Monica Wants It: Staining Oak Cabinets an Espresso Color {DIY Tutorial}

Ok. The moment you’ve all been waiting for… or the moment the 3 of you who have asked me about this specific tutorial this week have been waiting for.

Here we go.

Transforming builder grade honey oak cabinets into sultry, dark espresso cabinets is easy. It’s messy though. I’m going to walk you through it step by step as much as I can in this tutorial. I hope you’ll find it easy, non-intimidating and then recommend my blog to all your friends so my blog can grow and grow. Since I do this all for free out of the goodness of my little heart.

No pressure.

Tell your friends.

No really. Did you?

Alright, let’s do this. You need some supplies first. They’re not pricey, but you do need all of them. If there’s an appropriate alternative, I’ll list it. Otherwise, plan to get exactly what I list to get the same results I did.

Supplies:

-Sanding block (I bought an angled one for about $4 from my local hardware store. The angled sanding block helps when if you have beveled cabinets/doors/drawers.

-Lysol dual action wipes (or a sponge with soap/water)

-Gloves

-Masking tape AND painter’s tape (you could just use painter’s tape, I use masking tape because it’s cheap at Dollar Tree…so in other words, painter’s tape is expensive, so I only use it when I absolutely have to)

-General Finishes Java Gel Stain (YOU CANNOT SUBSTITUTE THIS! I had a ton of trouble finding it locally, so I bought it on Amazon and had it to my door in about 4 days.) If you’re doing a small vanity, order the 1/2 pint. If you’re doing a whole kitchen, order the quart. I ordered the quart since I am doing a vanity + a whole kitchen. A little of this goes a LONG way.

-General Finishes Satin Poly/topcoat or any other satin polycoat will do.

-Ziploc baggy to keep track of all the hardware + screws + hinges.

-Screwdriver to take off hardware/hinges.

-Tack cloth

-Men’s sock (yes, it has to be a men’s sock…more on this later)

-Gauze/rag/cheesecloth

-Foam brush (not pictured)

-Postal wrapping paper or drop cloths or tarp to protect floors. I bought the postal wrapping paper at Dollar Tree and it was so easy to cover up my floor.\

-Painters pyramids to use on cabinet doors so you can paint both sides at once

Total cost for all of the materials should be between $50-$100ish.

UPDATE: Due to insane amounts of traffic from Pinterest, there’s now a FAQ post about this very tutorial below. You can read it here.

Here’s what my vanity looked like before I got started.

Step 1: Remove all hardware and put it in a ziploc baggy.

Simple enough.

Step 2: Prep your area.

This is probably the least fun step, but you must protect your floors, counters, walls, tiles, or any area that may get stain on it. And trust me, this stuff is oil based, so it stains easily and quickly. Makes it great for cabinets, not great for anything else. Prep now to avoid lots of messy clean-up later. I used painters tape for walls/counters/inside of cabinets and I used masking tape to tape my paper down onto the floor.

Step 3: Clean all cabinet frames/drawers/doors and remove them.

I used the Lysol dual action wipes because one side is scrubby and the other side is smooth. Basically you want to make sure to get any grime, dust, gooey stuff, dirt, etc. off the cabinets. Now, my vanity is obviously in a bathroom, so this step was quick and easy. If you’re prepping kitchen cabinets, you’ll like need to use a sponge and soapy water to get off years of grease and gunk. Once you’re done cleaning, make sure they’re dry and go ahead and remove all the drawers and doors. I stained my drawers/doors in the garage, so I moved all of that over there.

Step 4: Lightly sand cabinets and remove dust with a tack cloth.

You should not spend a ton of time sanding. I would say 1 minute per door and 30 seconds per drawer. You’re just wanting to break up some of the shine on cabinets, not completely strip them. I used an angled sanding block with a fine (not medium or coarse) finish to get in the bevels. Once you sand, make sure to thoroughly wipe off all dust with a tack cloth. Do this twice.

Step 5: Stain. Dry. Stain. Dry. Stain. Dry. Dry. Dry. Poly. Dry. Poly. Dry. Dry. Dry.

This step doesn’t have many pictures because I had to use one hand to stain and another to make sure I wasn’t getting gel stain all over the place…but bear with me.

You’ll put on a vinyl glove. I put it on my right hand since I am right handed. Then put your men’s sock over it. Why does it have to be a men’s sock? Well, generally men’s socks are white and tend to be LONG, so it’ll protect your entire forearm from gel stain. The glove is meant to protect your hands from being stained an espresso color. You’ll leave your other hand free to wipe off any globs or stain that you might get in places you don’t want them.

I’ve read reports where people used a foam brush to apply the stain, but I prefer the sock method. It results in even, precise, brush stroke free application. And socks are easy to find. I now get excited when I have an orphan sock. Now, I did use the foam brush to get in tight places like near the counters or in beveled corners, but for 90% of the time I used the sock method.

Now, how much stain to use? I used about 1 tbsp per drawer and 1.5-2 tbsp per door. These aren’t exact figures, so don’t go whip out your measuring spoons, but my point is use a slightly generous amount, but do not go overboard. Also, unlike other staining methods, do not wipe it off. You want to put on a nice, thin coat. Make sure the stain doesn’t glob up on/in corners, that’s when cheesecloth/gauze is handy. Then you let coat 1 dry for 12 hours. Then you put the 2nd coat. Let it dry for 24 hours. Then put the last/third coat and let it dry for 5 days and then seal it with 2 coats of gel poly. Drying time is so important, do not rush this step or you will end up having to put on a billion coats of stain and it will not be good. Light, thin coats + ample drying time + topcoat= fantastic results.

Your first coat may result in panic… Go have a shot of tequila and keep the faith. It will look streaky and odd and ugly.

Another shot of how ugly coat 1 looks.

After 3 coats of stain + 2 coats of poly + lots of drying time, you can put on your hardware again. And you’re done! Ta-dah!

My bathroom is super narrow, so it’s hard to get a straight on pic/shot of the drawers, so here are a few…

Now, you’ll notice the doors aren’t back on yet, and that’s because I’ve only done 1 side and need to do the other. For now, this is all I got. I’ll update with a lovely photo once I have it all done. Promise.

Some quick tips:

-Don’t over think this project. It is quite easy.

-Please use General Finishes gel stain and poly. You won’t regret it.

-On cabinet doors, plan on doing the front and backs. I bought some painters pyramids to prop up my doors so I can knock out both sides at one time. These are $4/10 at Home Depot. I bought 2 packs so I could have a multiple of 4. Each door will need 4 pyramids to be stable.

-Light coats=success

-Drying time=the longer the better

-Each drawer should take about 1-2 minutes a coat. Each door should take 3-4 minutes. Do not over apply or over wipe. Check for globs when you’re done and smooth out with pinky finger.

-Socks rock for applying stain. Socks for applying poly. Simply wipe it on.

-If you’re intimated by this project, try it on the back of a cabinet door first or buy a spare cabinet door at REStore or Goodwill.

-This method does not work on bare wood.

-Touch up any streaks in the finish BEFORE applying the poly.

-You can do this! If you have a large kitchen, break it up into manageable chunks over a few weekends.

-Parts of my vanity were laminate and not wood. Treat it as if it was wood. It’ll all work out in the end.

I hope you all found this tutorial to be useful in trying to DIY your way from honey oak cabinets into a stunning espresso finish. Please leave me any adoring comments or questions below, or you can always tweet at me (@monicabenavidez) or e-mail me at monicawantsit{@}gmail.com

And for funsies! Before & After: