First . Remove dated wallpaper. Paint a very light gray. Remove dated hardware on cabinets. Never put in center of doors. They should be on lower end. Try brush nickel. Are you painting cabinets? A white would make room look fresh. Then use the brush nickel long pulls. Lowes sell. When painting cabinets. Take doors off and rent a sprayer, faster. Lowes rents them. Also,use paint made for cabinets. Otherwise will chip.

If you want to get more money for house. Removing those cabinets over bar, Would help open up space. And easy to do.

That's a tall order for one weekend.

I'd do what Nancy says, and go with a warm white.

that said if you are selling do things for the selling part:

- remove all wallpaper and borders

- paint cabinets in a white dove

- paint walls in balboa mist

- eliminate cabinets over bar, or close bar off and leave cabinets.

- change hardare o cabinets. NOT ON THE CENTER

- change light fixtures

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-s-bunton/home-renovations-and-your_b_5135469.html

http://home.howstuffworks.com/real-estate/buying-home/wh

http://homeguides.sfgate.com/house-appraisers-look-put-value-house-6651.html

Dated kitchen will be replaced by new owners just remove the wallpaper and paint the kitchen a light colour ,what colour is the floor ? This will help on selecting a paint colour . After you painted wash down cupboards with TSP and give them a fresh rub of Lemon OIl , add some new tea towels by the stove , freshly baked cookies . This can be done in a short time ,get rid of clutter if you have any ,no garbage cans and you will be all set

Funny. An appraiser just left my home and asked about upgrades appliances. He also commented on how nice my paint colors and decor are. No kidding! He just left a few minutes ago. Hahahahaha

I too have a 70's kitchen that I am starting to remodel. We will eventually opt to tear everything out and get updated cabinets and granite etc. BUT until we have enough money for that, we too are doing a cheaper/quicker update. I also had soffits with outdated wallpaper and we tore it off and just painted it -looks 100% better! Also, we are going to paint the cabinets a creamy white and add updated hardware. I think those things would also benefit your kitchen as well. Depending on your floors and color scheme, I'd go with light gray walls/soffits and soft white cabinets OR Kilim Beige (also referred to as Realtor beige) wall/soffits and cream cabinets. Soft, simple and clean. :)

if you are not painting the cabinets and such just go with a neutral beige. let some one else imagine it for their own space. tho removing the uppers from the nook side would be amazing.

AFTER!

We recently had our home appraised for refinancing at a lower interest rate. I was talking to the appraiser about the house across the street - been on the market 10 months and is way over priced. She said painted older cabinets made no difference. To mark something updated, real updates have to happen - new counters - and there was a different category for "updated" and" remodeled". The report was primarily about square footage, age of systems (heat / AC, roof) and if anything was broken. Comparisons were made to other homes that recently sold in our area. A small increase in value was given to homes with updates over those without.

I absolutely agree with you. However I think there is still something emotionally unsettling when you walk into a home with a hideous kitchen. Obviously no science behind that! We ended up getting what we wanted from the appraisal and I'm glad we did it because we've had a white kitchen for two years instead of the hideous one. At the end of the day, it motivated us! Stay tuned though renovations this summer!