Jhmarie is right on your flooring. Gray tones are harder to work with. You don't want to go oak, but a shade that is more warm brown would be advisable for longer term fit.

I agree with Bruce's comments and I surely meant for the front of the peninsula to be painted the sage green. Warmer LEDs would work best with the overall color scheme I'm suggesting.

I agree with jhmarie. I was having a hard time with the Baltic Brown granite and gray floors. A warm wood or even a wood texture tile would work better.

A professional paint job of those cabinets is twice your budget. DIY it, even tough it will be a couple of months of nights and weekends. No to the gray floor. BB is pinky beige, and not a lot won't set off that pink. A white with pink undertones would be best.

You can get different granite if you do the pre-fab ones. they run about 500 bucks for an 8' piece (with edging). Or you could do the peninsula in a butcher block. Floor and Decor or Lumber liquidators has them. I just hate Baltic Brown, personally, so I would do anything possible to get rid of that. You could always look for some remnants as well. It's possible to do the kitchen if you DIY the cabs yourself.

thank you so much everyone.

We really dislike the granite generally as well, but we figured with our budget and this being more of a track home we would do the cabinets and try to draw attention away from granite. The cabinet doors are maple and the boxes and peninsula have that laminate finish.

Here is the specific hardwood we picked out, should we still be concerned? http://www.homedepot.com/p/Malibu-Wide-Plank-French-Oak-Baker-3-8-in-Thick-x-6-1-2-in-Wide-x-Varying-Length-Engineered-Click-Hardwood-Flooring-23-64-sq-ft-case-HDMPCL145EF/300182562 

Although those sage green kitchen you shared are beautiful, it feels too much of a bold change for us. We hoped to keep it more neutral and simple. White seems to work as shown in the pictures above?

We still plan to remove that trim which drives us nuts and then add the backsplash, about 30 sq ft with Grecian White 3 x 6 subway. Is this neutral enough with the countertops?

Flo Mangan, what color are the cabinets in the Chadsworth Butler Pantry photo?

Under the other photo's for the Chadsworth project, the paint color is not given, but it states the colors come from Benjamin Moore's Historic Colors collection.

The French Oak is nice but if you are set on doing that then paint your cabinets gray because white won't work very well especially since appliances will be SS or basically gray tone. I would strongly suggest you make up some large sample paint boards and get a sample of your flooring and hold up in your light to see what it looks like. I am very familiar with Baltic Brown. Lowest cost granite around which is why it went into production homes. It has very pink look to it. Test your proposed elements with it. Let us know how that works. With that budget, you are DIY-ing painting cabinets which I highly recommend researching very well. It is huge job. Remove all hardware, remove doors, prep all surfaces thoroughly, prime, sand, clean with tack cloth all cabinet doors inside, outside and flat front cabinets. Repeat 2-3 more times. Final finish. Purchase and install new hardware. Install doors back. Fight with the ones that now don't fit back just right. Keep fighting because now you have to fill previous hinge holes because the were messed up and now you can't get screws tight. Pray you have sanded and cleaned surfaces so they look clean of dust and oh yes, bugs that flew into wet surface in your garage! Couldn't pay me to do this. Save your money and just try painting the outside of the peninsula and see how that goes. Just telling the truth here.

Or take a sledgehammer to that ugly bacteria under a microscope stone and put in a nice stock laminate for now. Straight runs from a box store that you DIY yourself, likely will run you under $300. I'd MUCH rather have an inoffensive laminate than BB.

Thank you Flo and everyone for the advice. Will post updates and photos as things progress.

You can reface or repaint the the cabinets. I would pull a color from the granite to paint it and I don't think white will look right.

Re Flo's comments on DIY refinishing, she's right. The secret to a successful project is in the prep work, whether painting or staining. It's boring & tedious but it's essential. Years ago when I was repainting our eaves & fascia a neighbor thought I was a contractor & tried to hire me b/c he'd hired a contractor who hadn't prepped correctly & was having problems barely a year later. Onsome of Nicole Curtis' shows she shows refinishing steps but it's time-lapse editing so viewer doesn't get accurate feel for time req'd. Re Sophie's comment, I've seen some laminate that looks like real stone at first blush at Lowe's. I'm considering that for my laundry room. And I haven't seriously shopped for it. Others may offer even better-looking laminate finishes. If you do resurface counters, you'd have many more options in cabinet & backspash colors.

I have to agree with those who said to ditch the countertops. You'll spend your entire revamp budget fighting to get those counters to look good. All the best to you.

I realize you are loving the white / gray kitchen look. I throw this out just as an option. Maple cabinets are pretty, still sell and yours look to be in good shape. You can update your kitchen without painting the cabinets. New appliances, countertops, hardware and backsplash can make a big difference. I added an apron front sink - the Kohler Whitehaven "short apron" style can be installed on a standard sink base. I did not paint my cabinets and am very pleased with my refresh.

I also have baltic brown granite and initially pickled maple cabinets in my 1993 house. I painted the cabinets this summer using SW bungalow beige. the backsplash is beadboard, painted BM sea urchin. Same as wall color. cost was a few hundred dollars. we used a sprayer for the cabinets. we already had an air compressor. Hope this helps.

I've seen white cabinets with baltic brown, and it's not a good look.

To paraphrase the wacky TV detective, Maxwell Smart, you know what you want to do w/ appliances. You don't know what you aant to do w/ cabinets, backsplash & maybe even countertops. Start w/ what you know. Your range, u-wave & fridge are all slide-ins so you won't have to configure cabs around them.

Have you done any work yet? I too have baltic brown and I am painting cabs cream. I apparently disagree with others here and think it will be pretty. There are several posts here that make it work and it looks lovely. I wouldn't do stark white. I am battling finding a backsplash right now.What ard you choosing?

Karen V, in comparing your "before" pics at the top w/ the "after" ones, I'd say you hit a home run, and it didn't just barely clear the fences, it was a "no-doubter" the instant it left the bat. Nicely done!

Looks great.

Wow, it's so much prettier. Great job. May I ask what color you used on your walls and ceiling?

I do think it looks great!!!! Funny how they really trashed Baltic brown. Mine isn't pink at all. It is a kind of terra cotta color. In other words more orange than pink. Having a tough time finding a backsplash. Also, regarding the cost...not cheap. I just paid way too much for an additional counter. The granite yard said it is middle not low end. I am sure prices are different in every location. But it was $45/sq. ft. It is hard to get my color though. What color are your floors?

thanks so much everyone!

barncatz - the walls are taupe tease by behr and then ceiling is a white by pittsburgh paint.

mamadada - we inherited this granite when we purchased this condo. originally built in 2001. we wanted to refresh our kitchen without replacing the granite so I'm not sure about the cost. The floors are Wide plank baker oak floors from home depot. They are on the gray brown side.

Yes definitely! Sleek, modern white cabinets could make all the difference!

I think the counters are very pretty. And in regards to the comments above about Baltic Brown being a builder grade...I have been touring new homes since pre granite craze in the late 80's when Corian was the thing to have. Not once have I seen Baltic Brown in a spec house. The grey white polka dot one yes. Never Baltic Brown.

Wow! Great transformation! If you do anything in the future, you may want to change out the island granite, but leave the countertops against the wall as is. You could go with a Carrera to tie in the backsplash.

You people are brutal. Do you even have granite?

Glad you didn't go with sage green!! I have the same countertops and am also going to a white/cream cabinet. Don't know what to do with the backsplash but yours looks great!!

@Sophie Wheeler-what white with pink undertones do you recommend? I have BB countertops as well and am looking for a color to paint my cabinets. I am thinking of getting new granite or quartz for our island. What granite or quartz would compliment BB? I know you dislike BB but due to budget, it's staying. :)

@ Karen, I just came across this, having the same colors you had before- your post makes me want to start painting my cabinets right away,

fantastic outcome, what a great job, this is really beautiful, thanks a million for posting.

"OK, change your appliances to stainless"

Yes, and your sink too:

Has anyone tried any other color painted cabinets with baltic brown countertops like expresso to modernize? I've got the light oak colored cabinets and want to paint to modernize but don't want white, orangish brown, or cherry cabinets like i've seen in the pictures i've searched for. Floors are cream neutral marble

@Jill-Many houses in my neighborhood have baltic brown countertops. IMHO, those kitchen that have espresso cabinets or other dark cabinets, feel very closed-in and well, dark. Perhaps lighting can solve this issue. Not sure.

Reno'd my kitchen and painted cabs SW Cameo Cream and exact match crackle subway. Not great but I'm used to it now.

I love your result! can I ask what color white you painted your cabinets? I looked for it in the thread and cannot find. I have Baltic brown counters and getting my cabinets painted next month! Would love to know your exact color! Thank you!

We have Baltic brown as well and absolutely hated it for the first 2 years of owning the house. Then we decided to try and work with it. Painted the cabinets Sherwin Williams naval and added gold pulls.

@Steven T. your Baltic Brown looks different from mine. We too are considering painting the cabinets dark blue and were clueless about what kind of backsplash to add. I hate BB but I’m trying to work with it instead of replacing my granite.

HU,,his looks diff because his under cabinet lights are very warm temp. They give off a yellowish hue. if he had cool, 4500K light bulbs, it would look like yours.

Have you considered looking into pre fab granite or quartz? they are usually about 2K less than buying a full slab. and really painting cabs comes in at about 5K anyway, so use the money to get new countertops if you hate them, Your cabs are very nice looking and so is your backsplash. all you need is a white quartz, or marble or marble-look quartz.

or, if you like darker, go w/a black soapstone or honed black granite

or this Charcoal quartz (Silestone Eternal)

if you can spare about 4K, you can do this, or the light gray one. Either would look great in your kitchen

Steven T: I love what you did with your kitchen! I ended up refacing the doors of the kitchen and changed the counter tops and new backsplash. I love it. And I build an island.

Karen,

Is the Marble tile you used from Home Depot the “MSI Greecian White Polished Marble Floor and Wall tile”? Thanks

Tracy

Steven T. Your
Countertops are not Baltic brown. But they are similar in shade. Not pattern.

Steven T your kitchen looks stunning!

I worked with my Baltic brown countertops too. The kitchen looks great. New backsplash and off white painted cabinets.

If you are replacing the appliances, all stainless steel would lighten the look considerably. If you need to paint, select a light silvery gray.

Steve what great combo! It looks fantastic! What color are the floors?

Work it!

Steve. I would also love to know the colors of your floors.  Beautiful!

Any update? Would love to see🤗