Hi Heidi! I can see so much potential in this space! I think you could go either way with the cabinets for the shape and space you have, either a deep espresso brown or a bright white paint. Changing even just the cabinets will have such a dramatic impact!

I think this space would look so great with dark cabinets! (if it's helpful at all, on my blog I covered a method I used to gel stain our kitchen cabinets as a way to drastically cut costs in our new house http://www.fromrentingtoremodeling.com/2012/10/labor-of-love.html & there's the before and after and a link to the DIY in that post)

If you did the dark cabinets, any lighter color on the wall (grey, beige, pale green, a lighter blue than you have shown), a nice medium countertop color (as great as granite is, Corian is another great alternative!), and a tiled floor that connects to the wall color you chose.. so something with a beige-y undertone, or grey would look fantastic!

I hope that helps!!

You have read my mind! Dark cabinets are my dream. I will check out your blog for gel staining them. And love the colors for walls....can see many great options! Thanks!

So many options! So many possibilities! You will have to let us know what your likes are, as far as style , ambiance, and mood you are wanting to create. Paint and colour can make a dramatic change! So can the counter tops!
Budget plays a big part in renos! So depending on your budget, and where you want to see the improvements. Updating appliances, light fixtures, to flooring, it can be endless.

Here are a few kitchen ideas, to get you started; once you figure out what style or mood you want for the room, people like me can better assist you!

Just remember, refinishing cabinets is beast on its own, lots of blood sweat & frustrations!!

Here are a few kitchen ideas, to lighten the cabinets, and something similar, in case you decide not to refinish the cabinets, but update the handles and such!

The laminate available today has so much more variety. Shop Formica.com for countertops. See: Or:

Look at easy-care “green" Marmoleum ()or cork () for the floors.

If you get a new counter top, backsplash, flooring and wall color, you might not need to redo the cabinets! But if you do try either a white (like Dove White), a dark stain or a fun color.

I love the look of a tone-on-tone dark floor/dark cabinets + an amazing counter top! Let the counter top be the "focus" in this room and you can do what ever you want else where. Cancork/Icork Floor has an amazing "Black Beach" cork floor (floating so it can go over top the old vinyl) for $2.79/sf. It is the colour of ground espresso beans and would look amazing with a medium/medium dark gel stain on the cabinets. That's when you spend a bit more on your counter top (I'm thinking a smooth cream with gold/bonze highlights) and choose a stunning back splash to really pull everything together!

Have decide on dark cabinets ( thanks to husband's opinion) and will price having it done professionally. Really like light gray ( am doing our living room light gray with white trim to match gray couches)...but could also go with a light creamy beige or light gray/beige. What would you suggest for countertop colors and floors? Lighter than cabinets....darker...or contrasting?

for the counters you could do a concrete overlay! They go right over the ones you have now and can make them look like concrete, soap stone or whatever you come up with

Thank you all for all of your wonderful input. I wanted to give a little more information regarding my kitchen. My husband and I have made some decisions regarding our space. The granite we choose was called verde butterfly and the floor is a wood tile floor and it is a beautiful hickory color - we choose this color because we had to match the parque wood floors (yes I said parque wood floors- ugh that is another discussion board) throughout the house... I also posted the backsplash we chose. Imagine the tiles will be horizontal not vertical and the molding between the tile and the backsplash will not be included because our space between the counter and the cabinets is too small. It would look out of proportion. We would like to stain the cabinets a darker shade... any ideas. I have decided that staining them myself would take too long (with the sanding and all the coats). My husband likes the look of the wood grain. Would you recommend staining or faux painting? Someone quoted us $2000 + for the staining. Is that reasonable? I feel that for such a small space that is too much to pay! Any input?

Since I did mine myself, I'm not sure about the cost, but in the space, in my opinion, $2000 seems WAY high! Again, I have no real idea, but I think if someone quoted me $2000 I'd run! (HOWEVER, $2000 is way less expensive than buying all new cabinets...) And, side note, I LOVE your choices! You have to post updated photos of this when you're done!

Do I have some cork for your flooring! I have a "Taupe Leather" that is a beautiful light gray/taupe in a block pattern OR I have Dolerite Ripple/Granite that would be a perfect match for the dark blue slate/granite counter top! Have a look!
https://icorkfloor.com/oscommerce2/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=21&products_id=210
https://icorkfloor.com/oscommerce2/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=21&products_id=217

I would find that to be a very reasonable price for a professional. I would have them test the back of a door or something before launching into the whole thing. Your idea of darker stain and someone else's might not be the same. If you attempted to faux stain to look more like say a mahogany, in this size kitchen I would expect about $4k.

did you give up on your project ? OR did you finish it ? Do you have pictures for us

I did not give up, nor have I forgotten! I didn't want to post pictures until it is completely finished... So far we replaced the floors with wood tile, painted the walls, we have put in the granite counter tops and back splash, and we have updated all appliances to stainless steel LG appliances (loving my new 31 cubic feet refridge)... We did spend about 4.5K on all the appliances but we kinda splurged for top of the line stuff. I got a double oven with an infrared grill on the top, microwave, amazing dishwasher, and our HUGE refrigerator. But so far we are loving all the updates we have done! Things that still need to be done: replace hardware (pulls and knobs) and replace the ugly chandelier over the kitchen table, and stain the cabinets (although we are no longer in a hurry to do this because with the granite we used it really tones down the reds and golds in the oak cabinets) ... We have kind of slowed down with the kitchen because my husband has ADD and wants to do a million things at once... Our house is was built in the 70's and I don't think the people changed ANYTHING until we moved in(I am talking pink walls and orange carpet.).. I guess when I get home I will post an updated picture so you can visualize all the changes we have made so far :) Our guests are loving it though because I hosted my first party *go me* at our house last night and we received nothing but great compliments from our guests! MORE TO COME!!!!

Ideas are endless depending on budget
Good ideas would be brown base and white for the top also would change a a few inserts int the top door for class to lighten the look

For counter tops, I would suggest a white quartz with a silver sparkle in the stone. From what I understand, quartz is much sturdier and easier to maintain than granite.

Keep in mind if you paint them the grain will show with your cabinets. Have you asked how much a professional would charge to stain them? In the end I think they will do the best job, Ive done Gel stain on my bathroom cabinets to good success but not the exact finish I would have liked, otherwise a beautiful coat of Benjamin Moore Advance would do it wonders in a lighter tone. Are you keeping the furnishings/appliances/light fixtures?