Refinishing and Repurposing Oak Kitchen Cabinets

It’s easy to imagine that building a new house means having all new furnishings. The reality has been a mix of new and used items that have helped us stay on budget. 

Our kitchen may best demonstrate this mix. Around the time we built the house, Brett’s parents updated their kitchen and asked if we wanted the beautifully built yet dated looking solid oak cabinets.

It was hard to decline an offer that would save us thousands of dollars — so long as we could spruce them up and fit them in a different kitchen layout.

Here’s the step-by-step process and how they’ve held up after over a year of use. 

Step 1: Disassemble and remove hardware

The first step was to use a screw driver to remove all the cabinet screws and hardware, including handles, hinges, and drawer slides.

Sounds simple, right? It’s true that disassembling is relatively easy, but keeping track of all those pieces takes some extra effort. Instead of merely placing items in the vicinity of their counterparts, I wish I would’ve taken it a step further and labeled the cabinets and corresponding doors and screws to avoid confusion later… and maybe some missing screws.

The pieces could’ve been quickly organized with small plastic baggies or cups, masking tape, and a marker. Learn from my mistake!

Supplies for disassembling kitchen cabinets: 

• Screwdriver
• Small plastic baggies or cups
• Masking tape
• Pen or permanent marker

Step 2: Clean the cabinets

Next, I cleaned the cabinet surfaces to remove dust, grease, grime, and other residue. Wiping with a rag soaked in soap and water was a great first pass, but they needed something more. 

I ended up buying an all-purpose heavy duty cleaner called Sunnyside Phosphate Free TSP Substitute. This seemed like a safer alternative to traditional trisodium phosphate (TSP) cleaners, which come with cautions. 

Allow the cabinets to dry completely before proceeding.

Supplies for cleaning kitchen cabinets: 

• Soap and water
• Bucket
• Rags
• Rubber gloves
• Optional: heavy duty surface cleaner

Step 3: Remove the existing finish

After the cabinets were squeaky clean, it was time to remove the shine. Stripping the glossy finish helps the primer stick to the surface. 

Again, I did a first pass with the most basic of tools: sandpaper, followed by wiping with a clean rag. Then a friend recommended a product called liquid sandpaper that made the second round faster and easier. 

This also would’ve been a great time to fill in holes that would later be exposed due to the new layout of the cabinets. (There you are again, hindsight). If your cabinets have holes, dents, or scratches, you can fill them in with a wood putty during this step. 

Supplies for removing cabinet finish

• Sandpaper of various grades
• Clean rags
• Gloves
• Liquid sandpaper (optional)
• Wood putty and putty knife (optional)

Step 4: Apply primer

The real transformation began with priming. We bought a water-based primer that promised to stick to all surfaces and dry in an hour. It took two coats to cover almost all of the oak’s rich golden color.

My only regret with priming was not paying closer attention as the coats dried. Some running/dripping occurred that dried on the surface. They could’ve been sanded out and reprimed, but, of course, I didn’t!

Supplies for applying primer:

• Dropcloth or plastic sheeting to protect floor
• Primer
• Paint brush
• Plastic gloves

Step 5: Apply paint

The most exciting yet nerve wracking moment was brushing on the first strokes of paint — a grayish blue color I agonized over leading up to the project. 

We used Dutch Boy Platinum Plus Cabinet, Door & Trim paint, which allows you to choose any color from the overwhelming wall of swatches. The satin finish dried nicely and doesn’t require topping with polyurethane, though some people may still choose to.

Again, it took two coats on every surface and dried nice and smooth. (Minus the areas that dripped during priming. That’s called character!) 

Supplies for painting cabinets: 

• Dropcloth or plastic sheeting to protect floor
• Cabinet paint
• Plastic gloves
• Paint brush (high quality)

Step 6: Install cabinets

In a perfect world, the cabinets would’ve been fully painted before being installed. In the real world, I was still in progress when Brett said it was time to put them in place so we could get accurate countertop and sink measurements. 

Brett and his dad took the lead on this step, which involved meticulous measuring, leveling, and screwing cabinets to the wall. 

Once in place, I was able to continue painting — this time using painter’s tape to protect the freshly finished drywall — and then reattach the doors and drawers. 

Supplies for installing cabinets: 

• Cabinet screws
• Drill
• Level
• Tape measure
• Clamps
• Painter’s tape for paint touch-ups (optional)

Step 7: Splurge on a new countertop and sink

Doing so much work ourselves allowed us to splurge on something that wouldn’t have been possible otherwise: a new quartz countertop cut perfectly for the repurposed cabinet layout. 

We shopped around and chose a style through Home Depot, which included free installation. Even DIYers have their limits! 

I also got to pick out a new sink that fit a very specific list of “wants”: an undermount style with a low, offset divider between two bowls.

Results after a year of use

The refinished oak cabinets have now been used for over a year. They’ve been subjected to liquid splatters, food stains, and the normal bumps and bruises that come with everyday use. I’m happy to report the paint wipes clean and has held up wonderfully without knicks or peeling. 

Even with some user error painting imperfections, I’m happy we approached our kitchen in this way. It feels good to have given a second life to high quality wood cabinets that could’ve ended up in a landfill.

I wish I had a perfect “after” picture of the kitchen that you would find in a home renovation publication, but that’s not the reality of our situation. The microwave remains on the counter instead of mounted above the stove. Our hand-me-down fridge leaks and is a bit of an eye sore. The floor is still cement.

All in good time…

In the meantime, I’ll bask in the bliss of using my luxurious countertop and sink, remembering when we had plywood counters and washed dishes in the bathroom. Progress!