the biggest single thing I would want to change would be the floor...I see the tile runs throughout the 3 rooms. First choice: hardwood in all the areas-could not beat it's warmth/resiliency/ and help to create the change you are after. Sounds like you are capable of laying it yourself. Would remove the cabinets above your canisters on the wall in favor of open shelving. Would consider leaving the slab doors and do two paint tones -darker for base and a light for the remaining uppers. Lay the floor first-wood has various tones to then pick: a red...a java..a charcoal.. etc for the base cabinet color...slab doors don't have to be uninviting...Once the floor and simpler cabinet changes are chosen, I would see about the budget to change counter and backsplash...I'm thinking altho you laid it intentionally, a slightly more modern look would help transform things. It reads very traditional...the ceiling lighting-which doesn't need to change... [ but you should work with the style feeling] and slab doors read more modern..but you can certainly do soft modern to transitional..... but shaker-not sure the change with the precision work involved would be worth it. A complete view of all the walls with cabinets would help folks give detailed ideas.

I'm confused. Do you plan to replace the existing laminate doors, or simply add trim to "shaker" them out, then paint? I would never attempt to paint laminate - disaster waiting to happen with paint peeling later. I think your floors are fine (if they are in serviceable shape). I like the idea of shaker doors and antique white cabinets. I don't like the idea of painting the trim a different color as it will make a circus like look with complexity. I also think the cabinet interiors should stay very light as well so either the antique white or a VERY pastel version of the copper. I'd also have shaker panels made for the side and backside of the peninsula and paint them the cabinet color - this would be a very simple but high yield upgrade in the look. If the cabinet boxes are laminate as well, I'd forego any changes until the cabinets can be replaced. You can't really change laminate so don't try to paint it as you will regret it.

The photo looks like you still have fluorescent tube lighting in the soffits. You can buy 4 foot long LED tube lights at your orange or blue big box home store that are designed to replace fluorescent tubes. That will get rid of the "blue" tint and make a big improvement in the quality of the light in the room at a cost lower than replacing fixtures or redoing the soffit. I'd do this before you start looking at colors because, well, nothing looks good under fluorescent lights (waiting for the one person in the world who loves fluorescent to chime in and call me an idiot ... haha).

You can get fluorescents in different color temperatures, at least for the fixtures that I have (circular and four-pin). I usually get bright white, but they also have yellow and blue. I'm not sure about the four foot tubes. Some of them I have to order online.

OP, if you keep the laminate, you could look at trimming out the soffit with a wood shaker design or a more decorative design, and/or removing some of the doors on the uppers and paint the open shelving. Another option is using more decorative hardware, perhaps in copper? But it looks like you have already bought new hardware.

The biggest cost you'll have is by far replacing the kitchen cabinets. What is your budget? Are you or someone in your family a contractor or handyman? You can really stretch your dollar by purchasing kitchen cabinets online, and if you by them RTA (ready-to-assemble).

I also agree with you about the white paint - I personally like the granite to go with a darker brown kitchen cabinet color. This blog from HGTV might help!

Good luck with your new kitchen!

Do you have any inspiration pic of copper painted drawer fronts? I'm sorry, but it doesn't sound pretty to me, but I just might not be imagining it correctly. (I hate sounding negative about something you like, but really, I just might not be able to picture it.)

I'm having a hard time finding images of copper painted drawers... maybe that's because it's a horrible idea and nobody would ever do it?? LOL!

The closest I could find is a copper sink... one of those farmhouse ones where the front of the sink shows where the drawer front would be, but I don't think that really shows what I'm picturing.

OK, I wouldn't add shaker molding to flat front melamine doors. Also wouldn't paint just the drawers in copper or the shaker trim, ending up with a two-color kitchen, like this:

If you're determined to paint the doors, I'd just go antique white and add some copper hardware and some copper/rust in a rug or runner.

Or paint a light warm gray or beige, pulled from your granite although it will probably be difficult to pick a color that goes with the floor, backsplash, and counters.

Or go with copper bottom cabinets and white uppers.

Oh, that two toned kitchen in the first picture is awful! That's why I said no to painting the shaker trim. Yuck. I was thinking if it was just the drawer fronts I was painting copper and the rest was white I would avoid that circus-like look, but I could be wrong. I don't have any sets of drawers like they have in the middle (the four stacked drawers), so it would just be a line of color around the room directly under the brown counter.

The copper lowers and white uppers is an idea I hadn't considered. Will have to put some thought into that.

Why are you opposed to adding the shaker molding? I've found lots of examples of people doing this online, and it's come out looking pretty good, and I thought it would be a fun project?

For example, here:
http://cherishedbliss.com/kitchen-hack-diy-shaker-style-cabinets/

Why are you opposed to adding the shaker molding? I've found lots of examples of people doing this online, and it's come out looking pretty good, and I thought it would be a fun project?

The difference at least in the example you show is that she was starting with a wood door and not a melamine door. What you'll wind up with is two separate finishes (melamine and wood) on the one door because of the two different materials. Painting it won't really change that.

It is definitely possible to paint melamine doors. I know my ex and I did it in our 2nd house. It required lots of sanding, a special primer, etc, etc. It was a real PITA and if you're only planning on keeping the kitchen as is for about 5 years I think there are other things you can do to freshen it up that are cheaper, and easier on your time.

What I would do is pull the tile off and put up some beadboard and then paint it and the soffits as close a color to the cabinets as possible. Yes it's a "harsh" white, but change out the bulbs to a warmer bulb color and that will help lighten up your kitchen tremendously. Then maybe add a few decorative pictures, pretty dish towels, etc and call it a day. Then start dreaming about your dream kitchen and how you want it to be.

My first kitchen in my first house was Ikea cabinets just like those. I had white subway tile (original to the 1927 house), a black laminate countertop, and painted everything white. It really helped freshen the house up. Why did I chose those Ikea cabinets? They were the cheapest and all I could afford at the time and it really did look good. And if I recall, our floor looked almost exactly the same as yours.

OK, I'm glad I'm not the only one who was scared by the copper drawer fronts against the white cabinets (even antique white). The only way I was able to even find any contrasting cabs was to Google image, "ugly kitchens." I say this in the nicest possible way. :)

If you want to get an idea of what the copper drawers look like, get brown packing paper and wrap them.

Can you show up pictures of kitchens you like? I'd certainly try all kinds of other solutions before starting to paint melamine cabinets.

Here are a bunch IKEA melamine white flatfront kitchens.

Unfortunately, I'm just not a fan of flat white cabinets at all. We're not a fan of white cabinets in general, but these flat white panels are like my worst nightmare! I don't like any of those. At all. :(

This is closer to our style

I'm sure there is nothing that we could do to our current kitchen to come anywhere near what we like! Tolerable is all I'm going for!

I wonder if it's the color or the flat panel that bothers you most.

Copper tiles on the ceiling? paint cabs copper?

Those copper colored lower cabinets in the last picture actually look pretty good. Thanks for posting these pics!

I could never do open shelving, my family is not organized enough, it would just look messy all the time. LOL