This is a great place to lurk around, as you know. :o)

I have creamy white cabinets around the perimeter of our kitchen and a black center island. We previously had stained wood cabinets in our former home, but I do love the painted so much now. Painting your cabinets will look great.

While I think either dark or light cabinets can work, I will say that the dark color seems harder to keep looking clean. It shows dust and smears more easily, and with young children, it's more of a chore to keep clean, at least in my experience. Just something to consider.

Your kitchen is so spacious, clean and airy feeling. Good luck with your plans and future sale!

Hmmm. I am a white cabinet person because I like things bright and I am not trendy. But you have a bright room there and the current trend seems to be dark cabs. If you were selling today, I would say dark or only slightly darker stained. Depends upon your flooring color too.

I think you should do what you want with them; who knows what the "trend" will be when you actually sell.
Diane

I agree with doing whatever you want if you want a change now. I think cabinets are very taste specific. I have walnut stained cabinets now; they are great for kids because they don't show a darn thing. If I ever get my 'grown up' kitchen, I'd love to have creamy cabinets with a coffee glaze. One buyer might love white, one might want dark. Do it for your taste or leave the cabinets alone and just paint the kitchen which will give it an entirely different feel without the fuss.

I have creamy white cabinets in my new house and really love them but when I remodeled the kitchen in my old house I painted my dated oak cabinets a khaki color and was pleased with the results. When we put our house on the market earlier this year I received a lot of good feedback from prospective buyers and sold my house in a matter of weeks. The color was neutral enough not to be offensive but was also a great backdrop for staging.

Why bother?They look really nice as is. If you are moving in two years I would leave them and just factor a price reduction. If your kitchen is more than ten years old, a new buyer will want to replace them anyway.

Leave them as is... at least buyers can see what the wood is, then decide if they want to paint it at all, never mind which color to suit their stuff.

Thanks for the great feedback! They're definitely getting painted at some point in the next 2 months. I'll post photos when I'm finished.

I suggest a creamy white. You could do the island in a darker color for contrast.

I'd prefer warm white with a darker counter top, and the island painted dark.

I think most buyers would prefer natural wood cabinets. As another poster said, they can see that the cabs are made of wood, what kind of wood, etc. New buyers wouldn't let that stop them from buying; they'd figure that painting the cabs would be an easy DIY project.

If you're talking about natural wood, I think a lot of people like darker woods (like cherry), but if you're talking about PAINTED cabs, I think most people prefer an antiqued white or cream over dark paint. Myself included.

I'd put more resources into a nice floor and hardware/lighting.
I'd skip the painting.
btw - I am a full time r.e. agent with over 20 years experience, FWIW

If you just "have to" paint, I'd recommend white. It is less style specific.

I have white cabinets and think most buyers would prefer them.

Normally I would say white but it looks like you have a white counter and backsplash - because of that I have to say dark.

Maybe you can do all the upper cabinets white and paint the lower cabinets and island dark. Just an idea.

"If you're talking about natural wood, I think a lot of people like darker woods (like cherry), but if you're talking about PAINTED cabs, I think most people prefer an antiqued white or cream over dark paint. Myself included."
I agree with this.

Painted cabinets might be a deal breaker for me in buying a house. I'd pick white over dark paint but with those light counters I wouldn't do white and again, I'm not wild about dark painted cabinets.

I know you said you were painting but I really wouldn't touch them. The other changes will be nice.

Everything is so taste specific it's difficult to say what buyers would like.

When I was searching for a home to buy last year, I had no idea white cabinets were so popular. I walked into a few kitchens that had white cabinets and walked right back out. Not to my taste at all, and a hassle to change.

It's funny because many people would think "Oh, wow, a white kitchen, I Love this!"

If your main goal is to sell in a couple years, I personally would leave the cabinets as is. If your goal is to personalize and improve the space to your liking in those few years between living there and selling, I'd say do what you want.

If you don't want white, a nice smooth espresso type of colour would be nice and modern.

Ok - well, now I'm second guessing my decision to paint! Argh! I personally think they're ugly, but maybe I'll try doing some more decorating and see how they sit with me after I have some art up on the walls and some curtains to soften everything. If I was staying in the house for 5 years and not just 1 1/2 it'd be a no-brainer to paint, but now you all have me thinking! We shall see...

If you were planning to stay there for more than a year and a half, I'd say go for the painting, but since you are moving relatively soon, I'd keep them as they are but invest in real tile instead of linoleum because that will look both attractive in print and in pictures. Also, you don't have a lot of countertops so I think you could replace those fairly easily. Perhaps to corian- cheaper than granite and I think it looks nicer too! Though, in a realty ad "granite countertops" would appeal to the vast majority of buyers.

I always wonder whether people who wish to paint their kitchen cabinets know what a huge job it is to do it well. Since you are planning to sell I'd say leave them unless you are prepared to do a really good job. A poor paint job would be a deal breaker for me.

If you change the flooring you might also think about relocating the island so it presents the longer side to the breakfast area. If there is space you could also make the top larger so there is room for a couple of stools and more counter space. That would be quite a simple change and would make a lot of difference to the appearance. Your little island looks a bit lost.

I think more color on the walls and darker floor would really improve your kitchen even leaving the basic oak cabinets as is.

As a former Realtor, I would also suggest putting $$ into the lighting or other things around the house that need fixed because they are truly ugly or broken...and get those done before you go to sell.

As a Seller, it's your job to increase the odds of pleasing the masses of Buyers, not tweak and decorate to make a smaller niche of buyers happy.

You have the Renovators...they don't care what's in there. They are going to rip out everything no matter what upgrades you did or how much $$ you spent. They care about square footage, and it looks like you have great square footage.

You have the DIY-ers...they can see the cabs are in good condition, nothing is hidden, and will end up doing their own thing. You have good bones to work with...not expansive amounts of cabs...very do-able to even a weekend warrior.

You have the Move-In Conditioners...you absolutely have "move-in condition". They will be happy. Changes may or may not come later at their own pace. They are only thinking about right now.

I think you've got what it takes to please 95% of Buyers, and I wouldn't mess with that advantage.

I have similar cabs and painting them white right now. My neighbor is upset with me because I'm painting my "beautiful wood". She thinks I'm ruining them. She covets my builder's grade wood cabs because she likes wood & things they look more "expensive". I like paint. If you paint the cabs, you can't remove it. If you leave the wood, you're pleasing the wood people, and painters can see their OWN possibilities.

Personally, I wouldn't mess with the cabinets, admit they need work, or offer credits to upgrade...unless they truly are a negative to the rest of the house and/or the comps in your price range. I think you've got a good thing going as-is.
Gayle

Although I, too, dislike oak, I think I have to agree with the "don't paint" camp. If it were me, I would
1) change the flooring: hardwood or tile.
2) change the counters. For resale in your style of house (from what I can see), probably granite.
3) Change lighting fixtures.

You might find that these changes even make the space appealing enough for you for the short term, so you won't mind the cabinets so much ;) And- if you decide not to sell within 2 years, you can always revisit painting the cabinets later (maybe choose granite and flooring that will go with your preferred paint color, in case that happens...)

Good luck!

I agree that painting cabinets is a huge job and if not done in the proper way can look terrible. I was looking at a house that had the basic builder grade oak cabinets. The guy who had bought the house to "flip" had painted the cabinets a very dark brown - the paint showed every imperfection in the wood cabinet. He hadn't taken the time to sand, wood fill cracks and scratches etc. They looked terrible.

If it were me and I was trying to improve the looks of the kitchen for myself and potential resale I would paint the walls an easy to live with color, replace the white linoleum with tile or hardwood and would replace the countertops with something more updated - whether it's engineered stone, granite, or a nicer laminate.

Those three things will make your kitchen look 100% better and you'll be surprised how nice your cabinets look just as they are.

I LOOOOVE my new kitchen. In retrospect the only thing i would change is instead of the dark countertop on the island I would have used the lighter granite thats on the perimeter and done a waterfall edge (and kept the other perimeter edge simple- bullnose). I LOVE my light countertops they always look clean. I must clean my island countertop 2x-3x's a day. Some day I will probably change them all to light..... the contrast is a WOW factor but for low maintance thats my feedback. But i love my creamy white cabinets with chocolate glaze.

{{!gwi}}

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If you aren't going to change counters another suggestion would be to paint the cabinets dark brown or black and replace the upper cabinet center panels with frosted or reeded glass, and add nickel handles. It would look very classy, and getting the doors cut and fitted for glass is inexpensive. That said, I did an inexpensive update last year, we added some decorate trim on the top of a few cabinets, beadboard to the sides, moved our island and added granite.

OLD

NEW

We were advised by a realtor it did increase the value of our home by much more than the 6K we spent (3200 on granite). But our cabinets were worn down to wood in some spots.

A different wall color and flooring could make a world of difference. Your oak cabinets don't look as dated as some. I'm in the "leave them as is" camp, since resale is only a couple years away.

I would not paint the cabinets.... As a perspective buyer, I would want to make that decision on my own.

I am not a fan of painted oak unless it is done with absolute perfection. Anything less and It would be a deal breaker for me.

Your house looks very neat and clean and that would be what's truly important to me. If I wanted to paint them - I would do it to my satisfaction...

If you are looking for ways to update the space... I would concentrate on the lighting, and perhaps the flooring and maybe a curtain or valance to warm up the windows. Otherwise, I think you are just fine!!

Best wishes in whatever you decide to do.

Honestly I think the cabinets look great as they are. With stainless appliances and great handles the cabinets will be refreshed. Painted cabinets look like painted cabinets and can look terrible if not done well. Especially if you are planning on selling the home soon, the kitchen is an asset with the cabinets in the current condition. Painted cabinets show signs of wear very quickly and begin to chip becoming high maintenance.