are you tired of the oak or tired of wood or tired of the arch style door? you could do a door replacement if you still wanted wood, just not this wood. painting will keep the arch door style.

stain them a darker finish. or paint them. tho with your light counter tops it might be better to go with a darker stain. and new silver door hardware. white can work, but the counters might get lost. adding a back splash and new counters would help you.

ps all you have to do is search black appliances kitchen decor ideas..........tons will pop up

You can have off white cabinets with black appliances. I like the photo below for your kitchen because its looks updated but still traditional like your cabinet doors. You could add some crown moulding to tops of cabinets at the same time because it looks like it need something. A new countertop, hardware and backsplash will finish the look.[houzz=]

Try Shaker style doors and drawer fronts in a walnut finish, add under cabinet lighting, have you thought of a microwave above the stove to help fill in the space? You might consider full wall glass tile above your counters. This should get you out of the 80's.

Definetly add crown molding! A cherry stain would be pretty.

You could replace some of of the uppers with a different color/style. Maybe even a taller cabinet for something different. This photo shows different colors and varying heights.

We had similar cabinets ( colour and door style) and actually found a cabinet paint kit for about $100 and redid our kitchen in a dark cherry colour and couldn't be happier. I think a darker colour would look great with black appliances

Thanks for all the ideas.! Would it be possible to sand the cabinets down and stain a light maple color or stay with reddish cherry?

A darker stain or a dark gray with new pulls??? I'm about to paint my kitchen cabinets gray.

The kit I found is a Rustolium kit. You should be able to get it at Home Depot and you can select pretty much any colour you want. And no sanding needed. The kit includes a cleaning solution and that's about it. Very easy but a bit time consuming.

Awesome. Thanks!!

I don't know that staining over it will make much difference. You're still going to have that heavy oak grain with arches. I think that combo just feels a little dated. I'd paint them all out a buttercream color. The black appliances don't bother me at all. I'd put black pulls (ok, ORB) on the cabinets too.




If you look under kitchen photos, there's a filter on the right that's "Appliances" and you can select black. It'll let you see how they look with lots of finishes.

We have black appliances and painted our oak cabinets with SW Lazy Gray. I am so happy with it. It was a lot of work but well worth it!

I posted previously that we painted our kitchen with the Rustolium kit. Our kitchen was similar style and colour. Here's the dark cherry colour we choose.

I would paint your existing cabinets in a light grey, and replace the countertop to dark grey, almost a slate look-alike. New cabinet pulls and as appliances die replace with slate or Stainless in energy star. They will all die soon enough nowadays.

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Painted cabinets are so 1940s! New doors seem to be the solution.

Painted cabinets are so 1940s! New doors seem to be the solution.

Painted cabinets are so 1940s! New doors seem to be the solution.

Painted cabinets are so 1940s! New doors seem to be the solution.

bereall, then it must be 1940! there are at least as many painted kitchen as stained ones.

Never heard that one before-- now I've heard it 4 times in a row.

The next generation spent a lot of $ and time removing paint, sanding, staining and varnishing which is very funny now you guys want to paint over them again.

Sometimes you can turn the doors around and the arch isn't on the back. Worth a look. Since you have hidden hinges I don't know how that would work. Then, of course, you paint the cabinets white and replace the pulls with something simple--maybe just a knob. Black appliances work with lots of cabinet colors.

I wouldn't feel bound in anyway by the black appliances. Black is, in fact, fairly neutral – it exists in every room, even if just in shadow lines and such. I could see these black appliances with white cabinets, gray cabinets, and most any color. Personally, I would prefer painting these cabinets over staining them – staining them a different color will still leave the room looking like a wood showroom--it's just too much. So, pick a colour and paint! PS Melamine paint is great for this purpose.

Maybe they were right in the 1940s!!!!!! It is a big decision to make, though. The wood in those days was more solid, that is for sure. My sister thought I was insulting her 1940s type house, when I was not thinking of her at all. My grandma's cabinets were painted white, thus the
distaste I have for them.
What ever you like and enjoy is OK, but be careful not to ruin something that is in good condition.

A wood showroom? Wow. Some people can not have enough wood in their homes.

A wood showroom? Wow. Some people can not have enough wood in their homes.

I am outta here. Darn thing is posting me 2 or 3 or 4 times. Good luck with your kitchen.

I am outta here. Darn thing is posting me 2 or 3 or 4 times. Good luck with your kitchen.

One final remark. When we lived in an old apt. once, the kitchen cabinets had been painted over do many times, that they wouldn't close! The super intendent took them off and stored them. Then I put bamboo rolling shades over them. That was just 4 cabinets, though, not a big modern kitchen like yours. Once again, good luck.