Selling the House and Need Paint Advice for My Old Kitchen Cabinets

J.,

I am a Realtor and I can tell you that the kitchen is one of the most important assets that help sell a house. If you are going to paint them, I wouldn't go with the b/w idea. Also, if your cabinets are old, they are probably painted with oil-based paint. That is important. Make sure you use an oil-based paint. I think the standard white that comes in oil-based (Home Depot has one) is probably the right color. Today, there aren't many choices in oil-based paint.

Also, it is a good idea to paint the inside of the cabinets. It just makes them look cleaner.

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Listen to an experienced realtor. We have bought and sold many times. Each market was different. An experienced realtor can tell you the best place to put your money and what colors, etc. to use.

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Hi there! As a realtor I would tell you that the less complicated a kitchen looks in terms of different styles, the better. In my opinion the black stain on white painted cabinets is too much of a contrast on the cabinets themselves. I've walked into homes with white cabinets and black appliances, and they don't look bad that way. Also it may may it look too personal if you put a black glaze on. Have you herad of cabinet refacing? I know that one of the places that offers that service at Sears, although i'm not sure how much they charge, but essentially you can paint the oustide and the inside of your cabinets yourself. I can't tell you how many times people will go into a house and the cabinets look very well painted on the outside but when the buyers open them up they look really old and sometimes dirty on the inside or even worse, have dead insects inside. Buyers are curious and a lot of them will open up cabinets to see if they are clean. I believe a fresh coat of paint inside and out in white should do the work. They sell different color dishwasher panels if you wanted to change the color of your dishwasher. Also the paint color on your kitchen walls should be a neutral color. One more thing, Take a look at your floor to see how your cabinets your appliances and your floor will look together. They are in the same room of course and should look like they go together. In other words black appliances, white cabinets, green vinyl floors and banana yellow paint will probably not appeal to most buyers. I agree with some of the other posts that going to HGTV.com will give you some good ideas. Good luck!

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White is the safest bet. Buyers have NO imagination about redoing something if it isn't to their taste. It sounds like painting the inside of them would freshen them and give a lighter, brighter look. What does your realtor say? Good luck. Selling is hard :(

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I would just paint them white. A nice fresh white coat of paint will do wonders! I think the black stain idea to patinae the cabinets is a nice idea, but a bit too personal. I don't think that would appeal to all buyers, but nice clean white I think will appeal to just about everyone!

Good luck!

Hi J.,

If you feel the need to do anything, then I would just paint the outside white. The black tint wouldn't appeal to everyone and selling is about appealing to as many people as possible. If you do paint them white, make sure you remove the hardward first and don't just paint over it. The kitchen cabinets in our house had a fresh coat of paint when we bought it and the job was very poorly done and it actually detracted from our ultimate offer price. Good luck selling.

A builder in my area is putting an Old Masters Mahogony stain/glaze on cream colored cabinets and it looks great. Not sure about black?

I would try it out on one cabinet door. If it looks bad paint over it. No big waste of time or money. I would definatly paint the inside of the cabinets. Make sure its primed, the last thing anyone wants is pealing paint on there dishes. Good luck.

White would be fine. Putting black stain in the cracks is risky and if not done just right will look a mess. Painting the interiors will help give the cabinets a more uniform look. You can glaze the cracks with a dark glaze, if you have lots of crevices to accent but again, if you are selling the home, why bother. I personally hate painted white cabinets because they do not last in the average household. After 3 years, I found myself tearing my kitchen out and buying new. Good luck

Go with the contractor on this one. It makes the cabinets look great and it is a good, timeless style. Don't go too heavy on the stain though. I suggest you practice on something so you can get the hang of the procedure.

At the very least, you should paint the insides of the doors.

Good Luck!

I am in the process of redoing my kitchen cabinets as well. I want to sell my house within the next year or so....

My house also has dark wood cabinets - and I do not relish the idea of having to replace them. So painting them is the route I plan on taking as well. I will not be painting the inside - but will be putting down fresh contact/shelf paper in a nuetral theme.

I will say this - I have lightly sanded my cabinets, removed all the hardware and will be painting my cabinets a offwhite and scratching it up to look worn and antiqued....

I do not think the black stain is a good idea... you want the kitchen to be as marketable as possible - so the more optional it is to anyone elses style the better off you are.

I will say this though- the less clutter you have on your countertops when you have showings, the more appealing the kitchen (or any other room for that matter) tends to be!

good luck!

Have you ever seen HGTV? They have 1/2 hr shows that range from my house is messy to fix my house to sell to wild and unsual homes.
You can also go online and get step by step how to do. I do remember seeing recently that staining, or antiqueing, white cabinets is in. It sounds to me, that would really pull together what you have in you kitchen. Yes, I would paint the back of the cabinets. One show said people viewing a house will open any door and look. I am not at the point of selling, but like to prepare and many of the shows I have seen really had great ideas and tips. Best of luck.
Oh, check also with Lowes or Home Depot they can also help explain.

Do you have a good realtor that you are working with? A family friend and realtor was great about advice on getting the house ready for market. From staging each room (rearranging furniture for maximum effect), removing clutter (remove all family pictures, cleaning out closets, etc), to advice on what color to paint the bathroom, living and kitchen. How your house shows, as you obviously know can make all the difference! Plus the realtor has a vested interest in making your house marketable.
Best wishes,
H

We too are in the process of staging and getting ready to sell our house.....

Based on what you've said the stain might look pretty good. I would definitely lighten the inside of the cabinets.

Checkout the HGTV website and pull down ideas from some of the home shows. They have very creative ideas - some are expensive by most are not.

We redid our cabinet doors years ago and were tired of them. So, we had Home Depot come out and resurface them and put in all new doors and drawers and hardware. It was very expensive, but we are thrilled with the results. We recently upgraded all the appliances to stainless and black, put in black granite countertops and haven't decided on the floor yet. Keep your appliances sparkling clean. Just keep everything off your countertops and paint the cabinets white. Sometimes new handles and draw pulls can be an inexpensive way to brighten things up. Keep out new kitchen towels and keep it all color coordinated in neutral colors (curtains/shades etc). Go to diy.com or hgtv.com for lots of tips. Good luck!