Bring cabinets up to the ceiling, paint them a nice neutral, use hidden hinges, new hardware. The vines are great.

Honestly, it depends on what you love. For me, I hate the way painted cabinets look and the way they wear (i.e., painting does not read updated to me). If you love painted kitchens (and are not just chasing trends to stay updated), by all means paint them.

Remove the cabinets on the right side( either side of the windows).Replace remaining cabinet doors with flay front style.

I would consider moving your stove top. It seems like a waste of an island where it is now.

I think the problem is that the wood cabinets match the wood flooring too well. I would paint them white, and then add molding so they go up to the ceiling. A new, lighter backsplash would be nice too.

since the bottom cabinets arent arched, you'd only need to change the uppers. (painted, they will still be arched...).

having fewer uppers, especially crowding the windows, is very on trend. and it would give you fewer doors to replace. i'd def lose that last one on the right with the crown covering the shelves, thats a bit of an odd look. you might replace that one with some open shelves for your every day crockery and glasses. no need to style them, and they are far enough from the cooktop to be out of harms way.

To me, there are two separate issues:

1) not enough contrast between cabinets and floor. could be fixed by painting the former or staining either one. painting is the best way to keep things light.

2) dated arches on upper cabinets. painting will not hide these, but if the overall feeling is updated and fresh enough (and you add pulls, etc), you might not care. alternatively, you could have new doors made for the uppers to match the lowers and then paint all of them. or you could even buy new cabinets that go right to the ceiling. all depends on ambition and budget.

Hope this helps.

Also, for my two cents, I'd never get rid of upper cabinets. Shelves are on trend, but they also leave your stuff out in the open, which means it can get greasy and must be kept lovely all the time. Life is too short and kitchens have too much to do...

You all are super helpful, some great pointers and gave me some good ideas. :)

We also noticed the lack of contrast, and that's a major issue for us - but we don't love painted cabinets either, so it's sort of a dilemma. Replacing them all isn't in the budget right now, so we may end up painting to save the money and plan to replace down the line.

Wanted to stain the floors as well, but that project is having to wait as we replace the floors throughout the house.

Removing any cabinetry is out of the question as honestly, we have so much stuff that even all of these cabinets aren't fitting it all (two cooks and bakers in the family).

One other idea we had, was moving the stovetop to the area beneath that "odd" cabinet (between windows), then replacing the island with a larger one (there IS space for it), with more storage (in which case we could spare that cabinet).

Again, thanks for all of your feedback; very helpful! =o))

You could add contrast with wall color, stools, table and chairs, or pendant lights. My cabinets are similar and I love my wall color, a deep green/blue.

What are the dimensions of the island, and what is distance between island and perimeter cabinets?

I was faced with this same dilemma (quality wood cabinets, but dated orange oak finish). We also had the matching floor, so no contrast at all. I finally decided that I wasn't willing to live with cabinets I hated, regardless of the quality. We painted them a creamy white and I love them.

That being said, if you don't like the look of painted cabinets - don't do it. They'll never perfect, and it will drive you nuts. I hated mine so much that the trade off was worth it. Maybe not for you.

An easy fix to start with would be larger rugs in the kitchen to cover more of the floor and give you a visual break in the wood tones.

You don't want a stove right next to the door and with no landing space on one side -- several disasters waiting to happen, even if you're ready to pitch all the counters you already like!

If you're plan is to update and then get to the point where you can replace, here are my suggestions:

1) Paint to give the room some contrast. Get a pro, don't do it yourself. Use oil-based paint, not latex, it wears better.

2) Stick with the upper doors. "Changing the doors" costs a lot and never goes as smoothly as you think it should. Save your money.

3) Moving the cooktop will be difficult and expensive. Keep it where it is and put that money in your kitchen account.

4) Put pendant lights over the island and over the countertop at the windows on the right.

5) Scrimp and save so you can get to the point you can gut and remodel. It's a gorgeous space with great windows. Save so when you do it, you can do it right.

Just for giggles, take your measurements in to a big box store and get a quote on what cabinets will cost. My experience is that people come in and they think that cabinets will cost 1/3 to 1/2 of what they really cost. Sure, you're not remodeling for five years, maybe more, but you need to get an idea of how much your figure and the actual figure differ. My bet is you'll be surprised at the difference.

Island is 40x60, and it's 35" away from the counters on either side.

Susanopeno: What color/paint did you use for your cabinetry? We may just go through with the painting because we really are bothered by this kitchen. Thanks very much for your input, nice to hear from someone who's gone through a similar thing. :)

acm: I agree, good point about not having any counter space on one side of stovetop if we move it over. Will have to think on this!

Thanks very much, Carolina Kitchen & Bath, the doable tips and actionable advice are very much appreciated. We actually are thinking that it'll be anywhere from $30-$40K to replace all our cabinetry, I'd be very surprised if it was more (we like to estimate on the high side to avoid sticker shock). Not in the budget for quite a while, only because there are SO MANY projects in this home being that we just purchased it.

We'll look at repainting and putting some pulls/knobs on the cabinets, possibly putting up moldings to tops of cabinets, getting a couple of pendants, and then live with it 'till we have the money saved up for a major remodel. Hopefully it won't bug us as much for a few years while we do.

Thanks again! :)

Angie: I wanted a slightly creamy off-white so I went with Sherwin Williams Dover White, but I had it mixed in Ben Moore's Advance paint. The finish is beautiful, almost a pearly finish. Under my LED "daylight" bulbs it looks white, but in natural daylight it's a bit creamy. My kitchen faces North, so colors may be different in yours. Also look at Ben Moore's White Dove which is their most popular cabinet color. I had the cabinet frames brushed because I didn't want to deal with having my entire kitchen wrapped in plastic. The painter took the doors and drawer fronts off-site to be sprayed.

Also regarding BM Advance paint - read up on this paint before automatically going for oil paint. It's water based, but has many of the properties of oil paint. It self levels beautifully, so no brush marks. It does take about a month before it's FULLY cured, so you need to be just a bit gentle with it at first. After that, it has a rock hard finish that will last for years. Also yellowing will be less of a problem than with oil paint.

Cabinets need to go to the ceiling.
Loose the arches on the cabinets
Move the stove - not appropriate for an island.
Rebuild the island to be functional and larger.
Consider staining the cabinets a couple of shades darker and updating lighting.

That sounds wonderful, susanopeno182! Will definitely look into it and check out their colors, as well. Thank you very much for the detailed information... super helpful!

You're welcome, Angie. I agonized for a year before making this decision, so I know how you're feeling! It's such a huge change, so it was almost impossible (for me, anyway) to visualize. It's not so much about the color, but the way the kitchen "feels". My kitchen felt oppressive and dark to me. Oak,oak,oak everywhere I looked. I had even planned to replace the oak floors. Now that the cabs are white, I don't mind the oak floors at all. Turns out I was just dying for some contrast!

Good luck with whatever you decide. Remember, it's YOUR kitchen. Even quality materials are worthless if they don't make you happy.

Hi- I will just add some thoughts here.

I would change the can light over the island to a pendant style for sure. My other thought would be to change the door fronts of some of the smaller upper cabinets to a glass front- or have the current ones modified for glass. Then maybe add some lighting inside the glass front cabinets.

How about some contemporary or transitional area rugs/runners for the kitchen to offer some separation from the wood in the cabinets and the wood on the floor? Perhaps a long runner between the sink and the island?

If you just bought it, live in it a while first! You may find it doesn't bother you as much as you think it will once your belongings are in there, or you may find it needs a complete overhaul. I have remodeled several houses and found that living in them first changes my perspective on exactly what needs done.

We DID just buy the home, and I hear you... we've definitely shifted focus somewhat since moving in (we initially thought we'd be remodeling things that aren't even on our radar now that we're living here). :)

Creatively Yours Custom Inc.: Thanks for your ideas! We've been checking out pendant lights and I do think they'll make a nice difference. Appreciate the feedback.

Moving the cooktop would mean disturbing the current granite counters. I wouldn't.

Concentrate on the island. Remove it and replace with something more modern. The island can be any color - I'd choose white and match the granite. Leave the cooktop in there, but design it so that the seating area isn't right on top of the cooktop.

Add great stools for seating and cool lights above and then see if you still want to paint the cabinets.

An idea for cabinets - maybe, instead of removing the uppers, switch the doors for glass doors. It will brighten the space. You can even paint the inside white to match the island.