How can I make my kitchen cupboards look white and still have the wood grain showing through?

Question

My cupboards are oak and I have sanded the old finish off. I tried "pickling", which is a white stain, but I'm not getting a white enough look to them. Any suggestions?

Answer 1

I was about to suggest stain, as that's usually the best way to go. You may need a few coats to get the desired result.
You could get some water based latex paint, and thin that down, and give that a try.
It looks like it will take a bit of work to finish that off, but at least you will be happy with the result.

Answer 2

Old fashioned whitewash (remember Tom Sawyer's fence?) was more of a stain than a coating. I don't know how "food safe" it would be as a kitchen cupboard application.

Your "white enough" comment kind of threw me. If there is no compromise level of white, then you may be out of luck.

I tried going back into my home improvement sites because I recall something that acrually "lifted" the grain of wood to increase the wood grain texture. I think it kind of separated the grain near the surface. I couldn't find it, sorry.

Answer 3

White wash them... get some white paint and a cloth rag. dip a corner of the rag in the paint, not a lot just a little. Then take the rag and rub it on the cupboards kinda' like you would if you were washing them with cleaner. It's awesome looking, I did this to my daughters bedroom furniture, you can make it as dark or light as you want. But remember...let the paint dry before applying a second coat ( if you want more white ) I LOVE PAINTING have fun and good luck

Answer 4

There is a pickling stain that you can put on the wood. It's like a thinned white paint that stains the wood white but you are able to see the grain of the wood. I hope this helps.

Answer 5

I would water down a water-based white paint. That should allow for the grain to show through.

Answer 6

what Artemis61779 said;

use 1part paint to 3 parts water more or less and wash it on with an old rag

you can also do this with full strength paint using it like stain. [wiping it on in a very thin layer]

Answer 7

ur on the right track...jus increase the white to ur pickling.....u can also paint them white and wipe them down while paint is wet

Answer 8

TRY SOME MINWAX ALMOST ALL STORES SELL IT LIKE HARDWARE OR DEPARTMENT STORES YOU CAN GET IT IN THE COLOR U WANT