We bought our first home that was build in 89 - there is honey oak EVERYWHERE. The hardwoods, the built-ins, the kitchen, all the trim, etc. We're trying to decide what makes sense to update but it has a pretty open floor plan in a ranch so it almost feels like an all or nothing type of thing.
Has anyone successfully worked with honey oak in their home and made it look... not like it was from the 80s?? Pictures please! I'm googling but all I find are honey oak makeovers.. .where it's removed.
persimmon / 1134 posts
I saw somewhere (maybe I pinned it? I'll check), where a woman redid the honey oak in her house by painting it white. It looked SO much better! I'll see if I can find the pin!
honeydew / 7687 posts
@jennylynn: @zippylef: haha so what you two are telling me is that there is no way for honey oak to be palatable unless it is redone?? (I completely agree that I prefer white or dark stain, just not sure how feasible it's going to be cost-wise to update all of it since there is so. much... we're getting quotes now)
wonderful clementine / 24134 posts
We have slowly started to replace our baseboards and flooring. The worst right now is our trim (not really honey but oak), doors, and eventually the kitchen cabinets (honey color but I think maybe a hickory or maple).
You can kinda see here our floor, trim and cabinet color.
grapefruit / 4278 posts
Ooh, we have honey oak cabinetry in our house and are in the process of updating it using this.
http://cabinets.rustoleumtransformations.com/
Check out their testimonial gallery. We used the espresso color and tested it out in our master bathroom first. It turned out so awesome, and I love that you can still see the wood grain through the color, so it doesn't seem obviously painted. We're moving on to the kitchen next. It probably wouldn't be a solution for your moldings and baseboards, but might be a good solution for cabinetry.
cantaloupe / 6669 posts
I bet if you painted/stained SOME of the wood, like just your cabinets, it would make the rest more palatable. I actually don't mind honey oak in small doses! You can also try to create a sense of contrast with some of your furnishings... I wouldn't use anything that leans vintage or "shabby chic" because I think that could look 80s, but if you brought in some modern pieces and pops of color, I bet it would distract from it.
honeydew / 7687 posts
@dagret: I want to, badly!! (except the floors).
@kiddosc: k, my mind is BLOWN that this works with white?! i've seen it for darker but not for white! hoping we can try this!!
@daniellemybelle thats a good point. all of our stuff is pretty contemporary, thankfully
@swurlygurl: sort of! thanks!
bananas / 9118 posts
Young House Love, go to their projects page. I'm currently battling oak cabinets with their advice.
pomegranate / 3521 posts
I would totally do white.. I think bowerpower blog did a white kitchen makeover too - check it out, their kitchen is STUNNING
clementine / 930 posts
Our house is similar, with honey oak doors, trim, and cabinets. We're just slowly chipping away at it. We're planning to paint the doors white and replace the trim with wide white composite. Then when I'm no longer pregnant, I'm going to try the second tutorial @zippylef posted. It's been on my Pinterest forever. Luckily (?) we don't have oak wood floors as getting them refinished could be a big expensive project, especially if they're in good shape otherwise. We're putting in acacia wood floors as we can afford it.
Sorry not to be of more help. I hate honey oak so I'm just bidding my time till its gone. I guess the best advice I have for living with it (I've been doing it for 6 years) is to really make sure you love the other aspects of your home: your paint colors, furniture, decor, etc. I picked some loud paint colors that I love that really help to take the focus off the wood.
blogger / wonderful cherry / 21628 posts
This was what my living room looked like the day we moved in. We really want to install hardwood flooring and didn't want to feel like we were living in a crate, so the wood walls had to go. I sanded them lightly, primed them with an oil based primer, and painted two coats of latex paint on top. It took me about a week to do it all.
honeydew / 7687 posts
@Leialou: ahhh I should be lucky they didn't do the walls too. We actually looked at a nearby house online that was literally ceiling, walls, floors all honey oak. It looked like the inside of a tree (from the 1980s). Love those widows, I bet it looks stunning now!
pomelo / 5093 posts
Jesus, what horror. I wouldn't even consider a house that was all ruined with honey oak, I had no idea you could fix it. Some of these fixes are really nice!
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