Kitchen cabinet color change

[gruff4531]

The cabinets I have in my kitchen are about 7 years old and where purchase prefinished from a local lumber yard. The current finish is a med / light. color red oak stain, and I am looking to change the color to more of a dark cherry or dark oak type stain. I know there is refacing options but even those are a little to pricey because of the new doors. A complete refinish isn't completely out of the realm but that is very time consuming. My question is was anyone used or found a product that would help in doing this project. I was thinking a gel type stain might work but am unsure.

[cabinetman]

WELCOME TO THE FORUM

You could darken the finish, but would have to remove whatever finish is on them. They should be chemically stripped removing any waxes, grease, and whatever topcoat. Getting that far down in the finish will likely remove any stain on the wood. IOW, get down to the bare wood if you want a suitable finish.

If there is a quick coloring agent that will stick to anything...I'm not aware of it.

[kalisha]

first give some liquid sand paper a try its much easier and often will remove the layer of varnish without raising the grain (which often most commercial strippers will do )then apply some clorox commercial bleach(its thicker and stronger than regular bleach) and can be purchased at most Lowe's/home depot stores you probably will then only have to put a coat of clear polymer to finish them off.

[haleylorrei]

wow, i appreciate this more if you put image here.

[Arrowhead2]

If you do decide to strip the old finish off, it might be a good idea to brush polyurethane coats (preferably around 3 times) over the cabinets to help keep your new colors intact from heat, steam and/or water splashing.

[mesquite bean]

THIS IS A TOUGH ONE ANYWAY YOU GO AT IT, HAVE DONE IT THREE WAYS, REFACING WHICH CAN BE EXPINCIVE DEPENDING ON DOOR STYLE AND MATERIAL, STRIPPING AND REFINISHING LOTS OF LABOR , ALSO HAVE TAKEN OLD FACE FRAMES OFF AND MADE NEW ONES, i LIKE THIS METHOD THE BEST AND ADD NEW DOORS, i THINK REFINISHING IS FOR FURNITURE LOTS OF LABOR TO DO AN INTIRE CABINET JOB.

[MisterHandy]

I'm a little biased and I don't know what your budget is, but the trade-off in terms of time and money between refinishing and getting new doors is not as great as you might think. And a professional finish from a reputable company will likely hold up much longer than anything you can apply yourself (unless you're an expert finisher).

[kelvinlayer]

I have oak curio cabinet very bad condition,so i change his color and to make new look. Many people want that you have to change everything in the kitchen in order to remodel it, but that is just not the case.

[Danwood]

You can buy a product which is the stain and finish in the same can. This can be applied over the existing finish to darken it. You might want to experiment in an out of the way place to see how it will look. In general, stripping and applying a new stain and finish is more reliable.

[bwill890]

Buy a varnish with light color and dry it for a couple hour then apply again varnish for the second coating.