I would leave them as they are, or paint just the upper cabinets white. The problem is that you have warm brown floors, a black countertop, effectively gray backsplash and gray walls. The gray walls do not go well with your floors, and the black doesn't go well with the browns.

Walls won't be gray, I will be painting those as well, just haven't done it yet since moving in.

Will you be able to lower the cabinets and remove part of the backsplash without damaging the backsplash? I was wondering if you were for sure going to keep the backsplash. Consider the green gray of the glass tile:

I am indifferent with the backsplash as is, but I was going to keep it until we do a full remodel, which would include moving some cabinets/appliances.

I do like the color of those tiles, though. Maybe if I can find them inexpensively.

Grey cabinets and blue walls is a mistake in my opinion.

What you described with your current materials. I love grey, but this is way too much.

I would stay light on the cabinets or rip out the backsplash and paint walls light.

Lol omg, that makes me hate my kitchen even more. I will never understand why the previous owners spent a pretty penny on new granite counters on these cough cough awesome 90s cabinets, or chose the colors they did. The floors do clash horribly with the gray cabinets.

Sw requisite gray on cabinets and lighter color on walls. Place a roman shade over window and add small rug in front of sink.

how about a linen shade? would go w/the floor and backsplash and the black.

these use to be oak. General finishes milk paint in Linen or antique white.

White cabs and taupey walls.

I like both of those. I don't know how well they we'll work with the floors, though.

Too much grey with your backsplash. And adding blue to walls will just add to the assault. Unless you plan to replace the backsplash and walls with white, like the picture. In any case, your flooring won't work with that combo in the first picture. I would go for the bottom pic.

Why don't you just leave everything alone until you're ready to do a complete remodel?

You do not want to use any cool gray with the warm tones in the floor. The reason your currant paint color is not working is because cool grays and warm wood tones do not play well together. Neither brings out the best in the other. That is why the popular grays are paired with the popular white cabinets. Keep in mind it is a trend that will not last for ever.

If you do not want to bother with painting the cabinets, repaint the kitchen walls cream or sage green. If it becomes longer than 3 years to replace the cabinets, change out the backsplash for cream subway tile - not very expensive or sage green subway glass tile. The labor of removing one backsplash for a new one will be the expensive part. If you can DIY, then not too bad $ wise. Your kitchen will be pretty, even if not "on trend".

The current finish has chipped/peeled so something needs to be done with the cabinets. I want to at least have it look halfway nice for my sanity.

Thanks for everybody's suggestions!

Instead of cool blue or greys, how about warm whites, warm greys and taupes?

Warm greys do exist, but those don't lean towards blue, but purple, brown, and green. So I also have a warm travertine floor and I used grey on my walls. But the grey I used, works well with browns, woods, and warm colors.

If the cabinets are chipped and peeled, the best thing to do is repair and paint it.

Shellac Primer, Bondo putty, and BM Advance.

My kitchen with warm white cabinets, travertine floor, brown granite, and grey walls.

If you can live with less storage or open shelving, you could lose some of the uppers - less to paint.

The cabinets themselves are fine, it's just the finish that has worn away to raw wood. I considering stripping, dying the wood a less orange tone, then cerusing/liming the cabinets but would that clash with the polished black granite?

I love open shelving, but I have too much stuff to hide (3 little kids).

Can you show an example of the peel and chipped parts? It's not normal for varnish to peel off to raw wood, unless it's coated with a veneer. Maybe I'm not understanding the issue fully.

I'm not sure how you will be able to strip them enough to be able to stain them consistently and come out with a true grey wash. Most grey stain looks blue, so test first. That's also a lot of work, and that's coming from someone who DIY's every weekend.

I am pretty sure these were originally unfinished cabinets that just had a coat of poly rubbed on and installed.

Those cabinets will not do well to excessive stripping or sanding. They do not look to be solid wood, but veneer coated cabs that have worn off. And I'm sorry to say you will not be able to get to those grey washed cabinets with these.

The best thing you can do is clean them with a damp rag & TSP alt, seal them with Shellac Primer (Zinsser BIN), then repair and issues w/ bondo/patch-prime, sand primer with 220grit, and paint w/ cabinet paint (not latex).

I wouldn't even try gel stain with these, just paint. Milk paint might be a good option. Milk paint is very durable as well.

I refinished mine and it is a lot of work. I refinished some very old cabinets for my basement kitchenette and found a veneer panel:(

Given the small tile backsplash, I would paint. If you refinish you also have the problem of making sure you don't do anything to make the grain stand out too much.

You can replace some of those upper door panels with glass, frosted glass or metalwork just for something different.

I've seen this metal piece at Lowes:

I wouldn't use chicken wire with little kids down low - but upper cabinets or fabric shirred behind glass are other possibilities. The fun thing about bad cabinets is you can't make them worse and you can get creative with them.

Frosted - there are window films and even spray paints that will make your glass frosted:

The grain won't stand out because it's flat veneer. The only thing you will have to work on is sealing then fixing the damage. You will still see this.

What about a sage green for cabinets? (edit: Not so sage green of these cabinets, but maybe more like SW Woody Rosemary?)

I like the idea of frosted glass inserts... but I might take that money and just change out the back splash tile.

I see light blue or grey, medium grey, black, and taupe in your backsplash. I don't see sage going with that backsplash, but I haven't seen it in person, so who knows.

So if you change out your backsplash, sure, if that's the color you like. Hopefully you weren't still hoping for blue walls though.

Get sample bottles and paint on large foam board pieces and put them next to your backsplash and floor. Do good prep and look at some cabinet painting tutorials. It could be really sweet when you are done. You might consider repainting the walls a light cream for now - just to keep the gray from throwing off the cabinet color possibilities.

I think blue green will work better than true blue for your walls. Here are a blue and a green-blue

I thought removing the backsplash would help you visualize better. I would remove the mosaic backsplash and repair the dry wall underneath it. You can live with the little black backsplash until you remodel. White cabinets, not gray.

Thank you!! I really do think I need to get rid of the mosaic backsplash now. I have an extra box and a half of wood laminate leftover from basement remodel... I am wondering how that would look as a backsplash, especially if I go with a white/linen cabinet. It's Style Selections Handscraped Hickory.

Sorry for all the questions, I am super nervous refinishing something so necessary and permanent.

Laminate is very sensitive to water. The backsplash area would not be a good place to use your leftover product. Remove old backsplash and replace with appropriate materials designed for such a space.

that laminate flooring would be a worse backsplash than what's already there. No to the flooring. live w/the mosaic or find an actual tile that works. You can always look on craigslist for leftovers from someone's projects. I scored some great carrara mosaics on there for less than half price. perfect amount for backsplash and small areas. just check daily.

Kmpcfp, you need to stop. Take a deep breath. Make a plan. What is it you truly want to achieve? What is you truly need to fix? If you do not like your floor, cabinets and backsplash, then you are talking a lot of money to fix. STOP.

Research, research, research. What would you like your kitchen to ultimately end up looking like? How long are you willing to wait to achieve that? How much will this realistically cost?

Do not do this willy-nilly or you will end up with a kitchen like you have now. Warm and cool tones that clash.

Plan, plan, plan. Once you have done due diligence on research, now is the time to plan. Countertops should be first and then build your kitchen around that. (because countertops are usually the ones with the pattern and movement).

We can bandaid all day long, but you will still not like your kitchen.

I would stay with a light color for the cabinets. The counters are already black it would be too much.. I would also paint the walls a lighter color.

I know I am sounding ridiculously impulsive. Two years ago, when we moved in, we had a $20-25k budget for new flooring in house (there are literally 13 different floors throughout the whole house) and the kitchen.

Our budget quickly got eaten up by unexpected repairs (new roof when we were told we had 5 more years, high speed cable line, and soon to be new HVAC system).

I have a cousin that is a professional woodworker, and had a new layout planned, but of all the best laid plans...

I just want to get by the next couple years without having to rip my hair out every time I am in the kitchen.

So either I need to spend $300 in paint/accessories or $300 in wine. I am just really bad with color coordinating. I see kitchens I like, I just have a hard time picturing it in my head.

300 dollars in wine lmao. Get the paint. get an off white shade that matches that backsplash/flooring. If you plan on redoing that kitchen flooring soon, then go w/another shade. But an off-white will go with pretty much anything.

BM Lacey Pearl is a white that has a distinct gray undertone.

worry about painting the walls when you are done w/the cabinets.

Those doors are going to need some serious sanding to remove all of the flaky finish that's coming off. you will need to sand everything well. Do you know how to do all of this? painting cabinets isn't difficult, it's just extremely tedious and a total time suck. I've done it 3 different times and have no desire to do it again.

Prep is your main concern. the actual painting is the easy part. If you don't prep properly the best paint in the world will look like crap.

If you're up for it, then remove all the doors but make sure to mark where they go! number them and don't mess up! they won't look right in different spots.

There are plenty of how to's online, so I won't reinvent the wheel here. The best paint to use is either BM Advance or SW Pro Classic. The best primer is Zinsser oil base primer. You can brush it or spray it from a can. You will need many cans of the spray. It's more expensive but way more convenient. Either way you will have to lightly sand after priming. there is no way to get rid of the grain unless you use a grain filler compound which is not worth it. (I like the grain look).

My friend used Gen finishes Milk paint. I've used it on furniture many times. It's nice to paint with but does not come in a glossy finish. You will have to use a top coat over this paint. BM Advance has a glossy finish that needs no top coat. If you have a sprayer, even better.

Don't worry. The kitchen isn't that bad. Don't put any money into making big changes. Just paint the walls , relax, and enjoy your home.

Paint! Do your research on the best method and make sure this is a job you can handle. Be realistic about the results you can achieve versus a professional. Paint large sample boards of 2-3 colors and live with them for a few days.

I am afraid the $300 will not be enough to paint the cabinets. I think you are going to get "hidden" surprises. It would almost be better to remove the backsplash and repair and paint that for $300. Or buy wine!! That could work too!!

NO do not change your back splash and DO not move your cabinets down. Look at the price of that as now new backsplash and fix the area that you dropped the cabinets. 300 hundred would paint your cabinets on your side, DIY. Have a painter do it NO! The height of your cabinets are great for a tall person and small appliances. If the person is over 6' that 21" area is perfect for view and reach to the appliances!

Ken

Look into "beyond paint" it's a all in one. You don't need to sand, prime, nor seal. It's $129 for a gallon you should be able to paint all your cabinets with one gallon. They have about 12 colors to choose from.

I think the color Nantucket would look good with the colors you have in your kitchen.

I installed and finished these cabinets last month for the dog room/back mudroom/flex area. It's like a creamy white. I primed, custom blended a diy chalky paint, and applied polycrylic, then waxed because I like the feel/look. (Again ignore the clutter, this is my catch-all area.)

So this color will go okay with black counters and black appliances?

I would definitely get a cabinet grade paint and borrow a paint sprayer for the kitchen cabinets though.

I just wanted to give an update to my design dilemma. I am almost done after starting in February of this year. I added a few cabinets, added trim, installed hidden hinges, made a custom under sink trash/recycling/compost sorter, painted cabinets with Benjamin Moore Advance in Simply White, put in new hardware, and turned the buffet cabinet into a built in. I also painted walls and installed pendant lights. I ran a water line to the refrigerator, too.

I still need to make a Roman shade for the window, pick out bar stools (which is at a standstill with my husband), and either paint or put in shelf liners in the cabinet interiors. I am also waiting on some towel bars to hang under the sink on the pull out. I wanted to put in a side panel on the refrigerator, but there wouldn't have been enough clearance to pull out the refrigerator.

I ended up going over budget. (all in all around $1000, but that included adding the new cabinets, which wasn't initially budgeted) At least I can live with this kitchen indefinitely now!

cabinets look great! you did a very nice job. how long did the cabs take you to do? did you prime them first?

Thanks! First I scrubbed them down with a degreaser and applied grain filler to the exterior of the doors and cabinet boxes and gave everything a light sanding. I used 2-3 coats of thinned primer (sprayed on doors and used a furniture foam roller and good quality brush on the frames) depending on how much bleed was coming through.

I used 2 coats of the BM Advance on the exterior of the doors and cabinet boxes. My air compressor couldn't keep up with my paint sprayer for the thickness of the BM advance, so I did those with the foam roller and paint brush, which still leveled quite nicely.

Honestly I have no clue how long it took me. I did it over a period of a few weeks an hour or two at a time and a couple of full days.

Sounds like you nailed it! great job. it's so much brighter.