you're going to get a million opinions on this question.

Should you? up to you. you have to look at it. There are a thousand tutorials online about how to do it yourself. I've done it 3 times and will never do it again. it's a ton of work and extremely tedious. If you don't mind taking a month or two to do it, have at it. I can't stress enough about prep, sanding and priming.

I will tell you that if the proper prep is not done prior to using a quality paint, it won't look good and it won't last. A pro would prob charge between 3-5K (Pro! cabinet pro. not house painter) to paint these. would take 1-2 weeks. That grain will still be somewhat visible. It will make a huge difference in the space

for an update, you could try to refinish them, change hardware, paint kitchen and maybe update splash. can't really see the whole space, and your pics are tiny.

It's possible to paint them yourself, but time and labor intensive. If you do, I'd do the following:

TSP to remove grease (even in a "clean" kitchen)

sandpaper to remove glossy top coat

prime, then maybe prime again

paint, then maybe paint again

You may also want to at least get quotes from a local company which specializes in repainting cabinets. Probably more money, but faster and less hassle. But get and check references.

If your trim is pine, I would start with that.

I agree to do as you want. You may not want to here this, but busy backsplash and oak is not a great mix, so if you love the backsplash, that might move you towards painting. It also looks like you like darker gray walls - that could just be my computer monitor - but again, not a good mix with warm oak and maybe showing you would prefer the cool tone white and gray look.

I prefer warm and kept my cabinets wood, but did do new counters, backsplash and farm sink.

[https://www.houzz.com/photos/my-pics-work-in-progress-phvw-vp~93784356[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/my-pics-work-in-progress-phvw-vp~93784356)

I did mine in a more vintage style. I have a "wood kitchens" idea book that has some updated oak kitchens in other styles.

Finished wood cabinets that are painted do need more upkeep, but if you are willing to put up with that then maybe that is what you should do. If you do it yourself, be prepared to work hard and do a really good job. Poorly painted cabinets look bad in 6 months to a year and it is tough to fix a poor paint job.

Also, if you paint trim, leave interior doors wood:

https://www.houzz.com/photos/my-kitchen-in-progress-phvw-vp~45783770

Hard to say because I can't see the floor. If it is the exact color of the cabinets you could make the cabinets darker with stain, I might be inclined to do that. You could stain the base and paint uppers white. You could try it on one door to see if you like it. If you don't like the new stained color then paint away.

My objection to oak is that I think of them as yellow and that is a color that needs to coordinate with other colors. I think of brown cabinets as neutral and use any color with them. Your cabinets aren't ugly at all but I can understand wanting a change after so long.

I meant to show a picture of browner looking oak.

I think that company "kitchen tune up" that has franchises all over the country has a process of refreshing the wood doors if you want to keep them.

Otherwise, follow the directions people have stated for prep and then use a paintnlike BM Advance or General finishes milk paint (it's actually acrylic and sticks well to things)

but if you do pay a professional, make sure it's not a regular house painter, but rather a place that specializes in cabinet painting where they take all the doors off site to where they have a professional spray room.

Also someone just posted this elsewhere. It's updating an oak kitchen with light quartz and subway tile

Check out General Finishes gel stain. I'm in the process of this now with the same oak cabinets and going to black. It's time consuming but relatively inexpensive compared to replacing or hiring a professional. If you are not patient and detail oriented I would not recommend doing this yourself.

Ours look(ed) very similar. We are literally in the process of painting now. My kitchen is relatively small and it has taken an entire week to remove doors, clean, prime, and paint. We decided on general finishes. Definitely not a miracle paint like we were told. I had to do 4 coats. It's finally looking finished but still have to do some touch ups. It was not as self leveling as I had hoped and a took a ton of work. I have spent 7 days with really long hours on it. I still have to add the top coat and rehang. Overall, I think it will look great. Definitely not the finish you would have if a professional came in. The savings is in the thousands and also makes an incredible difference with an updated look.