Painting the walls won't make enough of a difference. Plus, your cabinets and floors are too close to the same tone. I'd paint. New larger pulls will provide an update too. You could possibly leave the island its current color.

Bring home a bunch of cream and light gray chips and see which match your counters best, then paint the top few on large pieces of cardboard which you can lean in various places to see them by day and night, on different sides of the room, etc.

Your cabinets are beautiful. I would not paint them. Lighten the walls and could you add more lighting?

I'm not averse to painting cabinets, and oftentimes that IS the right solution. Always, though, your level of satisfaction is going to be determined by the professionism of the paint job. It's never just a matter of just slapping on paint.

I happen to love, love light painted cabinetry. If you do, too, then go for it! It would look spectacular with that dark wood floor. That said, if you're painting *only* to brighten up the kitchen, do consider that this may be a lighting issue, and not necessarily a cabinet-color issue. I'd get a professional lighting consultation.

That dark floor is gorgeous. But it sucks up a good deal of light. I know, I have a similar floor. It looks like you have just four overhead can lights. Not enough. Very light wall paint, combined with modern, more strategically and functionally placed lighting in greater number and higher lumens might be just what you need.

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I am definitely open to painting the walls as well. Any specific color suggestions? I do need to add lighting over the island as well.

Maybe just paint the upper cabinets and walls.

I would suggest some kind of chandelier (no crystals) with five or more lights over the island. The extra light would brighten the whole room. You could consider painting the island a lighter color found in the counters. Pretty kitchen.

I like your cabinets too. To paint them well would probably require a professional paint job and that can be expensive. I don't recommend people paint their own cabinets unless they are a skilled and patient DIY person or they are just trying to give life to old worn cabinets because they cannot afford new or are waiting to buy new. A poorly done paint job can devalue the cabinets.

You could have the panels removed from some of the cabinets and replaced with glass. You could remove a set of cabinets and replace with a few shelves - I am thinking more over in the desk area. You could have your island only painted. Light colored area rugs - and you could lighten the wall paint to a cream or creamy beige - just enough color to let your white trim stand out. I recently put in some under cabinet lighting in my prep area - I love it. It is only the DIY plug in kind, so not very expensive. I am hoping to have one outlet installed under my cabinets to hide the cord. I hear it is expensive to have under cabinet lighting hard wired in to the house.

Do you have under the top cupboard lights that shine on your work space?. That will lighten your kitchen. We put a pendant light over over sink and pendants over our bar area. That helped. Love your cabinets....put a colorful throw rug in front of the sink and you have a beautiful kitchen.

You cabinets are lovely and painting them will cost mega bucks to do them properly otherwise you will mess them up doing them yourself. Pendant lights are needed over the island and the yellow walls are not doing anything to enhance the kitchen.

Let's find a new wall color.

You also need a back splash in a lighter color. Remove the 4" and tile down to the counter. Go get samples and bring them home to see how they look in your space.

Cream upper cabinets would look beautiful and they would tie in nicely with your chairs. Also, you could add lighting under them and a cream back splash.

@jhmarie
I just had a reasonably cheap electrician at my house & he quoted me $500 for 4 wiring 4 under the cabinet lights.

Pretty insane, especially if I'm install the lights and wiring them in line. I might just install the switch and do it all myself. Not sure to do that or do LED string. I really want it after I finish with my kitchen.

I'm actually doing dark grey on bottom, cream on top (BM soft chamois). I was going to do simply white, but it's to stark for me. Continuing dutton place grey from LR.

Sorry, sutton place grey on walls which is a light warmish grey.

I painted my cabinets and love it, added granite, glass tile, new sink, up lights at the top of the cabinets and under cabinet led. It's amazing. Here's my before I lived here before and afters.

What paint did you use and how long did it take to do the job. Thanks,

Heidi your kitchen turned out very nice but the difference is that you had a yellow oak which most people are trying to get away from.The OP cupboards are a darker maple or cherry which is very beautiful and really would be a shame to paint. Paint down the road will chip.

@Heidi Jane, wow, it turned out beautifully! Nice work! Did you paint the cabinets yourself, or did you have them professionally painted?

Thank you everyone for your input! I think you have all made some excellent points. I think my plan of action will be to find a light-colored backsplash to lighten things up; install pendant or chandelier lighting over the island; repaint the kitchen a lighter, more neutral color; and add a rug (maybe under the kitchen table?) to break up all the brown. Hopefully that will give me more of the look I want. If not, I'll look into having the cabinets painted professionally later down the road.

Those are all great suggestions. Go for it. Someone upthread also suggested just painting the kitchen island base. That would break up the dark wood somewhat. You could match it to your kitchen walls or complement the new wall color.

But I love your wood cabinets. I had our builder grade oak cabinets painted white because the oak was ugly and closed in the kitchen. Your kitchen has high-end cabinets, which are beautiful. Painting the walls a lighter color, adding great lighting including upper and under cabinet lighting, changing out a few doors for glass doors, new backsplash, colorful rugs, etc. will add a lot of light to your kitchen.

My sister painted her own cabinets because she didn't want to spend the $$ for new and they do chip. She is going to have to touch them up.

@steph - sorry just saw your post. There is a pic of my humble in progress kitchen in my idea books, and the under cabinet lighting is on. It is run under the cabinets between my sink and stove. If you look closely, you can see the cord running underneath the cabinets where it crosses from one cabinet to another. That will be tucked up when I have a carpenter cut small ditched in the underside to hide them. The other thing you can see is the plug coming down and into the outlet. I want to ask an electrician if I can have one under cabinet outlet installed, possibly with its own switch. Then I can plug them in and it won't be noticeable. I don't know it that is possible. I have three strings of LED lights run together. The cost was $65. There is a switch on the cord. It is not "state of the art" and not particularly beautiful from the underside, but I love the light and how helpful it is in preparing meals. Outside of the cord running to the plug, it is barely noticeable. There was excess cord which I tucked under the cabinets with these little things you nail in which support cords - sorry I don't know the technical name:)

jhmarie thank you. I'm redoing the kitchen right now, and I'm trying to decide which direction to go with for under the cabinets lights, which is a must for me. The electrician I used in the past, quoted me $500 and he will undoubtedly leave lots of large holes for me to repair, throughout my kitchen. My cabinets are not connected, as there is a sink between two and microwave/hood on the other side, so I'm unsure if there is any other way than to cut out large holes. I may contact another electrician.

I've looked at putting up two set of string lights. Do you know which you bought? My kitchen does not already have a light over the sink and have been looking for different solutions that don't involve an electrician.

I have string lights under my cabinets--not fairy lights--but something with larger bulbs that shed light a little farther. They look festive, and they're so functional. But I only had to use two sets and I just plug and unplug them. Your situation sounds more complicated.

Ok thanks.

@Steph - it is Patriot Lighting from Menard's. I bought 3 strips that connect. I put two new pics in my idea book showing underneath the cabinet - I will keep them up for a while. The things I don't like are the fact the plug hangs down and the extra cord I had to tack under the cabinet. I hid some of the cord in white tubes that have adhesive on them made to hide cords along baseboards and some I tacked up - you can see in the pic - looks fine unless you look under the cabinet. What I would like is to have a plug put in under the cabinet with its own switch - not sure if that is possible. I would also like to shorten the cord - again, not sure if that is possible. My dad used to change out worn plugs and shorten cords, but that was in the olden days and I want it to be safe.

I also might have to change them from pointing down to pointing at the wall when I get my new counters because the quartz can reflect the LEDs off the counter.

Nice. Thanks for the info and pic! These are probably better than the ones you can buy at Home Depot or Amazon. Have you thought of just
putting a switch at the outlet?

@Steph - Thanks- that is an idea! There is a switch on the cord, but It is a bit lame. The switch at the outlet would be fine, I would prefer not to have the cord hanging down - but yes, in reality it is not a big deal. The new countertops should go in in about a month and then I want to do a backsplash. I thought that if I want an under cabinet outlet, it would be easy and better to do that before the backsplash - in case the electrician needs to cut into the wall. I do not want all the outlets under the cabinets - just one. A neighbor helps me out now and then and does electrical - he is a farmer / home remodeler depending on the economy. He is going to help with my basement kitchenette and then I plan on asking what can be done as to adding an outlet.

You leave the strip in the ON position at the cord, and just use this switch at the outlet. I use this item for my Iron that's always plugged in. Also, there are wireless switches that that you can mount on the wall that look like regular wall switches. Not sure how effective they are though.

Since you are doing a full remodel with pros, I would just get all your under cabinet lights hardwired in series and one switch installed next to your other wall switches. Just have the electrician do most of the work where the backsplash is going.

I think the first linked item will solve most of my issues, thanks!

http://www.amazon.com/Etekcity-Wireless-Electrical-Household-Appliances/dp/B00DQELHBS/ref=pd_sim_60_2?ie=UTF8&dpID=410-DyROwEL&dpSrc=sims&preST=AC_UL160_SR160%2C160&refRID=14WJD55Q3YPYKVSFXKCN

http://www.amazon.com/GE-18279-Wireless-Switch-Receiver/dp/B00R7Q7PT4

I think with all the white appliances it is a must to paint your cabinets..also it will give the kitchen a more casual cottage feel with your existing dining set. BM dovetail would be perfect and paint he walls a gray that leans more toward blue..I would add copper colored knobs and handles and add copper pendants and a chandelier that will complement it all. Will completely change the feel of the space and your appliances will just disappear...it will look super charming!

Paint the walls a light grey ish blue to match countertops. change the pulls on your cabinets to be 9" going vertically. This is easier than painting cabinet doors. Then put up a light grey/white backsplash! If you really want, paint the upper cabinets white. Accessorize with yellow.

Very pretty combination for your cabinets and walls.

I'm not entirely sure what species of wood your floor is. To me it looks like birch or maple. If so, just refinishing your floors in their actual colour will brighten up the space significantly. Plus, since your kitchen is 7 years old, I'm assuming your floor needs some work anyways.

We painted our cabinets argon gray Benjamin Moore and it was done by spray laquer and it looks fantastic. Really lightened up our room! You may want to look at that color. The painter told me I'd be much happier with a lighter than darker gray.

It might be useful to share some photos of a project of ours. See how dark the cabinets are but how light the space is?

i think adding a back splash would do a lot for this space, give some sparkle. like the last picture above. and paint the island a light color for fun and lighting. maybe a rug under the table. and a different light over the table too.

I always like to ease into change. Try a larger painted light fixture over table, white with bright pattern place mats or tablecloth on the table. Add flowers in same colors on a far counter. And most of all, paint your ceiling a real "ceiling white". That will make the biggest difference. Be brave, but don't waste money.

A post script from Iris.

dont hang a light fixture over your island. You will have to spend a lot of time cleaning the darn thing. How about one, or maybe two additional spots?

also, how about a light colored indoor, outdoor rug under you breakfast table?

it will break up the expanse of dark flooring, and float the dark table.

if you still feel like painting, paint you table top a bright color.

What about painting the top or bottom cabinets a different color. Painting the walls a lighter color and adding rugs would lighten it up and break up the colors scheme.