Paint them a cheerful color :)
Or, If you want a new door style, you could get new doors made from a Conestoga dealer.
Sorry for your loss.

Sorry to here about your dad:(

Your Daddy was a good carpenter, and his cabinets may last another 40 years. Give your Mom lots of time here; she may not wish for any more changes this year. Gather possible colour combos for when she is ready, and test new paints and colourants you think might work for these on any scrap lumber your Dad left in his shop. New hardware may leave some patching to do, so take that into consideration. Keep a file, and reduce your decisions into two/three plans at the most. Even when your mom gives the go ahead, she may be easily overwhelmed for awhile, so the more concise you can be with your research into colour palettes and new materials on her behalf, the better. I think this is a wonderful project for you to share, and that you are doing your father proud in continuing with his handiwork. Best of luck to you both in the coming year.

I am sorry for the loss of your father. He was a talented woodworker.

Some time tested advice for a new widow or new widower is not to make any dramatic changes for a year. Everyone's circumstances are different, of course, some people have to sell immediately, others can stay put in the family home. My comment is that collecting ideas slowly can be a good occupation, but put off big financial decisions such as remodelling for a year. Your mother may not choose to stay in the house, or she may be happy to redecorate instead of remodel.

You might ask your mother if she'd like you to put in some new shelf paper, clean out the pantry canned goods area, wash the windows, dust the high shelves, or wash the curtains. If you don't live nearby, it may be a surprise to find deferred maintenance such as broken cabinet latches or chipped paint. She may simply want to flip through home decorating magazines for a few months and leave everything exactly as it is for the time being.

One thing you can do in the meantime is to take photos and measurements of the current kitchen, if your mother gives the okay. Then put it in google sketchup or the Ikea kitchen planner. You easily explore design ideas with these tools.

If the cabinets are strong and straight, I'd order new doors, full overlay, inside hinges. It might do harm to tear those down and expect someone to hang them as well as they are. Those are better quality than what you can buy now.

The sides can be refaced also.

Old post