You can save money by only changing out the uppers. You're leaning toward dark cabs? Perhaps you should only do the lower dark and light on the upper cabs. Either way, your stools will blend into the cabs so keep that in mind. Perhaps a few more pics of adjacent spaces could give us a better understanding of what your preferences are. If you would add more photos that would be great. :)

crillb, glad to hear you like the idea of staining. I think it's going to be gorgeous. A couple thoughts for your last questions -
1 - as someone suggested you can get the doors from any big box store. There are quite a few online vendors too though.
2 - I would replace just the uppers doors. The lower doors/drawers seem to be a modern style.
4 - A couple online vendors I know of (but have never used) are knobs4less.com and myknobs.com. Another one that has a broad selection of modern hardware is ikea! Just search 'cabinet knobs' in their search box and you'll get 7 pages worth!

Your wood floors are an asset that a lot of people are installing in their kitchens. Ideally, white cabinets would open up your kitchen and make it feel larger. Sounds like you want to do a dark stain. If you do both lower and upper cabinets in a dark stain, it's going to make your kitchen considerably darker. Natalie's right, a lot of people are going with dark lowers and painted light or white uppers right now. In either case, from what you said, I'm not sure you have the money for granite countertops right now, but you could lay a backsplash to open things up. White or light subway tile, or even gorgeous glass, which you may be able to swing because you don't need a lot of it.

Knobs4less & myknobs are good sources, and you might check Overstock.com. Sometimes they have great deals on packages of 10 or 25 knobs or pulls.

Hi,
I honestly would not paint the cupboards yet. I think that if you changed the knobs, added a backsplash and painted the walls you would have a notable improvement and break from the oak. I'm not sure if you have under the cabinet lighting, but I would also add this to brighten up your space.

Thank you so much again! Wonderful Ideas. My only concern with doing white or creamy colored cabinets is that it would blend in with the wall and not stand out. Does anyone agree? Thanks @sandkshouse for the visual of the dark! I love the idea of a backsplash but wondered if that would look out of place since the granite creeps up the wall a bit?

crillb, another idea for upper doors if all dark doors seems too dark is that you could order some or all of the doors as ready for glass panels. When you get the door, just have the glass cut at a local glass shop. There are a LOT of glass selections available - some more opaque than others. The photo here shows I think frosted glass which will hide a lot ;-)



Ahhh...also found one where the glass is a little less white and the cabinets a bit lighter as well.

Something like these attached pics for backsplash, and none would blend into the wall because there is pattern/neutral color. The 4" backsplash is fine-but it could be removed... Hope this is helpful... :)
[houzz=][houzz=][houzz=][houzz=]

*L* Carolina Photos... I noticed that too! Every time you look at kitchen stuff, they want to toss in a hand full of roosters. I even saw a rooster kitchen light somewhere. Now when did it start that roosters were a kitchen staple? *L*

Hi. I just finished a job for a client who chose dark wood cabinets. The cabinets are beautiful, but his kitchen looks about half as big as it would have with white/cream cabinets (even though we did a light floor tile, light handmade ceramic back-splash, and pale blue/green granite counter tops -Costa Esmerelda - to balance the wood).

You would definitely have to paint the walls a color if you went with white/cream painted cabinets. Lots of color choices, just make sure it's not too deep. Also, everyone is right about the arches in your uppers: for contemporary you would ideally replace these, if it's in your budget.

Not knowing your design taste, this is just a wild thought, but I'd like it: You mention teal as one of your design colors. The counter tops you have now are serviceable but not exciting. If it will be a very long time before you can replace them, what would make them most attractive, in my opinion, would be to paint your cabinets a pale greyed blue, or blue/green. The color in the cabinets would all of a sudden make your neutral counter tops pretty. I'd put in a back splash of mirror tile or glass with nickel hardware to nail contemporary. Designer Jeffrey Bilhuber has done some fabulous blue kitchens.

More thoughts in my next comment.

We have used Amrican Door and Drawer. http://www.dwightwatt.com/americandoor/ . There is another one we used but will need to look it up. What you would be ordering is an unfinished door since you are going to stain or paint it.

Here is a kitchen that was done last year in this area. It was a light oak and was restained by a faux painter. This is not paint, it is stain. It was not our project, but I understand that it was in the neighborhood of $4,000.00 to do the staining. There were some new cabinets added in and some were reworked prior to staining. Oops, it's a pdf file, can't load. If you send me an email, I can send you a copy. Just go to my profile for email address.

I would strongly suggest painting the cabinets creamy white or off white with a dark glaze. The Rust Oleum product is fantastic to use. The reason I would not stain them darker is you are almost in "wood" overload if you have a lot of other oak surfaces. Choose a highly patterned backsplash something very striking that will draw the eye, with under cabinet lighting and the arch of the doors will go away and you save the expense of upper doors. And yes, paint your walls & ceilings a great taupe or gray color or at least a shade with "body". Good luck to you.

I love gray cabinets...may not be modern enough looking for you, but would be beautiful. Even a dark cream color with a gray glaze would be nice! See if I can find a pic for you.

I bookmarked this thread that contains a picture of cabinetry done by a homeowner with the Rustoleum as everyone talks about how great it looks and we have no experience with it. I was shocked when I saw this. Maybe this is not typical, but based on what we have seen of homeowner diy painting jobs, my guess is that it is.
https://www.houzz.com/discussions/rustoleum-cabinets-dsvw-vd~162472

Thank you everyone for the many ideas and suggestions. We will nail down a budget and get to work on making this happen! Stay tuned for the finished product!

crillb, can't wait to see your final product! Best of luck to you that everything turns out exactly as you're envisioning.

Add some color to the back wall add back splash. If you can affored it add some hand made color 4x 4 tile to the backsplah. Replace light fixture with some thing more interesting.

HI,
I thought I would show you what a picture of a what a little backsplash tile, new handles paint and updated lighting can do. I hope this helps.

well .. how do you really feel about the oak grain? I personally hate mine. So if you stain it.. it will show.. trust me..I can show you pics of mine.
And what was said above is true. the door style will always look dated. Thats what I feel about mine and another reason I hate them. They are not a full overlay and no doors can be made to fit a non frame less box for full overlay. you can put the hinges inside.. I can tell you how.. and that may help a bit. European hinges. I have tried many things with my cabinets. Depends on your budget and what you can be happy with.

teresabieber.. your cabinets look great but your lucky you didnt have a thick open oak grain.. are those even oak?

Peg Silverwood.. It came out very nice. What do you mean my exterior paint? For outside the house? Was it a semi-gloss? Did he spray it? thanks


ccdavis22.... great job.. so you used rust-olium and painted the cabinets what? antique what? I dont understand what color you used. It came out very nice.

Having just painted my kitchen cabinets since we had so much wood going on also I would encourage you to do so.
Here is a link to our before/after: http://www.maranathamusings.blogspot.com/2012/12/kitchen-before-and-after-well-almost.html?m=1

We worked hand in hand with pros and what we used was Benjamin Moore Advance. We used a paint sprayer.
Your granite is beautiful. I'm sure you can find a nice color. If you like anything from traditional to French country, shabby chic or a glam look, your arched cabinet doors will look fine painted. We chose to use a stain on the molding to accentuate.

A dark espresso color is lovely but may make your kitchen feel a little smaller and claustrophobic in my opinion. I think with your peninsula it won't work as well as with an open concept. (2 cents worth)

Your appliances are great. My fridge is very similar and I LOVE it. The only thing I love more is my single basin sink. :-)

I can't wait to see what you decide. Don't let painting wood scare you. Your oak has already lived its life and needs to enjoy a mid-life change. :-)

hmschoolmom.. and .teresabieber
Please tell me more. Did you spray the cabinets first with a primer or just use the products in the kit? Did you do it yourself? In the garage? set up a booth with plastic etc? can you tell me more details so maybe I will try this. I have looked at a few sprayers and some are a bit heavy to hold a long time. Did you use the glaze step? Does that just make streaks in a vertical pattern or does it seep into the oak grain and enhance it? Thank you

designideas4me , I think you are asking me about the paint that was used on my cabinets. My painter used a Benjamin Moore exterior paint satin finish. and he did take off the doors and sprayed them. He hand painted the rest and did an amazing job. There was a clear glaze over the top of which I don't remember the name, but can look if you are interested in knowing. The reason he used the exterior was because of the sun shield that paint has in it. My kitchen faces the south and I have lots of windows. The cabinets are oak and the paint turned out beautiful. I do know that he took a while painting several light coats for great coverage. Patience will get you a great result. ;D

I have the same problem.. you'll want to completely get rid of your old cabinets once you start looking at doors. And, since you did granite first it will break if you move it. I've had this same dilemma for 8 years. It was 8 years ago we put granite in without tearing out cabinets. My biggest regret ever.

I am painting mine a creamy white and distressing them. I plan on using bead board in my panels (I don't have arches). Honestly, I am ready to gut my kitchen now after suffering the horrible oak on oak. My backs and sides are fake wood (hence bead board) and are a weird shade of brown.

I found instructions in the link below. It's the best I've found thus far. In her blog she has more pics showing how she contrasted with a set of black cabinets. I feel your pain :( I wish people understood that's not only is it nice, but it's also pretty to mix wood grains and colors.

http://timmonsfamilylemonade.blogspot.com/2010/11/kitchen-cupboard-makeover-part-ii.html?m=1

I agree with making the cabinets darker or white and changing the hardware. Also,I'd seriously put in a backsplash. It shouldn't be too much for that size kitchen.I think it makes it look like a kitchen instead of a room with kitchen stuff in it...Also paint the walls. I look at rentals all day and this looks like one,it has soooo much potential! I love how shiny your stainless steel is! I can tell you really take care of them.

hmschoolmom.. you did a nice job. So you sanded and sprayed? Is that correct? You put in glass and an island? You really did a great job.

Robin Kuppusamy... I read thru that link. what is bead board? I mean yeah all these painted kitchens look nice but deep down knowing how picky I am I will never really be happy with painted oak cabinets. I want a super modern look and that cant be achieved with these cabinets. This is why I held off putting in a gorgeous piece of granite 2 years ago and I am still trying to figure out what to do. This is why I stopped sanding because I keep thrwing away more money to try to create something that cant be created. Now on the other hand if your house is not super modern and you are ok with not having a frame-less cabinet that has spaces between the doors and is builder grade than by all means paint it and spend 5k on back splash and granite. I think I will just save and live with no doors at this point. I just dont see the point. I am too picky.

@designideas4me: we set up a paint booth in our garage. Since we did a whole remodel, we painted whole cabinets out there. As for the glazing on my white cabinets, I did not glaze the whole door. Only the molding. And since I was mixing old and new I was selective in what trimwork I glazed to make them coordinate and match better.

None of the box stores had cabinet doors where we live unless we ordered custom and that would have cost us as much as new cabinets in the long run.
To paint cabinet doors, sanding and primer is a must. Don't cut corners if you want them to look good. If you can, hire a reputable painter to do it right. That's what we would have done in hindsight because it was a LOT of work but very worth it.

The box stores also only carried basic glass and the glass shop was limited as well and I didn't want my kitchen glass insets to look like shower doors so I went to a custom door builder who sold custom glass and he cut the striped glass panels for me. I've included pics below of our paint booth and hubby painting, and details of our painted doors.

About hardware: we avoided Lowe's and Home Depot because they cost unnecessarily more. (2-3x more) We bought knobs and pulls new from a dealer on eBay. :-) It shouldn't be too difficult to find what you like online. Find a style, capture the name or style and google. For example- We liked a traditional style in oil-rubbed bronze for our cream cabinets available on overstock.com pack of 5 for $14.39. Better than paying $7 each our Lowe's. Finding on Amazon can save you shipping as well.

Hi crillb1!
I think the addition of a backsplash would really make your kitchen feel complete. You could add more of a modern touch with stainless steel which would look especially beautiful if you do make the cabinets darker. Or you could bring in a shade of teal to tie in to the rest of your home's decor. Here are some nice options from our website: http://www.susanjablon.com/stainless-steel-tile-mixed-polygons-mosaic.html http://www.susanjablon.com/9313445.html

I think it looks great as is, but if you need a change, how about adding colour to the walls and backsplash? Or,change out some of the doors (but save the old ones in case you hate it.)

If the budget allows replace the cabinet doors to update them and stain with a expresso wiping stain. The addition of a backsplash (stainless options) would further enhance the space. If the budget does not allow for new doors, restain the existing cabinets and do a backsplash.

Actually your existing flooring and cabinet colors are very nice. I wouldn't change the flooring if I were you. And oak doors are very hard to repaint, their grains are too strong, if the cabinets doors can be repaint perfectly I like the white color or dark brown stain. Or I think there is another plan, just change the counter top color, and put some new wall tiles.

As a faux finisher I normally lean towards the off white with glaze idea but in this instance I LOVE the dark espresso idea! It will be more work but the dramatic end result will be well worth it. The arch is a tad dated but if you went dark enough I think they would disappear as long as the hardware got updated. Can't wait for the after pics.

What sort of furniture do you have/like? If you lean toward contemporary/modern then the espresso color would work. If you like traditional, French country, cottage style etc, then paint in the lighter tones with pinstriping or a glaze. The cathedral arches will look fine if you opt for the latter, but if you go the espresso route, to complete the modern look, replace the doors. Otherwise it will always look a little country or traditional.

The walls should be painted either way to add interest.

A stainless steel backsplash will be a pain to keep clean (just saying') but will bring a very contemporary look. I would opt for a creamy stone tile backsplash in one of your granite colors. Stone or decorative glass tiles will work with the white cabinets--again choose a color for the walls. Tan or brown, olive, red, ochre--anything that complements your granite. All the white has caused the wood to look--well--like a lot of wood. :-)

Your floors are lovely either way.
Your current granite backsplash should be removed if at all possible and another backsplash added will update your look. Your granite is lovely otherwise. No need to face replacement expense.

Did you go dark or white?

I am delighted to recommend these bar stools for your kitchen. These will divide all of the oak you already have. Also, these will add French Country Style so your kitchen will have a purpose to look that chic.

http://www.kathykuohome.com/Product/Detail/975-French-Country-Medallion-Back-Light-Linen-Counter-Stool

Aslo this kitchen bar cart will also look very rustic in your kitchen, check it out.
http://www.kathykuohome.com/Product/Detail/2593-Industrial-Loft-Mill-House-Raw-Steel-Console-Table-with-Drawers


For more colors or ideas visit our website http://www.kathykuohome.com/

The cabinets have officially been transformed to a dark espresso color with new hardware! We chose to use the rustoleum cabinet transformation kit and are really pleased with how it turned out! Now...a little more help from all of you would be appreciated. In the picture we decided not to redo the island because we want to do either stacked tile all around it or faux stone. Any suggestions? Also any suggestions for the backsplash would be appreciated. Everything I find seems a little too wild against the countertops.

very nice. now I need to stop procrastinating and do the same thing. So tell us more about the process and cost. please.

Personally, I would paint/stain your peninsula cabinets to match the rest of your kitchen. When you introduce a different tile or stacked stone, it'll end up competing with everything for attention (your counters, floor, appliances, new backsplash) and start to look really busy...keep it simple.

The stacked stone or tile on the peninsula would encumber under counter knee-space and encroach on the overhang of your existing granite.

If you do add a backsplash tile, remove the 4" granite backsplash.

Your cabinets look great! What a lovely transformation. I'm not in love with the plans for the island, however, as I think either would look chaotic and overloaded with the granite. Do you have an inspiration photo? Perhaps I just need to visualize it, but personally I'd keep it simple and paint the island either white or an accent color.
I think you are right to be wary of busy backsplash tiles. You want to stay simple so as not to compete with the granite. Maybe a glass, stone, or ceramic subway tile that picks up one of the lighter background colors of your granite?

Beautiful kitchen! Have you thought of stained glass cabinet doors? It will break up the oak and give you great depth in the kitchen. Here are a few pictures. If you'd like to see more please visit: www.scottishstainedglass.com

The transformation process was surprisingly simple. I had expected it to take more time than it did after I had read other's comments. It took my husband and I about three days from start to finish. The only challenging part was the protective coat at the end. You must spread on a thin layer otherwise you will end up with spots that look like white glue. Cost wise we spent about $60 on the kit and $170 on the hardware. We were pretty picky about the hardware and I'm sure you can find cheaper but we wanted it to match our stainless steel appliance handles as close as possible.

I totally get what you're saying with the island. We can still paint them to be like our cabinets, I just wanted our kitchen to really pop and I feel like the cabinets against the white walls appears boring. I dread that you are all going to say to paint the walls! The problem is, our kitchen runs into our living room and the white walls look awesome with our teal/gray accents in there.

Perfecto!

The kitchen looks great! I'm so glad you are happy with your transformation. I think we purchased the same refrigerator. Ours is a Maytag. How do you like yours? We are remodeling 200 miles away and haven't used ours yet.

Beautiful transformation! I just found this site...love it!

I'm leaning alot here! I've discovered why I hate my cabinets. They are like crillb1's before pic. But my in between the doors have some bad gouges so I might have to replace all the doors. I'll just keep looking here. This is so nice.

The cabinets I had painted are oak. They were painted professionally which makes a world of difference.

If I can be of any help to you please let me know how! Susan

If you go with cream or white on the cabinets, I would suggest you paint the walls a soft, light green, something like willow, apple, lime, or chartreuse. You might also paint the interior back walls of the upper cabinets the same green and have the cathedral inserts replaced with clear glass. For hardware, you might get the kind with the white ceramic on the handles. The dark counter tops and stainless steel appliances will look great with this color scheme. If there is a kitchen window, you might use a white or cream lace valence to add light and softness to the room.

Your before and after photographs are inspiring! The dark finish really sets off the stainless steel appliances. By now you may have your project totally finished, but I just found your thread tonight. So...in the event that you take as long as I do on some decisions, I will share my thoughts. I agree with the recommendations to use the same stain on your island. For the backsplash, I would pick up on the main color of your granite so it blends. I can visualize a glass tile or a subway tile, all in one color. While some have suggested an eye-catching pattern, I am on the flip side for a sophisticated look. I hope to see photos of your finished project as I contemplate the start of mine. Thanks for sharing.