What is your realtor's reason for painting or replacing the cabinets? I know oak is dated, but does that translate into being unable to sell or losing money on the sale? My neighborhood is between 18 - 30 years old, so there's a lot of oak. Your home would fit right in here. I look at listings and few sellers change the cabinets or much else to update their homes. Yet homes are on the market for a short time, and I can't believe the selling prices. We're in a high tech area of professionals, and the dated oak doesn't seem to deter them from buying because the neighborhood is desirable.

You'll never get the look of your inspiration photos with painted oak. Cabinet design has come a long way since your home was built. Few people replace their cabinets to make their home sell in a few years. So I hate to see you invest in new cabs or paint the oak and not get the results you hope to, ie. an upgraded appearance or helping sell the home.

benjesbride, thank you. That was helpful reading.

Thank you, mayflowers. I tend to agree with you regarding the cabinets not being an obstacle in selling. We are not in a high tech area, but the neighborhood and surrounding neighborhoods are mixed with the majority being working / retired professionals, and homes tend to sell very quickly. The inspiration photos were more for an idea of what the light vs dark counters look like with light floors and cream cabinets. I realize the floors in the photos are wood vs. travertine, but the color was similar to what I have. Do you have any suggestions as to what countertop would work with the floors and keeping the cabinets as they are (but with hardware being added)?

I love your undercabinet windows!

I would not paint your cabinets (but disclaimer - I just put in a new oak kitchen - I love wood). I also like black appliances with wood (but lost that argument to DH, who insisted on SS).

Your kitchen isn't terrible - a prep sink on the island would make it pretty functional. But I would not spend a fortune on counters, in case a future buyer wants to tear it out. I understand Uba Tuba is a relatively inexpensive granite, and I think it would look great with your cabinets.

AnnKH - Those two little windows bring in a surprising amount of light! I love them also. I have seen some pictures with Uba Tuba & oak cabinets and I thought they went well together. I'm thinking the Uba Tuba would work whether I painted the cabinets or left them as is and just spruced them up a bit. It sure would free up some dollars for the appliances and paint for the walls. The color on the walls now looks good for only about an hour each day - the rest of the time, it clashes terribly. Live and learn.

Here's the thing... maybe you don't need more stone? Have you considered quartz?

I think the Uba Tuba would be a good inexpensive choice or like Eam suggested a quartz. I too would not paint the cabinets. I would put nice contemporary handles on though. I'd also do a simple subway tile backsplash in a ceramic or glass tile.

I agree with the consensus. Ubatuba with some new ORB or iron-look pulls would breath new life into your kitchen. The cabinets look like they're in pretty good shape from the photos so I wouldn't paint them either.

Ubatuba, backsplash with some bling and some funky hardware (how lucky you are to have "virgin" cabinets!) and maybe some paint (I read some pink in your paint and yellow other places..) and perhaps remove the items atop the cabs.

Many thanks to all of you. I appreciate it more than you can imagine. Yes, jannicone, the paint on the walls is pretty bad in that light. In fact, it only looks good about one hour a day. Haha. Again, that was something we planned to change when be bought the house, but never got around to it. It all boils down to me not being able to make a decision!

The color of the countertop clashes with the travertine color..travertine has yellow gold in it, countertop has pink, and these undertones don't work well together. (Pink and yellow colors in their purer form do work together, as any flower field will tell you; that's the undertones in hard finishes like stone etc., that clash)

Hence your dislike.

So address it with either darker granite as you plan to, or solid creamy quartz as suggested in the thread..add a backsplash or hardware you love if so inclined, and suggest the acquaintance realtor to paint his own cabinets if he likes the process so. "You MUST". No, you don't. These are totally decent cabinets in great shape. Don't try to please some unknown people you might meet in several years. These unknown people will paint the cabinets themselves in the color of their choice if they decide to, when/if it will be their kitchen.

Now if you'd like to paint them for yourself-that's the whole another story. Everybody has plans as per how long they'll stay in their house, and life has its own lol. But not because you MUST.

I recently installed new counters, farmhouse sink and backsplash in my oak kitchen. My floors are wood, so I don't know how the counters would work with your floor and black appliances. In the pics, the counter reads a bit cooler than it actually is. There is a lot of pearliness which translates more cream, warm gray and even a little beige.

https://www.houzz.com/photos/my-pics-work-in-progress-phvw-vp~58830325

https://www.houzz.com/photos/my-pics-work-in-progress-phvw-vp~57088087

jhmarie, your kitchen is lovely, thank you for the links. It's great to be able to see how light counters look with the oak cabinets.

aprilneverends, I love your comment about plans - so true and a good thing to remember. And, yes, the cabinets are is very good shape. I would like to paint them, but it's going to be pricey in order to have it done right. I'm thinking that the Uba Tuba would work with the oak or white cabinets. I went to the supplier again this afternoon and still like that as well as the notte d'oro. I also saw one called verde venezino that was similar to Uba Tuba but with a little looser pattern (if that makes sense).

i like the greenest of them all..but don't mind me)) I think i'm just too much into green for the past several years. also i saw them just now when googling the pics(and the pics were all different btw, which makes sense-it's a natural stone after all)..while it's important to see them in your space, with cabinets, and flooring, and all

I took some pictures of the slabs at the supplier today but they really don't show the true color/character. The glare from the lights just made everything look gray.

It's funny about the green. I told a friend today that the Ubatuba had green in it and I'm not usually into green. She pointed out that the large rugs in my house all have green and then she looked at the picture of the family room I included here and said "aren't those green pillows??" So, I guess DO like green.

Link to gw green countertopsYour cabinets are fine. Getting rid of the tile is key, it is just a pain to keep clean....Green might just work sepentine countertops?

Ideally I'd go with a cream colored counter because of the floor. You're removing the black appliances so I don't see black and green relating to anything in either room. Take away your personal things and your living room is white and bright.

Thanks mayflowers. I'm going to take another look at some options in cream. The tile is so busy in person, that I'm afraid to go with the green ones in the photos, practical.

Here are a few photo-shopped pictures for you June.

1) Current cabs with uba tuba

2) off white cabinets with uba tuba

3) Steel blue cabinets with white

4) Pale olive cabinets

5) Greyish cabinets

6) Another blue with uba tuba

7. Pale green, island base in dark brown
   

8) Pale olive, island base to match

Good luck!

oldbat2be - Thank you!!! These help quite a bit and I never even considered some of the other paint options you included.

You're most welcome. If there are other colors you'd like to see, let me know and I can try. I was surprised at how much the room changed with just paint on the cabinets.

oldbat2be - love your user name! The countertops definitely have to be changed as they clash so badly with the floors in person (not to mention how bad the grout is to keep clean). The uba tuba slabs I found have much more brown than green - they're nearly black from a distance though. I took a black marker and filled in the counters in the first 2 photos you provided and I think it looks like the dark counters would work in either case. It's a little darker than the slabs really are, but very close. So, I'm thinking if we use the uba tuba, it would leave the opportunity open to painting, but wouldn't be a necessity. I'd like to spend more on upgrading the appliances to SS. Do you think that would look okay?

June Brown - here are two more images, with a darker Uba Tuba.

Frankly, I'm not crazy about how the cabinet color works with the floors. I do like the darker countertop for the contrast. As your color scheme 'works' (with the floors) in the adjacent room, it may be easier to paint the cabinets than to change the floor (which was never in scope).

Painted cabs with dark countertop:

Oh heck I may as well go try to find a decent off white.

Creamy -

I am no color expert but suggest you bring home color swatches to see what 'pops' against your floors.

Color experts - any ideas?

oldbat2be - can't thank you enough for all of your help with the visuals. The cabinets actually look better with the floor in person than what I'm able to capture with the camera. BUT I like the idea of keeping the option to paint the cabinets open. And I do like your last picture a lot!

So, here's where we stand: I put 2 3cm slabs of ubatuba on hold. My fabricator checked them out and said he thought he could work around a light hazy spot on one. Thought we were set. Went to the supplier this afternoon to pay and pick another slab to hold in case he couldn't work around that problem area and needed to cut a piece from a 3rd slab. While there, I saw Blues in the Night and now can't decide between that and the ubatuba!! Thoughts (other than I'm a little crazy)?

Oh, and the silk plants etc on top are going away. Will have to find a spot for the chickens that are now on the counter though - they were my grandma's and I could never let them go.

You're most welcome, I hesitate usually to offer an opinion but since no one else weighed in, thought I would.

I don't know Blues in the Night - anyone else? Here's a shot with an approximation and blue cabinets. Roosters/chickens are good luck, no?!

June Brown - any progress, thoughts, update?

I'd also seriously consider beefing up the moldings on top of your cabinets whethe ro rnot you paint them.

http://www.remodelaholic.com/update-builder-grade-cabinets/

oldbat2be - We've been gone for a couple days. But, yes, finally, a little bit of progress. Thanks to you, I was able to visualize my kitchen with the granites I was looking at and various paint options. Even though I found the Blues in the Night interesting, I concluded ubatuba provides more flexibility for our situation. And It seems that people on this forum who have it or had it in the past loved it. So....we bought the UT and it should go in sometime this month. Once the counters are in, I'll then select (agonize over) the backsplash. Once that's in, I'll decide on what we do with the cabinets. Baby steps in comparison to many on this forum.

I've ordered a single bowl SS sink and am going out now to look at cooktops, range hoods and faucets. One thing I am sorry about is that here in California an air gap is a code requirement. But I did find one on Amazon that is a little more attractive than what's at HD / Lowes.

You have no idea how much help you've been. I wish we were neighbors!!

no soccer mom - I like your suggestion! I may have to try that as a DIY project.