Start by addressing the lack of lighting in the space. You need a LOT more recessed lights, as well as under cabinet lighting. A white kitchen in dim light is still a dark kitchen. After you spend the 2-3K on the lighting, you can determine if you want to spend the 4-6K on a good quality professional paint job.

There are five can lights that are actually pretty bright. I should have turned them on to take the pictures!

HI -- Try adding lighting on the top of the cabinets and also under cabinet task lights . Having the cabinets painted professionally will not lower the value of your property . Not a fan of the wall color , it seems to make the cabinets look darker than they are . Maybe a bigger crown molding will help. Creating more interest can add so much . Even if you just paint the upper cabinets a soft white could help a lot .

Follow the above re lighting and wall paint before painting cabinets. Also, reconsider your countertop decor. All this pictures, small appliances and objects absorb the light.

Thanks lefty47 and Ann. I will try your suggestions first. They seem less intimidating than having cabinets painted. I am noticing that having a photo, helps see the issues more clearly. Trying to decide on a wall paint color will be next task. I have used a lot of grey in other rooms and need something different and more cheerful!

Try white and add your accessories. I recently repainted what little wall I have in my similar kitchen and I really like the white. It has just ever so slightly more color than the pure white of the doors and casings.

Those espresso cabinets are already dated so IMO white done well will great but I do also agree with getting better lighting

Realized had pictures with lights on. Should have put these in post initially. I really appreciate the ideas and suggestions. It is so nice to be able to get this

feedback.

The lighting in this kitchen is not right and you need a professional in to fix it because no amount of white paint is going to fix it. You have insufficient # of cans for this space. You need to switch out to LED bulbs.

And its time to paint the walls!

The lighting is fine if it's LED. Not sure why everyone is hung up on this.

No, don't paint these. WIll be a disaster. But you can swap out cabinet faces pretty inexpensively. I had a carpenter swap out these and a counter for like 4K. A lot less than doing a kitchen.

Of course paint them! You don't need to ask anybody if it's a good idea or not....if you want them painted, then go ahead...

I would try painting your walls white instead, and adding clear glass pendant lights over your ledge by the sink. Clear off your countertops. That may be enough of an improvement without an expensive cabinet change.

I think your cabinets are very nice. However, they are dark. I painted my cabinets white and am very happy. I love how light the space looks. I did it myself, and it was a lot of work, but turned out fine. However, as others suggest, the lighting probably isn't right. I went to IKEA and spent 150 dollars for new ceiling lights (my kitchen is smaller than yours), with LED bulbs, and my kitchen lighting looks great. I agree also with painting the walls.

Cancork, thank you for explaining what I was trying to get across in a much better way. I have a 1970's home that was DARK. I spent 2 months updating the lighting with a professional team and that included removing ceilings to accomplish it- the difference is unbelievable. I had friends and neighbor who thought I was nuts and i was putting in too many lights, but now that winter has rolled around and the sheet rock is back up I now realize how important all these decisions were and how much good lighting affects the live ability of a space. My interior designer reminded me that dark cabinets are dramatic ONLY IF YOU HAVE THE RIGHT LIGHTING. If the dark cabinets seem oppressive it means your lighting is off. So the other posters that said to address the lighting first before painting or doing anything else were spot on.

And those are not LED lights in the cans. Be sure to get the LED's that do not cast off color - and yes those are the more expensive LED's. But $300 on new bulbs that can save you $6000 in paint or refacing, is money well spent.

I say, if you can afford to pay a professional painter to re-do your cabinetry a great shade of white, by all means do it! Perhaps add a couple decorative glass faced cabinets to break up the monotony of wood

If you can afford to have them done right, I'd paint them. Would probably increase appeal for resale where I live.

Lighting is the key! I can't say it enough. People want to go to the time and expense of painting over a factory finished cabinet and it rarely makes sense. When I design any kitchen, but especially one with dark cabinets, I always do a lighting plan. I use recessed LED adjustable accent lights whenever possible and they should be 2700K with a medium beam spread. The idea is to light the cabinets, not the floor or the counters. (Under cabinet lighting is a given). The light will reflect off the cabinets and give a sparkle to the cabinets enhancing the wood grain. Even light is not necessary. some shadows give the space more dimension. Paint is impossible to undo. Lighting can be dimmed. DO NOT Paint the cabinets.

Maybe it's the photo, but I think that there's plenty of lighting...maybe she just needs higher watt bulbs in there....

There's five can lights in a kitchen that looks to be about 12x14....

Replace the cabinetry doors! and paint walls too! Both are very easy to do and will provide you with major rewards in the long term!

I'm sorry, penny. Yes there is lots of light but that's different from good lighting. Higher wattage lights will only make make it worse. In my years in the theater I learned how light can shape a space. If you look at professional photographs in magazines you 'll see the difference. It's not always superior design but it looks much better when the light is in the right place.

design details...A living, working kitchen is far removed from a photo shoot or the theatre...

Paint away. Age doesn't matter, and it won't endanger your resale value.

paint the cabinet doors, white matte (like the kitchen door)! cabinets are soo nice, just the color is wrong. this dark color is to heavy. and add some light to lighten your working space (counter top). LED stripes are not that expensive. choose neutral color.

Yes you should paint your cabinets, but not a bright white. You have to paint your cabinets an off white, or cream color. You have to relate your cabinets to your countertops, which have a pinky undertone. Your backsplash also falls in the earthy category. You can try Benjamin Moore AF
65- Fossil for the cabinets. Or try Sherwin Williams 7028 Incredible White. Or SW 6128 Wool Skein. Your walls are yellow and should also relate to your cabinets and counters, you can try BM Manchester tan HC181 on the walls.

Wow! So much information and good debate! It seems like everyone who says paint the walls feels like they should be some tint of white as opposed to a color. I know there are 1000s of whites. Sharon...ill check out colors you list above.

I am also needing to learn more about LED bulbs. Went to IKEA last night and saw LED bulbs for can lights but assume there are different levels of quality.

Thanks again everyone for your input. Never expected to get so much!

Painted cabinets DO devalue your home, they look cheap and chip. The espresso will be very obvious through the white with even the slightest abrasion. I agree with others that the wall color doesn't work. White walls ARE NOT an antitdote to "dark wood," they more often clash with them and fail to bring out their beauty. Bright colors bring out the best in dark wood, and cheer up dark spaces far better than stark white. I will post some examples of color with dark wood to illustrate...

Also, good start with the clutter. Get rid of anything (wine bottles fake plant) that don't NEED to be there

Ok. Here are some pics. The first is exactly what I would do: invest the money in a bright, shiny tile, all the way to the ceiling. The others show how color can righted the darkest wood. Your white door next to the cabinets screams at them, which is what white walls would do. White with espresso works very nicely in stark, modern kitchens, but you would need to change a lot more than the backsplash to get that look (floor, countertops, cabinet doors...).

Oops the uploaded in the wrong order. My advice is to tile as in the SECOND pic, the lovely blue all the way to the ceiling.

Design Details --why a 2700k versus a 3000k? Gives better atmosphere? Seems 3000k would be brighter but maybe that doesn't look good in some rooms???

There are LED "inserts" for standard can lights...about $35 at HD. They are available in different "tones" which are expressed as 2600k / 3600k etc. I have 4100k (natural daylight) which is really "bright white". Lighting makes a HUGE difference. Get several of these modifiers and see what makes sense for your particular needs. Once you've decided on the " k " you can install undercabinet lighting and decide on a wall color.

Hate to tell you but they are already painted. Those dark so called espresso stains are so pigmented that they might as ell be paint. It is used to cover cheap grade wood that is pieced together. That said it was all the rage 2 year ago and now for some odd reason people consider wood that shows any of its natural defects t be of cheap quality. Go figure!

DO NOT paint your cabinets if there is nothing wrong with their finish. It will NEVER look like it was professionally done at a cabinet shop. If you want a low cost hold you over deal then go ahead but know all this epics you see are taken from a distance not showing all the issues. A quality respray would cost easily $3-4k on those cabinets.

Look at the pics where above with the brighter backsplash and wall color. A much better decision and one you will have to most likely do anyway if you were to paint.

The yellow you have on the walls is a cool yellow. Make sure to paint walls a warm color the next time around. It can still be a yellow, but it needs to be a warm golden yellow. Also light olive green and beige can be used to warm up the space and "feel" warmer.

I would not paint those cabs, walls yes. You can buy led inserts for can lights at home depot or lowes for 29$, simple installation.