Expert: Eileen Cronk - 8/29/2008

Question
Hi Eileen, I have a case of dingy kitchen cabinets.  They are a yellow-oaky stain, but some of the "frame" (not sure that's the right word) is just a veneer/sticker sheet to imply it's the same wood.  I wanted to run a watery color/stain wash over it so you can still see the wood grain, but just deepen the color a bit and take the dated yellow tone out, but didn't know if I could tackle the veneered bits the same way.  This, of course, is something I saw on a home improvement-type show, so I have no idea if this is real-world relevant. Is there anything I can do on my own without a major cabinet refacing/replacement to update these veneered bits?

Answer
Sorry Susan I missed some of your question.
The answer is yes you can treat the frames the same as the doors.
As I said below we used Minwax stain for this and it did not harm this material.
Hi Susan
Nice to hear from you.
My son had the same type of "material" on kitchen cases or frames as you call them (we both know what we mean LOL.)
We changed them slightly by using Minwax Special Walnut stain.
It seemed to take that yellow look away.
Give it a try.
Nothing ventured nothing gained.
We just wiped it on with a rag.
Kind Regards
Eileen