Home Staging Tip: Dated Oak Cabinets? Update them with Paint!

As a professional home stager based in Portland, Oregon I often see dated oak cabinets in kitchens and bathrooms. This was the height of style back in the ’70’s & ’80’s but today’s buyers want a more modern, fresh look. Here’s an easy fix that you can do yourself (or hire someone to do it for you).

My homeowner clients in Beaverton OR were planning to put their home on the market and asked me to provide a home staging consultation. Because the target buyer for this home was younger, one of my recommendations was that they update their kitchen cabinets — but I told them that they didn’t need to spend a lot of money replacing them, or even refacing them.  Paint and new hardware can do wonders!  We recommended an excellent Portland general contractor and this kitchen was updated for under $1,000:

Here’s how the kitchen looked Before …

And here’s how it looked After painting … 

Before — potential buyers would have walked in and thought, “Since we’ll have to replace those dated oak cabinets, we’ll have to make a lower offer for this house.” Once the cabinets were primed, painted, and had new hardware added, this house was viewed as move-in ready. It was listed and had a pending sale in just 12 days!

The products used for this project were:

Primer: Zinsser Bulls Eye 1-2-3 Water Base for Interior or Exterior

Paint: Behr Ultra Semi-gloss Espresso Beans (paint and primer in one)

Hardware: IKEA Vinna handles

Before you list your home for sale, contact a professional home stager for a cost-effective consultation.  Our verbal staging consultation service provides lots of cost-effective tips and advice for a very reasonable $195.