Since mid tone wood is coming back, you might want to consider some cabinets of similar tone, but different style. A "craftsman" look is very pretty and timeless. I recently refreshed my similar style kitchen and had I been able to change my cabinets, I would have considered a craftsman style:

Another thought is to combine mid tone with a painted cabinet:

My home is from the 70's and had dark stained pine in poor shape for the trim. I did, one room at a time, eventually paint the trim white. During the 90's we replaced the doors with paneled doors (which were rather expensive) and new kitchen cabinets - which look like yours:) How time flies.

I did a refresh last year of new counters, backsplash and farm sink. Since the cabinets are similar, you may get some ideas of refreshing with your present cabinets if changing your cabinets is too expensive - though I suspect my vintage / French Country style is not yours:)

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

The sink is the Kohler Whitehaven "short apron" style which can be installed on a standard sink base and it is a great way to blend the old with the new.

Just for your info, this natural oak island is part of a new white kitchen in the most recent season of This Old House:

Thank you so much! You gave me some great ideas!

are the cabs in good shape? why not paint them and get new hardware? darker cabs w/that honey oak trim won't be the best look. why can't you just paint out the trim in the kitchen? better yet, if you hire someone to paint your cabs, have them do the trim as well. painting will be cheaper then getting all new cabinets. unless of course you want to stick w/the wood. Were you thinking of a birch or walnut type of wood?

In a former house I had oak everywhere- floor, trim, kitchen & bath cabinets, etc. I painted the oak cabinets a cream color, new counter tops & back splash and kept all the oak trim and floor intact. That being said if you search dark cabinets with oak flooring in houzz that should give you some direction.

So... darker stained cabinets with a more current door...but not too dark! I prefer white with oak trim...but that's me.

Mia,,,that's very nice oak. not the same 80's oak that OP has. makes a diff.

I thought that too but sometimes you have to make due with what you have if you are unwilling/ able to paint out trim. Personally I would tackle one room at a time, re painting trim white and THEN tackle the kitchen.

NEVER EVER PAINT CABINETS!!! Unless all you use your kitchen for is boiling hot dogs and microwave dinners. These are professionally painted after 2 years of use.

If you don't like them, have them sanded and stained a different color.

Check with a cabinet refacing company near you as your cabinets look to be in good condition. My neighbor did this in his kitchen and it looks super. You could change the doors to update and add a few with glass. Good luck!

Consider getting new uppers and take down the bulkhead. You could have taller cabinets and that would up date your kitchen as well.

We've attached a kitchen design of ours to give you some aid in your dilemma. Notice the beams and cabinet colors.

I have a kitchen in a mid century house that has the same raised panel honey oak. While I understand that modern oak cabinets are a whole different ball of wax (or wood, as it were), my honey oak cabinets were not at all my style, although they are solid, quality wood boxes. So, I've hired a contractor to come in, sand, gel coat, replace doors/drawers with slab wood doors, and then spray them all with four coats (two oil based prime coats, two coats of the chosen color). This contractor is one who only does rehab of cabinets. He is not a painter who came in just to paint- its an entire process with a crew of four. My advice is that if want to go the painted route, be sure to really do your research on the contractor.

With that said, I actually like the tone of the oak with your blue paint! Maybe if you dislike the doors, you could try replacing them with someithing in a similar tone wood but different style? I don't know how hard it is to match wood tones... OR replkace the doors and have a coat of stain put over all to unify.

I've gone way off the deep end with transformation- it does't have to be so different to be striking. Maybe its an easier solution for you with a pretty outcome!

The contractors are in day three of my redo. I'll post before/after pictures over the weekend, or next week when new floors go in. I had all the boxes and new doors, etc. painted a grey/Taupe, stainless pulls.

Good luck and let us knwo what you decide?

I would not choose a color that is close in shade to your trim, it should be significantly lighter or darker wood, or painted.

Thank you everyone for all your advice & suggestions. It looks like we're going to put new cabinets on hold and look at possibly refacing.

Tony Montana, I have read your same statement regarding painted cabinets, numerous times. Could you elaborate? You have obviously had a bad experience, but that can be for a number of different reasons - all of which can be avoided.

Please share your insight!

@mary, Not only me but many many people I have seen do the same. Long story short I have yet to see painted cabinets hold up that actually gets used. Yes it looks good right after its done. But that is only the beginning of the nightmare. It will start chipping, cracking, discoloring. Yes you can touch it up. But wait until that paint starts building up. All in all, painted cabinets is a dead end road to nowhere.

Tony, has this been your experience with sprayed applications? Or hand painted? Both?

All. And I think I'm gonna try one last thing. My buddy has a shop so I'd probably get it cheap or do him some favors. But I'm gonna try powder coating just for the heck of it. I pretty much know whats gonna happen since powder coating is a hard coating. Durable but its gonna crack. But gonna try anyway just to prove overall painted cabinets are garbage.

I painted (good prep, primer and top coat) some of my original 70's cabinets 20 years ago and put them in my laundry room. Obviously they do not get as much use as a kitchen, but they have held up well. Wood does move with changes in temp and humidity and this can cause hairline cracks at the joints - something I have seen in my own painted cabinets. This is why most factory painted cabinets are MDF or MDF combined with a paint grade wood. This is more stable as to movement.

Right now there are a number of people who are painting their cabinets who do not have DIY skill or patience. They see a before and after picture on the internet or see their friends just painted cabinets and decide to do the same without really understanding the procedure or time and skill involved. There are also a number of real estate agents advising sellers to paint their cabinets white to try to increase the value or staging of their home. These people may not be motivated to put the money and effort required to do a good job.

I would be suspicious of a home for sale with freshly painted, formerly stained cabinets. The buyer won't know for a while whether the job was well done or not. Poorly painted cabinets would cost a great deal to restore, unless the homeowners took it on themselves to do a full strip and stain or strip and paint - an arduous task. The homeowner is stuck with frankly ruined cabinets - not even ReStore will want them.

Cabinets can be well painted, but there are a lot of poorly painted cabinets out there. Painting them really well - having the doors sent out to a shop where they will be properly prepped and sprayed with the right primers and finish coats - is expensive. A painted over previously finished cabinet will not have as durable a finish as a factory finish. Even factory painted cabinets have some problems with chips. My friend's three year old painted custom cabinets have chips. Stained cabinets hide wear better, especially if they are finished close to the natural tone of the wood. My stained cabinets had wear from water damage on the sink base - after 18 years. This damage was not very visible. I refinished the cabinet and it looks great now. I am sure my friend can touch up her cabinets.

I hope I am around long enough to see how well the present factory painted kitchens hold up. It will be interesting.

@jhmarie, couldn't have said it better myself.

Well, I'll certainly post my experience in a year or two. Mine are being professionally sprayed, with the doors done off site in their shop. Surface looks flawless. But proof is in the wear, so ill try to remember to come back and let folks know my experience. They ant cheap-$5600. They are next to a run of new, factory made, high gloss white cabinets being made, so we'll have good comparison! Stay tuned.....

I love my Annie Sloan painted kitchen and it's "holding up" just fine. It's important to do this properly or have it done properly. Also, painting over solid wood seems to make a difference. I have another kitchen that was painted ten years ago with oil base paint by previous owners, it has chipped a little. They painted the old Masonite cabinets. If you go with the spray method make sure they have several coats. Good luck.

Have you thought of changing the wall color....to me blue doesn't look good with oak.

Honestly I've had both wood and painted cabinets and I love the painted look but it doesn't last. I would change out your hardware, paint the walls a more updated gray, and install a backsplash