IMO the walnut stain was the right way to go for this home. Seems to complement the brick.

Maybe touch up the stain where it's gotten rubbed, and add new hardware with a little more presence. I'm against tan and gray, for reasons of era, but I guess I could see a medium blue as a second choice.

I think your kitchen is beautiful as it is! If you do decide to paint, though, I would choose a color that complements the bricks-maybe a warm gray. Blue, in my opinion, would be too harsh.

I think you can add the orange accents to the walnut cabinets. I don't like the blue in the kitchen at all.

If you taken the time and care to stay pretty turn to MCM please don't paint the cabinets the above blue. I agree with Karen . Kitchen looks great.

Well, it should probably be a turquoise. My color magic is a bit lacking...

Big Chill Retro Stove, Beach Blue · More Info

last stab:

You know your cabinets look great and really fit the MCM vibe

( kitchen below left is original 1950's and the right hand side is an updated MCM kitchen)

i would love to see your cabinets this colour- is there anyway to lighten the stain colour?

I smiled when I found the pics as you already have the same colour floor and a stainless steel oven

Anything painted eventually needs repainting and as it gets that way it looks truly awful. Gray cabinets would be too much gray for my taste.

Your kitchen looks great as is, however, I'd probably make one practical change: replacing or altering by adding to the existing knobs on the cabinet drawers -- a replacement handle or a pair of additional handles on each of those wide drawers could add more pizzazz and provide a better grasp for pulling open the drawers -- preferably any pair of drawer pulls added would match the existing ball finish so you could leave the ball in place, too.

You might consider leaving the cabinet color basically as is but adding some trim to the front, perhaps adding a stencil design to them or metal decoration -- something that would go well with the stainless steel appliances and stove hood, perhaps even expanding on that idea by adding a metal decoration of the same theme to the brick behind the stove.

Thanks suezbell. Appreciate the thoughts. Not sure how it would look to have non-matching hardware on either side of a finger-pull on the drawers. It seems like it would look quite awkward.

After discussing with my husband, I think we're going to hire an architect/designer to come in and look at the space. We're not going to spend the money to rip out perfectly functional cabinets, but he feels very strongly that he dislikes the stain and that it makes the kitchen look very dark. I am guessing we will end up with a quote for refinishing the cabinets and fronts, but I am guessing that's going to be rather costly. We'll see.

You know what would lighten things up.... sunny yellow! with a laquor finish! :))

Retro Fridge, Buttercup Yellow, Without Ice Maker · More Info

ok, I'll hush up now. ;)