT.jpg

Ofcourse assuming stainless steal appliances and lighter handles.

[162]

i was thinking of the exact same thing, going from white melamine to espresso or such - i like the look of yours with the espresso.

[CSK'sMom]

If you're the handy type it's probably far easier to cut new doors. Have a look at one of my old threads as it's what we did. I couldn't justify new cabinets when there was nothing wrong with the boxes, I just wanted new doors. ;) If I think of it I'll add the totally finished pics tomorrow with the floor, dark kick strip and new dishwasher.
http://forums.redflagdeals.com/our-weeks-project-698260/

[bonterra]

I rather like your white cabinets.

If it was my kitchen, I'd paint the walls instead of the cabinets. A deeper, warmer mid-tone colour on the walls would look really good. There are some deeper tones in your backsplash, maybe one of them could be picked up for the walls.