Well dogridge, it might help if you could either describe or post pics of the cabinets. Cherry cabinets can give a cottage look depending on the style of the door fronts. If it's slab or arch; that's gonna be more difficult. Mitered, shaker, raised panel... I think they might be easier to work with to get that look. What color are the laminate countertops and how tight is your budget? We were on almost a negative balance budget with a rental home we own that the tenants trashed. The bathroom vanity is/was a 1950's shiny white,pink, gold laminate ( I kid you not). I googled and researched and learned how to paint laminate; including faux painting the countertop to look like stone. I painted the base a grey/white and removed all hinges and hardware and sprayed them black. The countertop now looks like a black/grey granite with bits of white and rose running through it. (the tub and toilet are pink). I took down the mirror and am going to cut down the frame, sand, add moulding and a rope inset trim and stain ebony. Going for the Art Deco look so I could work with the pink tub/toilet. Total cost of remodel $25. Now... if your budget is THAT tight, I can tell you how I did the countertop. If you can afford to replace the countertop then I'd suggest to do that, change the hardware on your cabs, maybe add a cottage feel with a beadboard backsplash with some artsy tile somewhere, and paint the walls a color that appeals to your cottage inspired heart. Keep us informed on what you do! If you interested; I'll try and post pics of the vanity to give you an idea what you can make the countertop look like. I put the last coat of finish on today. GOOD LUCK!

The picture isn't great, but hopefully you can get an idea of the color of the cabinets and countertops. The cabinets have a square raised panel door and there is some beadboard on the back of the island. The laminate is a speckled grey/black/tan. The cabinets are perfectly servicible, so I guess I am feeling a bit guilty about painting them. I have about $500-1000 in my budget, but that will include window treatments. I'm a pretty good DIYer, but not sure I would tackle painting cabinets. I have considered putting a dark (black) stain over them and using cream colored counters. Having said that, I'm not even sure that the cabinets are wood, so not sure if that would work.
I am curious to see what colors folks choose to paint their walls when they have wood toned cabinets. The room doesn't get a ton of natural light so I'd like to keep it somewhat light. There is no backsplash, so my options are open there. The appliances are SS. Thanks in advance!

Suggestion... how about if you painted the beadboard island base? Paint it that creamy color you love. I would leave the countertops for now, until budget allows you to replace it. Then you could add the soapstone to the island and a granite/quartz product/marble inspired countertop with the cherry cabinets. You could change out the knobs/pulls on the cabinets or spray the ones you have black. I would then suggest taking your current gold light fixture and spray that black as well. The black metal with the shaped glass penants you have would lean toward the look your going for. You would then have the money to put into a backsplash that would pull a cottage look together. Again, you could do beadboard in parts painted the same color as the island and add some creative tile work to pull together the countertop colors. If the countertops have grey in them; then a grey/sage green color on the walls might look really nice. Just my 2 cents; I hope this is helpful.

My experience (as a kitchen remodeler) is that finished wood cabinets will look great for decades, whereas painted cabinets will look okay for about 2 years and will look steadily more dreadful after that, and will need to be repainted after about 5-8 years. The results depends on the surface prep, how the paint is applied and, of course, the quality of the 'paint'. Manufactured cabinets which are 'painted' are usually a high grade tinted varnish and will look good for years. Standard paint applied to cabinets, however, are hard to keep clean and will chip, peel, or worse.

As to the countertop, laminate countertops are inexpensive and can be changed out readily with lots & lots of color choices. From the look of the photo, my guess is that you have custom countertops, which if you're careful with, will also last for decades. My favorite countertop (and that of my customers) is granite, but laminate tops can look great. Prefab ganite (fabricated off shore, cut to fit your kitchen) are also cost effective and looks great and are gaining market share in this area.

Live with it. After about a year, you can plan what you want to do "forever".

If you liked laminate, there are lots of patterns and the counters are relatively cheap. I'm having some amount of trouble with the laminate color being ?off? from the wall, tile and cabinet colors. Like its in another palette?
Maybe us something like...

6223 Venetian Gold Granite Riverwash

I am concerned about a DIY paint job on the cabinets. Our current cabs were painted on site by professionals and they used some sort of special high grade paint that was sprayed on, and even then the painter warned me that it might chip. I am more tempted to replace the counter with a light colored laminate to blend with the floor better. i would like to paint the bead board, but it only covers the back half of the island, the front half is cabinets. Would that look strange? I have a white painted low dresser I plan to place on the wall opposite the island, as well as a painted table and painted spindle chairs.
The light is actually brushed stainless or nickle, I think the pulls are ORB or brushed nickel.
Green is one of my favorite colors. I guess the window treatments and furniture will all say cottage, but I will miss my painted cabinets :-(
The beadboard back splash is a great idea, definitely cottage. Would you paint it a color? If so, what would go with the cherry and a cream colored counter? Maybe just a glazed cream color?
I really need to go over there with some paint swatches!

I would paint the cabinet doors on the island as well. I don't know how good it would look with the beadboard painted and the door fronts still in cherry stain. If you use a good quality paint like BM, I think it would be do-able. There is tons of info on here for painting cabs. If you can replace the counter with the wall cabs; that is great. However, I'd hate to see you spend the money on a countertop you were settling on. Unless, that is, if laminate is your first choice. I didn't get that impression from your orginal post. I'm posting one link on cab painting. Also check out the FKB for tons on pics on painted cabinets. ENJOY THE JOURNEY!

Here is a link that might be useful: cabinet painting info