You can stain or paint out your cherry kitchen any time you want ($7K or more to do so...depends on how big the kitchen and where you live). If you don't like the counter tops, nor the cabs, nor the floors I would have a real hard think about what you will do with this in 7-10 years.

If you do NOT come up with a 7-10 year plan (ie. you simply do one job at a time; matching ONLY THE ONE ITEM to the existing items) you will end up doing something TWICE. This is the BIGGEST mistake we see on this forum. People puttering alone, matching an "ok" floor to a HATED kitchen. Then they match the ok cabs to the HATED counter top. Then they are FORCED to buy a HATED counter top because they MATCHED everything to the HATED finishes.

It is weird but it happens EVERY DAY. And we are called in, EVERY DAY, to clarify how to get a "fix". But the problem started 3 years before with the FIRST ITEM.

Here is the REAL dilemma: What is your FINAL KITCHEN look like? The one in your head? The one you are going to work towards for the next 7-10 years? Don't know? Uh oh.

Before you do ANYTHING (and I mean even before you go sample shopping) you need to sit down and do a basic story board. Pick the COLOUR of the cabs. The COLOUR of the counters and the COLOUR of the floors (that you want to run throughout the space).

Now that you have taken TWO WEEKS to get your idea book/story board together (you will leave it in your car until the kitchen is finished in 7-10 years) you can START the floor shopping.

Only with a CLEAR DESTINATION will you get this done "properly" (without having to double purchase a "wrong" decision because you didn't have a plan). Once you have a CLEAR IDEA of what you WANT in a kitchen, can you go floor shopping.

Choose a floor that works withe the DESTINATION kitchen...not the one comes with the house (you don't like it, remember?). You will get a beautiful floor that will look BAD with your CURRENT kitchen. That's OK! Relax. You did it KNOWING you will CHANGE something else.

Now pay for the painted cabs. When you have enough money go ahead and purchase your ideal counter top. DONE! After years of sweating it out you now have reached your DESTINATION KITCHEN! Yay!

Before you get there, you have to PLAN AND MAP the way! Like heading to Europe, you need to know what flight to get on! No need heading to Beijing if you want to go to Barcelona. Brussels is NOT the same as Amsterdam! Close but no cigar.

You need a MAP. An ITINERARY! If you wouldn't go to Europe without a map; you wouldn't install a floor in a kitchen without a destination in mind (it is cheaper to get lost on the wrong continent than it is to get lost in your kitchen reno).