Painted vs. Stained Kitchen Cabinets: Which One to Choose?

Painted vs. Stained Kitchen Cabinets: Which One to Choose?

If you just installed new kitchen cabinets in your home in Shelby County, KY, you might be wondering whether you should stain or paint them.
Even if they’re not new, you might be contemplating switching from one finish to another.
So, which one is the best option, painting or staining?

Well, both painting and staining are viable options to add an extra level of beauty and protection to your wooden cabinets.
However, the two have minor differences that might mean a lot to different homeowners and situations.
In this article today, we take a detailed look at kitchen cabinet painting vs. staining, and why you might need to choose one over the other.

Kitchen Cabinet Painting

Paint adds powerful protection to any surface against moisture damage and light surface damage.
It creates a barrier that prevents water from seeping into the wood and causing all manner of problems like water stains, wood rot, discoloration, and even organic growth.

Paint typically forms a solid layer on top of the painted wooden surface, covering the natural beauty of the wood along with any surface imperfections.
Also, paint comes in virtually unlimited color options that you can use to enhance the interior décor of your kitchen.

During the cabinet repainting process, the painter first cleans the cabinets to get rid of any surface dirt, grease, and stains.
For convenient painting, the cabinet doors and drawers are often taken down, hardware removed, and all surfaces to be painted are sanded.
Typically two coats of paint are applied, and a second coat can only be applied after the first one has completely dried.

Cabinet painting is a viable option with almost any type of wooden cabinets, whether they were previously stained or painted.
Paint tends to offer more superior surface protection, but you have to contend with covering up the natural beauty of the wood.
If you’re looking to cover up some surface imperfections on older kitchen cabinets, this could be your best option.

Kitchen Cabinet Staining

Wood stains are generally meant to enhance, rather than cover the natural beauty of the wood.
They usually let the grains and knots in the wood to show through, and if you think of that as beautiful, then this could be your best option.
Stains are loosely classified into three types based on the level of opacity; Solid, Semi-transparent and Transparent stains
• Solid stain –when applied to cabinets, it forms a solid coat on the surface that covers up nearly all the natural beauty of the wood. It doesn’t get absorbed into the wood but offers a higher level of surface protection than both Semi-transparent and Transparent stains.

• Semi-transparent stain –it partially alters the color of the wood when applied, but allows nearly all the wood grains and knots to show through. The stain offers slightly less protection than solid stains but is superior to transparent stains. It’s a perfect compromise between function and aesthetics.

• Transparent stain –this stain gets absorbed into the wood, doesn’t alter the color of the wood and allows the grains and knots to show through. However, you get the lowest level of surface protection compared to the previous two.

Since they generally allow the wood characteristics to show through, stains are suitable for relatively new kitchen cabinets that don’t have as many surface imperfections.
Also, if your cabinets were previously painted, staining them might require a lot of paint stripping and sanding to remove all the old paint.

The Bottom Line

If you’re looking for a wide range of color options or maybe you just want to cover surface imperfections, you should paint your cabinets.
Consider staining kitchen cabinets if you wish to showcase the natural beauty of the wood on newer kitchen cabinets.

If you don’t have the time, skill, or tools to repaint/stain your kitchen cabinets, Serious Business Painting can help.
We are currently serving the areas of Louisville, Shelby County, Oldham County, Anchorage, Prospect, and Jefferson Town, Kentucky.
Book a FREE estimate below or call us 502-641-7969 if you need any more information.