we live in a straw bale home & my dear husband so wanted these cabinets- so glad i said no way. i suggest a good sanding & painting them deep charcoal gray to help minimize the pattern, definitely light counter tops, don't kick melamine to the curb, i looked the other day & surprised at the choices- a nice subtle gray stripe offering looked good. back splash also in a light color, but application on the exterior wall by the window may be tricky ( is it plaster over cob?) end the line at the upper cabinet edge- the curve in the window would be next to impossible to prep or tile. half round trim tile is abundant for the stopping point. under cabinet lighting would be a must, function wise and to help negate the cabinet face pattern. light strips on the top of the cabinet to highlight the beams and ceiling would help also. hope you are pleased with your bale home! upstate ny winters are no match for my house, in fact winter time guests usually start removing layers- lol.

Yes, I feel that the cabinet color, counter-tops and floor color don't make this kitchen work. Here is a pic of the main kitchen. Have thought about an accent color on the inset of the cabinets.

Well, the big obstacle to modernity is the funky doors. But if you're living in an adobe house, I suggest embracing them -- after a couple of years you may have come to love or hate them, along with having a better feel for the functional pros and cons of the overall layout.

Meantime, there are a couple of approaches, but it would help to know more about your style. For example,

1) Simplest, you could leave the wood natural and just find a stone counter that works with the tans and grays -- shouldn't be that hard, and you can get out for a couple thousand $ in stone, installation, and new sink and faucet (get a single large undermount bowl and high modern faucet). Then you could do some knobs/pulls if so inclined, and/or add some lighting, especially some cute pendant over the sink.

2) Second, more extreme, option woud be to paint all the cabinets. You're never getting away from that inset, but you could, say, change from a natural color to a white and make them blend into the walls -- this would leave you lots of freedom in terms of counter color (grays, whites, marble-look), and you'd just have the natural beams overhead to tie into the feel elsewhere.

3) Somewhere short of new cabinets but still significantly more expensive than the previous options, would be to replace all the doors and drawer fronts with flat-panel or shaker versions -- could be natural wood to match the boxes, or painted (and paint the boxes to match). This is the only option that gets you away from the angled design, but it's also a big commitment to the current cabinets and layout, so I'd want to wait a year or two before doing that and be sure that everything works for you as is.

I don't mind the floors, especially if they're heated. Cabinets seem ok, if funky. I'd change the counters right now and then live there a bit -- that's a small enough investment that if you decide you want to gut in another year or two, it won't break your heart, but enough that you will feel a big difference in the look and function of the space meantime.

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(Dark is possible too, but with the very dark floors, I'd prefer some lighter speckled granite.)

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Then give yourself a chance to settle in. How you will live there and use the space is what's the most important, not what style boxes it checks, and that can be hard to predict on Day 1...

You know, you could paint the cabinets a green similar in color to that door, install a colored terra-cotta tile backsplash in muted colors and do wood countertops.

Wow those are some neat looking cabinets. I would want more colour in there (backsplash?) but that's just me. Maybe you could paint the island (turquoise? cream? yellow?) Why no pulls on the drawers, knobs on cupboards? Maybe do a wash of colour on the cabinets, more grey, white etc.?

Your kitchen isn't that bad at all! I see lot of options. And with these beams it gives me an Art Deco feeling.

As you've planned, replace the appliances by stainless steel, charcoal or black and do so with your countertops,

You may paint the ceiling between the beams white.

You have no pulls or knobs on the drawers en cupboards. Have there never been any or did you remove them? It doesn't disturb at all if there are none.

Your slate floor is beautiful!

Some examples of green cabs with wood counters:

Great backsplash!

glazed clay tiles in earthy greens:

My style with this house leans towards industrial. Our previous house was sooo different urban, historical and a bungalow. Thanks to all posts so far!

I would just replace the doors on the cabinets, and then paint/stain them. And then do a new counter top and add a back splash. Then I'd paint the ceiling a white-ish color and stain the ceiling beams a darker color.

White always looks good with slate and wood...

As does blue!

Do you have any inspiration kitchens you can show US? Maybe that would help!

I agree with acm that I'd put my dollars into a single stainless undermount and industrial/commercial faucet. With cabinets that will be history at some point, I'd choose laminate for the counters, either white or maybe one of their faux concretes. I'd also remove as many of the upper cabinets as I could.

I love your floor and window.

definitely replace all door fronts and repaint. if you need help with measurements and where to get really good quality door fronts let me know!

I like the cabinets. Changing out the white appliances with stainless or black - along with a new kitchen sink will help a lot.

I can easily see displaying some Native American pottery on the tops of the cabinets.

Soapstone counters would also be a nice update.

Remove as many of the upper cabinets as you can (especially those around the window) and install open shelving with interesting iron supports for a more industrial look. Paint the cabinets a color that blends with the walls, so that they disappear and are not the focal point. Add beefy, iron-colored hardware as needed. Install new laminate countertops in a concrete finish or any type of matte finish. That would help a lot and be affordable. It makes sense to install a large stainless sink & industrial faucet when getting the countertops. Totally remove the cabinet doors on the island that show to the great room. Patch the hinge holes prior to painting and the island will look awesome. Backsplash? Wait and see how everything looks, then you will know if you need one or not... You might be able to get away with hanging an industrial utensil holder or spice rack and not need a backsplash... Appliances can be done at a later time as budget allows.