I’ve been stewing about my oak cabinets in two of my bathrooms for a few years. We built our home in 1987 and oak was all the rage. Not so much anymore! Oak was so much in vogue that in our guest bath, I replaced the standard towel bar, toilet paper holder and even the toilet seat with oak! So 80’s-90’s, but way, way out of style now. Follow along to learn how to stain cabinets for a new look on a small budget.
I really didn’t want to spend the money on redoing my cabinets (still trying to decide what to do in my kitchen). The oak was high quality, and in pretty good shape, other than dried out, and needing a facelift ( kinda like me).
I’d seen several posts about General Finishes Gel Stain. It seemed too good to be true – no stripping off old varnish, stain or finish. I wasn’t too worried, since most of my top coating was gone. I figured what did I have to lose. I’m so very pleased with the end result. I’m not afraid to tackle a big project, but this turned out to be easier than I thought, and just required several days of drying time between coats.
I used General Finishes Java Gel Stain. Everyone says to NOT substitute! I couldn’t find anyone in my town who carried it, so I ordered it on Amazon. 1 quart did two large bathrooms – with just a bit left over for minor touch-ups later, if needed.
To get started, Assemble all your supplies (I will link to where you can purchase them too):
- General Finishes Java Gel Stain
- Disposable gloves. They’re cheap and worth it to have a good supply you can just toss between coats.
- Several men’s white Tube Socks. That’s right – they truly work the best, as I tried using some staining rags and the socks worked better. A few 1 1/2″ foam brushes for corners and crevices.
- Blue Painters tape for protecting walls, floors and inside cabinet shelves.
- A quart (you’ll have lots left over) of Minwax Polycrylic water based Protective Finish for your final top-coat finish. I used clear satin. You can probably using any type of clear poly top-coat for your finish.
I am going to try this it looks great !
What gel stain color did you buy? I see a lot of varieties on Amazon?
This is Java, Yvette.
The grain will still show thru correct? I see that Java is pretty dark and in the close-up photo I can see grain. It looks absolutely beautiful!
You can’t see a lot, but you can still see some grain, Dawn. Hope that helps!
Everything turned out so beautifully! I’ve been searching for an easy fix for one of my bathroom vanities, where I wouldn’t have to sand or even prime if I was going to paint. I love how you can still see some of the grain as well. Great tutorial, Thank you. May I ask how has it been holding up? When applying the stain does it give off or even linger a harsh odor?
Hi Toshy, it has been holding up great! No complaints or issues to report! There definitely is an odor when applying, so we did the doors and drawers outside, and opened windows when doing the bases.
Do you need to sand the cabibets first. I did not see that step
Thank You
Hi Jonathan,
No sanding first on this one. Shocking, right?
Wow, this is exactly what I need. You did a beautiful job. Thanks for the inspiration to do it myself.
I’m so glad I could help Sallie! Good luck!
Looks great! I’m attempting this project this weekend. Do have any more tips you can share? K
Hi Yel, I’d love to hear how your project turned out!!!
Mu bathroom cabinets appear to be composite, the doors are wood however, all are painted. Do you think this product will work? Your cabinets are beautiful!
Jacque, I don’t think stain will go over paint the same as plain wood. The composite may do better with paint.
My cabinet doors are wood but i think the sides and baseboards are pressed wood. Would it still work?
Hi Becki, this will definitely work for the doors and drawers. For the baseboards and sides, I don’t think the stain will take to them the same as wood. You could always test a small area first to see how it looks.
I love them. Will this work for painted cabinets?
Stain won’t go over painted cabinets the same as regular wood, Janice.
I am curious, I feel like our cabinets are the exact same as yours in the before photo, but I think that mine are more of an MDF-not real wood. You mentioned your’s were truly oak.
Do you think this will make a difference if I go ahead and try the stain?
I LOVE the look!
Hi Diana! So glad you love the look! If your cabinets are not real wood, I don’t believe the stain will turn out the same. I would do some searching online first to see if you can stain MDF cabinets. I wish I had better news for you!
Could you use this stain and technique on a dining table?
Hi Morgan, You absolutely could use this technique and stain on a dining table! Just make sure the table is wood and you’re good to go! I’d love to see the finished product!
My kitchen is 40 years old. The cabinets have some dings and cuts where my son took a knife to sawing on the edge. Any suggestions for preparing the dings and cuts.
Hi Deb! First try sanding. If they’re really deep you can try a wood putty.
Can you go lighter with the stain? I have the oak cupboards and really just want to mellow out the oranginess as my kitchen is dark and I just want to lighten it a bit.
For sure, Jolene. Try any color stain you’d like – but if you’re going lighter than the original cabinet, it may take a couple of coats and look slightly different.
Has anyone tried it on the MDF yet?
I haven’t heard yet if anyone has. It will definitely take differently though, Debbie.
First timer here. Do you to coat the insides of the cabinet does too, or just the outside?
Just the areas you want to have the look. It’s all personal preference, but the inside of the box isn’t necessary.
Looks great. I am in the process of updating my bathroom. I want to do this to my vanity . Where did you find the java gel stain at? I have not been able to find it.
HI Francas, I have a link to it in the blog post, to purchase on Amazon. 😉 Best of luck!
Is the Java stain black or just really really dark?
It’s not black, but a really dark brown.
Is the finish still holding up?
Yep, the finish is looking great still, Angie!
I have bathroom vanity I want to put the java stain on. It’s light oak with poly finish on it . Do I need to sand it first is strip the finish off?
You don’t have to sand off the finish, Kristy! Best of luck!
I am redoing our pine bathroom vanity with this brand of gel stain and I got worried that I had put too much on the first 2 coats because is was streaky so I wiped it off – which I know you shouldn’t do- and on I am on coat 4 and not sure if I should keep going because I am nervous that I won’t like it if it gets too dark because I know I can’t go back! Also not sure why but the side od the vanity is a different shade than the rest of it so not sure what to do about that!
How did it end up turning out, Jana? The side of the vanity could be a different shade because it is lightly made of different material. Some cabinets don’t have solid wood on the sides and back, to save money.
I just used general finishes on a couple night stands. I love the look. I went to apply minwax polycrylic and it said to sand first. The sanding seemed to remove some of the stain. Is it crucial to sand before putting on first top coat? Could I just sand in between poly coats?
Hi Kim,
In my instructions, I never mention sanding. You should’t have to sand in this process.
Did you use the top coat after the staining?
Hi Elaine,
Yes there are two top coats after staining. Best of luck!
No joke, this stuff is soooo easy to do. No skill required. First timer DIY friendly. There are many colors to choose from too if you don’t like the dark colors.
I would really like to see what your first coat looked like. I tried this on another table using minwax product and it was a disaster. Yours seemed to have been easy. Did you wipe any stain off after putting it on?