Love your Kitchen! Change adjoining dining wall color to a lighter color. Leave your drapes as a darker contrast.

Not sure what type of house you have, but if it is possible considered installing a sun tunnel or skylight for more daylight into the kitchen.

I think white cabinets would look just as nice, however, it's a lot of work, but you're the one that has to be happy when you walk int your kitchen.

However, before changing the cabinets, I would try painting the walls in the dining area white and getting rid of the heavy drapes.

Also, instead of the two lamps near the sing, get real or silk green plants that stand high and narrow.

Your kitchen looks great. The lights over the island actually don't look so bad anymore !!!! Please don't paint those beautiful cabinets.

Whoa, let's hold on here. Your kitchen is absolutely beautiful! Don't over think what you may want to change. Sure you could have used a different contrasting lighter or darker wood or painted cabinetry for the island to make a wonderful statement but you didn't. You have a great island. What a fun way to make it flow to the other room and not be the standard rectangle shape. Your kitchen has a wow factor with all that moldings. I love the lighter tile back splash and counters you have. You don't need a window treatment over your kitchen window. How about removing the wooden chairs and go for fabric chairs in a soft light color or be bold and let the chairs sing by choosing a great melon (orange color with bold non-country, more contemporary fabric, Make the bar chairs be the unexpected statement in the room. By the way I love the lamps on the counters, you have a great decorating taste. Move on to a room in your home that needs some pizzazz and leave your stunning kitchen be. It's perfect.

My goodness. Even when the OP is finished, the posts keep coming!
I think your kitchen is just beautiful.

OMG...I have done everything to stop the comments from continuing to come! what is going on...?

I was surprised to discover that the discussion was not closed. Maybe post a question in the Using Houzz section? Or something like this:

THIS PROJECT IS FINISHED! THANK YOU VERY MUCH!

DISCUSSION IS NOW CLOSED! DISCUSSION IS NOW CLOSED! DISCUSSION IS NOW CLOSED!

Lmao I can not believe how many people commented on this post!!!!! Your kitchen Now looks lovely. Leave it alone!!!!!

Lmao I can not believe how many people commented on this post!!!!! Your kitchen Now looks lovely. Leave it alone!!!!!

Your post is listed as most popular. My apologies for adding to the ongoing comments. Enjoy your home!

Dont leave it alone. Pickle the cabinets, leaver the island

Dont leave it alone. Pickle the cabinets, leave the island alone.

I would paint the upper cabinets in a off white color to brighten the room.

Your cabinets are beautiful...do not paint them.

Whoa... lol..... Have no idea how to delete this thread..... it just keeps coming and coming and coming...........

interestingly i have almost the same cabinets and the same concern. my latest decision is to paint the uppers antique white and leave the bottom wood.

I personally would leave it. If you do feel the need to paint or refinish, I recommend having a professional contractor do this for you to make sure that the refinishing looks professional. It would be worse to have you cabinetry have an unprofessional finish and the color you like then a great professional finish and a color you don't like.

Hi Smythtracy, If you want to turn off notifications on this discussion, just click the link in the bottom of your notification email to stop them. (That said, I'm dying to see an update with pictures of how it's going.)

I love your kitchen I don't know if you need any window covering with the cornice, it's gorgeous. Maybe a bowl of some brightly colored fruit on the counter, nice red apples and yellow pears... to add a punch of color.

I wouldn't paint the cabinets. The space would look brighter if you would remove the crown/molding detail above the window and replace the pendants. Otherwise- beautiful kitchen!

kitchen is beautiful - and this thread is still going because it popped up on the side on the main page! SO - I can not believe you can afford benjamin moore paint and restoration hardware anything and NOT get the most utterly cheap and effective under cabinet light!! For under 30.00 and an hour of work your whole kitchen would be transformed by having a warm glow in that corner where the pothead ?? was...... I sure hope you have moved on to other things, since it is now christmas and you probably have many other design dilemmas, but so glad you did not wreck your cabinetry with paint. would require quite a bit of sanding to make that work out well. You better be cooking in that space!!!!!!!!!!!

Ok, here is the last few pics of the changes. I just changed out island lights and chandelier shades over table. That's it. LOL! I will officially NOT be doing anything else to this kitchen - until maybe next year..... ha ha - I appreciate all the feed back and can't believe how crazy long this feed has been. I will NOT be painting cabinets. Just adding under cabinet lights still to come. ;)

love the chandelier shades - where from? have not seen that shape. ENJOY Christmas here in this kitchen, hope you are doing lots of entertaining, is a beautiful space. Glad to hear you WILL be doing under counter lights... ;>) I wonder if this is one of the longest threads ever.....

We would not recommend painting the cabinetry in your case... The right lighting will help brighten up the space as many of fellow Houzzers have touched on and possibly lightening up your counters would help balance your kitchen.

Previous owners of my house painted all of the woodwork and now it's unsightly with about 10 layers of paint. I wouldn't paint it only because once one paints one will always need to paint. The paint will chip here and there, touch ups will show and then the whole will need repainting again. I still have areas where layers of paint chip off that beautiful wood. For low maintenance I'd leave the wood alone. It looks like high quality cabinetry and I'd find another way to lighten the room.

I don't know if anyone commented on the feature cabinet on the end of the island. I would like to see one or two larger items like a bowl or vase instead of many small items and pictures frames. The lighting change above the island looks fantastic as well as the new paint. The cabinets are beautiful.

I was wondering if you had at all thought of adding small lampshades to your hanging fixtures? It looks a little barren/hard in the photo. And it is a way of softening the look. It would cut down on the light in the room, but then if you add the under cabinet lights, you will get the light back again.
Beautiful wood color of cabinets deserve "pampering".

HI The cabinets are gorgeous - do not paint the island and cover the beautiful -I know the trend is for different finishes on island and wall cabinetry - but it could be just that A TREND. Recessed lighting, and put a small light inside all the glass fronted cabinets will make a big difference. Keep the valance over sink window to just cover the trim; minimal depth or length! Bright with a punch of color that brings outdoors in would do it. Any seating upholstery can coordinate - maybe fabric with a bright, light background & punch of unsuspecting color....LArge accent pottery or decorative objets in bright light colors....NIce photos!

What color stain/kind of cabinets do you have? I really like them and would not paint the cabs!

Your kitchen looks great. Under counter lighting really does make a BIG difference. What color is partial wall between kitchen and dining area. It is lovely and would like to use it in my guest bathroom. Tired of trying chips colors and finding a totally different color when it is put on the walls. Please do not paint those beautiful cabinets.

I LOVE your kitchen, the labor of your love for it really shows. My large kitchen is the same color, newly redone. I have found that adding pops of bright color like fabulous silk tulips, bright ceramic containers with bananas or oranges, bright colored trivets, etc. have added a lot of sizzle to our kitchen. Your choice of chairs and light fixtures is fabulous--now just ENJOY all your hard work! We have!

bkostka - the color of the cabinets are a brandywine stain. They are maple cabinets from Decora. @ txlady6 - the color of the walls in the kitchen is Bleeker Beige by Benjamin Moore. Thank you all very much for your advice and input! You have made my discussion thread Houzz's Hottest Topic Discussion for 2012!!!!!! ha ha ha! Happy New Year everyone, I'm going to go and enjoy my kitchen now!!! ;)

I would consider an off white glaze on the island rather than paint. This would give a lighter effect without the starkness of paint. The wood has a beautiful finish so whatever you decide be ready to do a lot of prep work.

The kitchen is beautiful and has a warm feeling......Very cozy look.

Your kitchen has a very warm and inviting look just the way it is... but what we see isn't as important as how you feel. Sooo, looking at your space I think you could draw in more light and tone down the darker feel by removing the header over your window. It looks like you have a beautiful view or what we kindly dub "the money shot". Opening this up will not only brighten the room and make it feel as though you've lifted the ceiling, it will draw attention to that great view. If you can keep the cabinet color its a win-win.

These cabinets look great. Many finishes will not take well to being stripped and refinished. Most factory built cabinets have a cataylized conversion varnish which will cause a problem to repaint and will not look good.

I am a painting contractor and I say don't paint; if you decide to paint use oil enamel primer as an under body then an oil base enamel or water base alkyd modified enamel. Regardless of the quality of existing cabinets sometimes the client just wants a color change...usually its white.

Primer I recommend
http://www.shearerpainting.com/blog/paint/benjamin-moore-paint-217-primer-enamel-underbody/

Waterbase paints I recommend for cabinets
http://www.shearerpainting.com/blog/paint/water-reduced-oil-enamel-review-advanced-by-benjamin-moore-paint-vs-proclassic-by-sherwin-williams/

http://www.shearerpainting.com/blog/paint/c2-cabinet-paint/

Learn more about water vs oil paints
http://www.housepaintingguide.org/oil-paint-or-latex-paint/

you don't need to paint, but you definitely should look into getting chunkier hardware for your cabinets. you need a bit of sparkle/interest. you could pick more of a modern shape in a traditonal finish if you wanted to make it less country.

also, add puck lights under the cabinets and toe kick lighting. your lamps are really dated looking. try some longeer, sleeker pendant lights over the island

I think all of your improvements are amazing! If you change the light fixtures as you suggested, and maybe add the under cabinet lighting and inside cabinet lighting, i think you would have it perfect I love your space, looks fantastic!!

The room looks nice...could use some wall decor? We have some very nice decor and electronics that would go great in the room.
Here is a link to our decor: http://www.bargainbacker.com/Decor-_c_8.html
http://www.bargainbacker.com/Holly-Martin_c_4760.html
Looks great!

Kitchen looks AMAZING! I wouldn't change a thing here :)

The beauty of natural wood is really unparalleled and classic. Maybe instead of painting the cabinets you could change the wall color and curtains in the adjoining room and switch out the light fixtures for something more updated and bright.

Please don't paint these beautiful cabinets !!!!!

If this post still open, would like to clarify. Am not a designer - am confused whether she wants "French Country" or "Traditional" style in her kitchen - shouldn't this "look" be taken into consideration before doing any changes? What options would make the difference here, with existing kitchen but not painting the cabinets? I am going to have the same dilemma next month, dark cabinets, but am not going to paint them. How do I lean toward a "French Country" look then?
Also like idea about eliminating valence over window, also moldings - want to decorate my kitchen, not have it all encased in wood. How about ceramic tiles for Country look, excellent tiles on the market to reflect rustic, or beautiful travertine for traditional ? Would it be details like this that make the difference?

1msr: why don't you post your own discussion question? That way, we can respond just to you!

3000 years from now when human life has ceased to exist, an alien lifeform trying to learn about and understand our species, will find this discussion thread still open and they too will wonder if these cabinets should be painted or not... :/

LOL! Discussion now closed. I have decided to NOT paint the cabinets. NOT PAINT. Mind made up! Thank you all. I have attached the last pic of the under cabinet lighting. Has made a huge difference. That's it! All done! lol - Thank you.

glad you decided not to paint the cabinets your kitchen looks great

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