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Staining and Updating Bathroom Cabinets

Updated on   |  By Alexis Middleton  |  

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This was actually one of the first projects we finished in our bathroom renovation. In fact, we did this before I was really back into a blogging state of mind, so I don’t have tons of in-progress photos, but I think it’s still worth sharing if just for the transformation.
This was a project where I really had to convince my husband to give it a go. He often likes to complain to our friends that I want to paint or stain every piece of wood in our house. That is not entirely true. I just kind of hate the honey-colored wood tone of all the built-in cabinets in our home. Here’s a crappy MLS before shot of the bathroom, but you get the idea. Boring, builder-grade cabinets.

Our bathroom was sad, and those cabinets were just bringing the whole place down. But I knew that with a little work, they could be oh so much better. There are some good tutorials around about staining your bathroom cabinets using gel stain, and that is probably a really good idea. We like to blaze new trails and generally make things harder on ourselves so we just picked up a can of Miniwax in a dark brown tone at our local home improvement store.

Apparently, with gel stain, sanding everything down is not such a big deal. You really just need to rough it up. Not so, with a regular stain and especially with the type of wood we were working with. If we missed any little bit of stain when sanding, the new stain we were laying down WOULD NOT take. At all.

So we did this fun thing where we sanded, stained, got frustrated, and sanded again. Not recommended.

Even with very thorough sanding, there were some areas where the wood just wouldn’t fully take the stain. After doing some research, it sounds like some types of wood just don’t take stain evenly. I decided that it gave the cabinets some interest and a slightly rustic look.
After a couple coats of stain and poly, we added the new hardware, and – whaddyaknow? – a whole new look!
You can see some of the lighter areas in this photo.
One problem area that still needs some attention is the kick board under the cabinets. It isn’t real wood, so it didn’t take the stain at all. (Then it also got grouted a bit… Hmm…) I’m thinking I may try painting it with some watered down black paint. What do you guys think? Suggestions?
Overall, I’m really happy with the way the project turned out. It took a lot of time and sanding, but it was cheap and makes a huge difference in the room. I am currently trying to convince my husband to help me tackle some of the other honey cabinets in the house. Don’t you think we should? (Come on, I need some support here)

Reader Interactions

    Comments + Project Love

  3. Kelly Dixon says

    Stunning transformation! <br />XO<br />Kelly

  6. Sharon Lane says

    Wow, they turned out great! I never noticed the &quot;flaws&quot; until you pointed them out. Those penny tile floors are to die for! Great job. :)<br /><br />Sharon at Desert Willow Lane

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First off, thank you so much for being here! I would be so honored if you would like to share one of my projects, but please only use one or two photos and be sure to link back to the original post. Thank you!

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