If your husband is not comfortable painting the cabinets, I'd say replacing the doors and hardware would be another way to make a change. Your floors look really good and the cabinets look like they are in good condition too.

I think painting the only the doors will look too busy against the stain, and might look as if you didn't finish the paint job. If you can replace the doors with Shaker style overlays, the slab drawer fronts would not need replacing.

You could remove some of the doors to make them look like open shelving, but then the cabinets need to be kept organized, with attractive contents. I tried that with a cabinet in my kitchen, but it looked unfinished--as if the doors were off for painting. I've read about removing the centers and replacing with glass, but you'd still need to keep everything organized.

Thank you. The cabinets are in good condition that is why he is so hesitant on doing anything. We remodeled our kitchen about 20 years ago and when we ordered more cabinets the color was different after 10 years. Some cabinets are lighter and some are dark. I have looked at new hardware but the hardware we have now has a 4" long plate under the knobs and there are some dark spots on the wood where the plates are plus screw holes, which I suppose could be filled in.

Talk to one of the cabinet refacing guys and see if you can get new cab fronts without messing with the counter.

I don't like the idea of painting just the door fronts. I agree with the above poster that it'd be too busy. I also don't think changing the hardware would make any difference.

I think the issue is that it's too dark. I like the wood tone, but you have too much of a good thing. I agree with you that painting the cabinets would be a good way to brighten things up -- but not white. I don't see those countertops with white. Sage green or pale blue perhaps?

If he's not up for that big a change, could you add some lighting? Could you change the curtains to something white and billowy? And some light throw rugs?

agree with removal of molding and change hardware-maybe pewter or black...... Think "cleaned up country" for your space...leave all the wood intact.......remove backsplash and reddish fabric elements. Change backsplash to a light slateblue/gray tile or a darker blue-maybe cobalt......valance window tops in a blue/white check or stripe or pretty botanical ......blue and gray patterned mats on floor. The floor and cabinets are one continuous "look",so contrast it with another theme-I'd do the blue.....the red doesn't work any more. The counter works as a neutral which is okay. This can be really pretty.....get some blue/white pottery or paint a shoe box or two in some shades of blue/ white/ cream and set it out to see how gorgeous it will make the wood look.

Ooooh, painting the doors while leaving the frames stained is not an attractive look. I rented an appartment with that combo once. And it will only serve to bring more attention to your door shape.

It's a pretty dark space, I can see why you'd like to brighten it up a bit. Changing moldings and window treatments would be a good start, but new doors and a paint job would help a lot too. It's the arched rails in addition to the color, that make your doors look dated, and that arch is echoed on the top drawers as well. If you can afford new slab cabinet doors and top drawer fronts, you can get a more modern look. Keep in mind that they are stick built cabinets, so your overlay will pretty much stay the same. The cheaper alternative is to just paint everything a bone color, the cabinet door details may just visually fade away.

Agree with Kompy and Herbflavor. Update the things around the cabinets to lighter, fresher colors. I can't really see the backsplash well but you might not need to change that either - but get some light blues, blue-greens, aqua, fresh tones. Remove the spindle rail, change the window treatments, get a lighter colored rug on the floor (the ones you have are nice but we are looking for a change).

Don't paint just the fronts. Just give them a really good cleaning if you haven']t recently; you can be surprised at how that can brighten them up.

They would be very cute painted a soft pastel, though!

We just had new doors and drawer fronts made for our cabinets and the cost was similar to painting. In fact we even had new drawer boxes and glides installed. We have natural cherry and they are light now, but I am sure they will match the cabinet frames within a year or so. I think a longer runner in front of the sink would look really good. I really like my inexpensive one I got from Overstock. It's wool, feels good, looks good and has held up well.