the master plan

[John Christian]

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As a part of the master plan, which ends with me, in my workshop in the red barn on Gabriola Island ( see attachment) i have to refinish/ refresh or otherwise make more sale able some solid oak cabinets (see attachment) in my current house. Apparently a honey oak finish 'dates' a house and must be remedied. I have Googled and u tubed and talked to various non experts and experts. Does anyone here have some experience or advise to offer. The current idea is to softly sand/strip them and re color with a light grey wash of some sort. any comment or advise would be welcome

[Ken Fitzgerald]

John,

Your thread would probably get more appropriate comments in the Project Finishing Forum. With your permission, I will move it there.

[sheldon pettit]

I'm not quite sure what you mean by honey oak dating them....i have done honey oak on new houses up to and including 06. Sounds like your really trying to just give a different more popular look that either you have decided on or others have lead you to at least consider. Since you mention this is to be able to help sell the property, I would suggest you look at like properties in the area and see if or what is popular there, what would most likely sell or help sell ok? People who like natural or stained cabinets may not like the grey or white washes, people who like darker cabinets would not like it either. Along with this, one has to take into consideration the rest of the house/property, when choosing such. Is the rest of the interior contemporary? If not, a grey washed set of cabinets may stand out like a sore thumb. Wall coverings/paint/flooring/ and other, all play apart as to how the over-all cabinet colors will enhance or detract from what your thinking. If you have already considered all of this [and more], then disregard my comments, just trying to be helpful :)

[Pete McMahon]

John, Take Sheldons advice and give it a lot of thought before you attempt that. A project I had this year was to give some maple cabinets a more "contemporary look" with gray glazes. It's all the rage right now and right now is the key word. Think of it like the current fad. In some design magazines this is the hot new look. I remember the (horrible) pickling of everything in the 90's. Every kitchen in the magazines was pickled.
Consider this in a practical sense; what is the return vs. the work involved. Can you do it? If not and you dive in you'll be guessing and that can turn into a nightmare. Besides that if you don't get it right how easy will it be to sell then?

I don't want to give you false hope but if I had to do that I would wash and dry the cabinets, lightly scuff sand with 320, clean again and then apply a thin gray oil glaze that's blended well. For a cheap quick job you could leave it at that. If you don't have that level of experience
now may not be the best time to learn.
If in fact it's a real estate agent that advised you, ask them to pay for it.