It would not be hard at all. My cabinets were a similar color to yours & I painted mine white. I love how they came out! I think it will go just fine with your counters too.

The first thing I would change are the lights. Can you post a pic of the stove side of the kitchen?

Change the current bright fluorescent lights to bright warm white LED lights. Then it will be easier to pick some good shades of white to go with your new flooring.

If you do the painting yourself, practice on the back of an infrequently used door, like the ones over the fridge.

TPS to strip sealer and grease, sand, prime, paint. labor-intensive but very doable.

should transform the room. add some nice metal pulls at the same time -- something like this can be quite cheap.

Splurge on a new high-necked faucet, too, even if you're not changing the counter or sink. It will make you feel fancy and be great for pots and pans too. :)

Good luck with your kitchen!

Great ideas/suggestions everyone! My husband is creeped out by the bright lighting so it is definitely on the growing list of things "to-do" :)

Thanks again!

Everyone always talks about the grain of oak. Nobody ever mentions using wood grain filler. I tried it on a door and it really did level out some of that deep oak grain. It does not make the door completely smooth like mdf, but I think it looks much better when painted. It does add a step to the process....

I haven't done it so can't suggest it, but something to consider in the right situation:

[https://www.houzz.com/discussions/cabinet-paint-help-in-kitchen-dsvw-vd~4398958[(https://www.houzz.com/discussions/cabinet-paint-help-in-kitchen-dsvw-vd~4398958)

Another option is simply to reface the cabinets. I agree the lighting is terrible.

From your picture, your cabinets look lovely. Changing the floor and countertops will make a huge difference. If they are as cool toned as they appear here, I don't think I'd paint them, rather leave them that rich wood tone but update with modern hardware. The point about changing your lights will make a huge difference. If you can, recessed lights will really update the entire room. Instead of your light wood colored roll cabinet (beneath your window) consider a more industrial (modern looking) movable island. Also try to find a tall (not so deep) cupboard to go to the left of your stove. Don't block so much of your lovely big window. Try to store as many of the little items behind closed doors.

I put in a couple new appliances and painted the kitchen cabinets this summer. Completely worth it.

Before I did all that I went through, relined the shelves and did a deep declutter. The decluttering was every bit as important to the look of the kitchen as the new paint color. Appliances not in daily use are off the counter. Appliances not used weekly are out of the kitchen. I rehomed a lot of glasses and bowls, things never liked or used, duplicate utensils and such. I even installed 2 more shelves for better access. I also replaced the dying fluorescent under cabinet fixtures with LED strips. That plus replacing the ceiling fixtures first then think about painting.

I wouldn't paint cabinets that still have a nice finish as you are stuck forever after painting them. I stripped the paint off the kitchen cabinets in my old house, there was pink, yellow, white and green paint under the thick faux antique brown in a 20 year old house. My last paint job lasted longer than 4 years and I'm sure all the people that painted cabinets don't have to paint that often either but still. Scary to think of doing this every 4-5 years!

I like the little bit of oak grain that comes through.

[I'd like simple, flat fronts as you have.]

Really Depends on Your Budget, in which having a budget set you can actually look at some ideas, i would personally recommend on putting money to paint the cabinets and change the counter tops to granite, and just paint the kitchen entirely which should run under 8k or less, but also you can paint the cabinets and upgrade the lighting which would tremendously help in boosting the appearance of the kitchen

Thanks

Pro Prabhu Home Remodeling

Lowe's or HD sell a primer for oak that makes the grain disappear somewhat and give a smoother finish......it is a primer too....easy to do just take your time.....when my kids were teens I worked on painting cabinets with the teens each Saturday morning...less stress and everyone worked a little bit to make it more fun and get done.....one day removing, one day sanding one day priming one day paint one day second coat....when finished I wondered why I waited so long!

If you are not changing the countertops too, then don't do it. They both need to be updated, in addition to the floor and lighting.

Would it be possible for you to temporarily remove everything from the countertop and sink, raise the blinds, then take more photos of both sides of the kitchen? Add a small piece of white paper to show color better.

The pictures here are a few of our kitchen projects. Doing the cabinets in a lighter color would work well with the dark countertops. Also notice the pendant lights, which might give better lighting to your space.

I painted the cabinets in our previous house myself, it isn't hard just takes a LOT of patience. We removed the doors and drawers, cleaned every surface really well with TSP, lightly sanded, primed and painted two coats. I added Floetrol to the paint as well. It's time consuming because you are constantly waiting for things to dry properly before you can do the next side of the door or coat of paint. It was worth it though. We changed the hardware too and the kitchen really brightened up. In our current house we hired someone to do it for us because we had more cabinets and less time. But in both spaces the way the room got so much brighter was remarkable. You really need to change the lighting first though because those lights are not going to mesh well with white cabinets! It will feel like an operating room.