Ditch Traditional Stain: Here's An Idea To Add Visual Interest To Honey Oak Cabinets

At this point, we've all heard the honey oak cabinet slander. This wood's warm, orange tinge certainly doesn't read as modern at first glance, but considering it can take around five days to stain your cabinets, it's no wonder there's an uptick of homeowners embracing these '90s relics. You may be surprised to hear that there are actually plenty of ways to embrace honey oak without re-staining or replacing your cabinets. The orange undertones of honey oak tend to get a bad wrap when, in reality, there might be other factors at play. Sometimes it's not the color itself making your kitchen look dated — it's the surrounding decorative elements that can really affect the overall design. A smart way to update honey oak cabinets is adjusting these external elements instead of getting rid of the honey oak all together.

Your cabinet beveling may be a major culprit in dating your cabinets. Instead of re-staining your cabinets, try adding bobbin trim. Bobbin trim is an eye-catching type of molding made of a line of round beads. This charming decorative element adds an instant sense of whimsy, disguising dated beveling. This DIY project is as simple as can be. You don't need any advanced DIY prowess to make this upgrade, just the right tools and materials. To pull off this updated honey oak cabinet look, gather your bobbin trim, a measuring tape, wood glue, sandpaper, a nail gun, wood putty, and honey oak stain.

Before purchasing your trim, measure the beveled edges you plan on embellishing to figure out how much material you need. Be sure to buy extra trim just in case. You can find bobbin trim online through retailers like Amazon or at your local hardware store. There are a multitude of sizes to pick from. You can opt for smaller, 8 millimeter beads or more dramatic beads up to 24 millimeters for more of a visual impact.

Once you have your materials ready, it's time to roll up your sleeves and get to work. Cut your bobbin trim to size and sand down any rough spots so your stain goes on smoother. Apply wood glue to the back of your trim pieces, apply them in place against the beveling, and use a nail gun to secure the strips in place even better. After your trim is installed, patch up any holes left behind by your nail gun with wood putty and allow it to dry. Give everything a good sand, then use a small brush to apply your stain. Just like that, your honey oak cabinets look far more at home in a modern design!

If you want to aim for a more dopamine decor-inspired look, consider painting the bobbin trim instead of staining it. Before you go this route, be sure to familiarize yourself with the color palettes that make date honey oak cabinets look modern. Muted blue, forest green, and soft pink all blend well with this type of wood. You can opt to use one of these accent colors to paint your bobbin trim for an even more playful way to modernize your honey oak cabinets. Round out the look further by updating to gold or bronze hardware and incorporating more modern design pieces such as new light fixtures, rugs, or artwork.