He Spray Painted the Oak Cabinets Ripe Olive and the Kitchen Barely Looks the Same
Oak cabinets covered almost every storage surface in this kitchen, including the island, refrigerator wall, pantry cabinets, and glass-front uppers. Black granite counters added another dark surface, while floral wallpaper, white tile, and hardwood floors remained visible between the cabinet runs.
Instagram creator @pezzottipainting refinished the existing cabinets instead of replacing them. Sherwin-Williams Ripe Olive covered the oak in a deep green, with Renner Wood Coatings 851 10 Sheen used for the finish.
The cabinet layout, black granite, appliances, floor, backsplash, and wallpaper stayed. New brass hardware joined the green finish, leaving much of the kitchen intact even though the room barely looks the same.
Oak Cabinets Covered More Than the Perimeter
Oak extended across the base and upper cabinets, tall storage, refrigerator surround, and island. Raised-panel doors put wood grain across each section, while black hardware repeated from one cabinet run to the next.
The island brought another large oak surface into the center of the room. Black granite topped both the island and perimeter cabinets, creating a dark band above the wood.
Glass Doors Broke Up the Oak Cabinet Wall
Glass-front doors occupied several upper cabinets, but oak frames still tied them to the solid doors around them. Tall cabinets beside the refrigerator carried the same finish from floor to ceiling.
Nothing about the cabinet configuration needed to change for the new color. Door profiles, glass inserts, crown molding, and cabinet boxes could all remain.
Ripe Olive Replaced the Visible Wood Grain
Once refinished, Sherwin-Williams Ripe Olive covered the oak grain across the doors, drawer fronts, frames, and end panels. Raised centers and routed edges remain, so the cabinet construction is still visible beneath the new finish.
The deep green also changes the relationship between the cabinets and black granite. Instead of brown wood meeting a dark counter, Ripe Olive creates a green-and-black combination across the kitchen.
Brass Hardware Replaced the Dark Pulls
Long brass pulls and matching knobs replaced the original dark hardware. Their finish stands out against Ripe Olive instead of disappearing into the cabinet fronts.
The hardware change is small compared with the amount of painted cabinetry, but it adds another visible break from the oak version. Existing door and drawer locations remain easy to trace.
Tall Cabinets Became a Solid Wall of Green
Ripe Olive has more impact on the refrigerator wall because the cabinetry reaches close to the ceiling. Tall doors, upper storage, and the refrigerator surround now read as one green section.
Crown molding received the same finish, taking the color to the top of the cabinet run. Stainless steel appliances interrupt the green without requiring changes to their positions.
Oak Disappeared Under the New Finish
Oak remains visible at the start, then a white coat covers the frames and raised-panel doors before Ripe Olive goes over the same surfaces.
Glass doors and cabinet openings were masked while the painter worked across the fixed cabinetry. By the final frame, the wood grain that once defined the entire cabinet wall has disappeared beneath the deep green finish.
Floral Wallpaper Wasn’t Removed Either
Floral wallpaper remains above the backsplash and around the window, putting red, green, and cream beside the painted cabinetry. The green cabinet color picks up tones already present in the wall pattern.
That makes the project less about stripping the kitchen back and more about changing which existing finish takes the lead. The wallpaper that competed with the oak now sits beside a cabinet color connected to its pattern.
Island Changed Without Being Rebuilt
Ripe Olive wraps the island base, including its raised-panel doors, drawers, corners, and trim. Black granite remains on top, so its dimensions and shape have not changed.
Brass pulls repeat the hardware from the perimeter cabinets. Painting the island the same color also connects the center of the kitchen with the tall green storage around the walls.
Cabinet Frames Were Sprayed in Place
Doors and drawer fronts came off before refinishing, leaving the cabinet boxes inside the kitchen. Plastic, paper, and tape protected the counters, openings, appliances, walls, and floor while the fixed sections were sprayed.
Painting the frames matters in a color change this large. Leaving visible oak between green doors would expose the old finish each time a cabinet opened or where doors meet.
Raised-Panel Doors Kept Their Original Shape
Paint changed the surface without flattening the details in the existing doors. Raised centers, beveled edges, and trim remain visible after the oak grain disappears.
That distinction helps explain why the finished kitchen does not look like a cabinet replacement. The profiles are still from the original kitchen; Ripe Olive changes how those same profiles register across the room.
Green Now Runs From the Island to the Ceiling
From across the room, the scale of the color change becomes clear. Ripe Olive appears on the island, base cabinets, uppers, pantry storage, refrigerator surround, and crown molding.
Black granite, stainless steel appliances, hardwood flooring, white tile, and wallpaper are still in their original positions. Cabinet paint accounts for most of the difference visible from this angle.
Same Kitchen, Different Dominant Finish
The comparison makes the retained elements easier to spot. Cabinet dimensions, island placement, counters, appliances, backsplash, floor, and wallpaper match across both versions.
Oak once occupied more visual space than any other material in the room. Ripe Olive now occupies that same footprint, with brass hardware adding contrast across the doors and drawers. No new layout was needed to make the kitchen barely look the same.
If you saw the finished kitchen first, would you have guessed those Ripe Olive cabinets were once oak?
All credits go to Instagram creator @pezzottipainting.