Obviously not a hard wood, looks like Redwood but that's unlikely.

Home built in 1940. This is all original. I just can't afford to install new cabinets so I am just going to refinish. Is staining a good idea?

If you go with a darker stain, it'll be more even. A walnut or dark mahogany would probably even out, but a cherry, or golden color would likely leave a lot of variation (which could look good, but may not be to your taste.)

Have you thought about just getting new doors and drawer fronts? Assuming the carcasses and face frames are in good shape, that's one way to make a cabinet look new.

Once I get all of the paint off I think I'll have a better idea of how to finish. I wish I could afford that, I just can't right now.

Assuming you don't find any knotty wood under the paint from a previous replacement, it should look pretty good when finished.

My wife and I are looking at replacing some 80's doors / drawer fronts, and paint grade shaker-style poplar doors came out to about $14-$17 per door.

One drawer takes less than 1/2 hour to remove the paint.

Assuming you don't find any knotty wood under the paint from a previous replacement, it should look pretty good when finished.

I'll post more pictures as I progress.

Down here in the South, pine is a common wood used, and my 54 year old house has solid pine floors and cabinets.
They are a golden red.
On the West coast, you find a lot of Douglas fir.

had many requests for paint removal from pine cabinets and then simply refinish them with a marine grade varnish. They looked great, and the variance in the grains is a sure sign it's real wood, not some laminate photo.

Goes to the character of the house.

Works better than "normal" polyurethane or varnish in areas that can get wet. Since it was originally meant for finishing boats, hence marine varnish.

it's what I used to finish my rug loom and it's stood up for 20 years now, even on the treadles.

However, for cabinets, I'd be a lot more inclined to use one of the water based varnishes. The feeling is that they're not quite as durable, but I've had floors finished with it and they're also holding up well. The advantage is that you won't have to do most of the stuff outdoors and the cabinets themselves on a hot day with the windows open and an exhaust fan going. Oil based varnish stinks.

Just be aware that those old pine cabinets often look a lot better painted. I tried stripping my 1946 cabinets down when I first moved in here and came to that conclusion.

I have plaster walls. The kitchen had hideous yellow and blue tile counter tops and back splash. I replaced with laminate counter top and had (2003) repainted the cabinets. They've always been white. Before I bought the house in 1997 someone had replace the floor with 8 inch white ceramic tiles with wide grout lines. Thankfully they are dark as you can see in the picture above. So I'm dealing with a pretty white kitchen and I frankly sick of. It needs more warm colors.

beige and then kind of a cruddy looking off white. I went with white.

I looks like redwood, which is soft and not a choice wood for cabinets but was so common in Sacramento in the era of your home, which looks like early 20th, so even though I guessed Red Pine earlier, I might guess Redwood because of where you are.

...

is all of the hinges in this house were painted over. I will be replacing most of them.

Before kitchen

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This is my finished hutch in the dining room.

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Here is the color for the walls:

It's call Tangier Island and is a Ralph Lauren color they use to carry at Home Depot. They still carry the color but not the brand.

The top color is TI in semi gloss, left is TI in flat and right is TI in eggshell (way different). The color chip is Navaho white. I will be going with the TI in semi gloss.


New handles and knobs will be polished nickel

I could see a dark stain really making them pop.

and for the style of this old home I will be going to use white again. I think with the color of the walls it will tone down the really white kitchen I had.

Thought about a lime wash or a milk paint?

That Tangiers Island in eggshell is clearly a mis-mix, it looks like they used the wrong paint-base. That's what you'd get in terms of hue if you accidentally swapped the pastel base for deep base. (Deep base contains less pigment thus more of the tint shows, pastel base is extremely-heavy on white pigment to make the colors more off-white.)

I'll be priming and painting with Sherman Williams ProClassic Waterborne Interior Arcrylic Semi-Gloss.

Probably in Swiss Coffee. Another name for white.

still working on my project but with colder weather I'm unable to paint the doors (doing in the garage). But this is the state of it so for. I've painted the kitchen and order the sink and faucet. I'll be changing the counter top to different color. It will also be laminate. I like how the new handles are working. Here's a current picture. I'll be working on the moulding and probably painting the upper boxes next week if the weather doesn't get warmer. The lower doors under the sink are almost completed.

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You should be very proud of yourself for the work you put into restoring your kitchen .There is much beauty in your work. In my opinion what you have done is first rate all the way. I imagine glass doors one day on your upper cabinets to up lift your kitchen . There is indeed lots of potential in what you have. You do really great work.

Thanks for sharing.

The upper doors unfortunately will be solid wood. Opinions on using glass was ruled out. It would have been nice, but I'm afraid that I just didn't feel confident to try that. The other set of doors under the sink should be finished tomorrow. Pain is I have to sand between each coat for a smooth surface. Well, relative smooth surface. The upper doors I do not think I will sand down to bare wood. The pine was a problem. But I do feel that the finished product will hold up over time.

As will all the hard work you put into it.
Again ,very very nice.

and the rest of the coats of finish you put on will only take a small amount of sanding if any. I personally like to use a wipe-on poly urethane as it goes on so easy in comparison to brushing and leaves a smooth finish. I like satin rather than gloss but thats just my preference.
At any rate those will be beautiful
You can also have new doors and drawer fronts made and the last ones I had made, 10 years ago, cost me 25 bucks for the doors and 7 bucks for the drawer fronts.

back when I was younger and sub contracting cabinet building and from my experience then I would say these are made using white pine. Its a good soft wood to work with that takes stain or paint well. Especially good if the plan is to paint them.
Only wood that I would consider to be as good as white pine is white maple. White maple is also pretty if its left natural with a clear finish.
That looks like white pine.

except for the new counter top, sink, faucet, back splash and ceiling light.

The top boxes have been painted as well as the walls. Tomorrow will be the frames around the windows and baseboards. I just have five doors to sand, paint and install. Oh and clean the hinges of all the paint that was previous painted over.

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Last edited Thu Apr 4, 2013, 11:52 PM - Edit history (1)

If the old paint on your hinges is latex, alcohol will remove it no matter how old the paint. Just be careful not to get it on the freshly painted surfaces.

If it's old oil base, lacquer thinner should remove it although you'll have to work on it a bit harder. Same caution about getting it on the new coating applies.

I found a pretty cool trick to removed paint from hinges.

Here's the video I used. Still a little of elbow grease, but with out the danger of fumes that paint stripping chemicals have.

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All painting is done. Finally. Got the counter top, sink and faucet installed. Still need to look for a back splash. I'm seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.

I really like that particular counter top design and color and your faucet is the perfect selection for your house.

Getting close to completion,good for you !

Very nice.