I would leave it. Painted cabinets from stain never hold up as well as factory paint, and the kitchen is already nice as wall as functional.

What I notice is that a there are no pulls on any of the cabinets! How do you open the drawers and doors? In the scheme of things, that kitchen is not bad. No I'm not crazy about the counters either, but the cabinets look fine. Wait a year, the white kitchen thing is headed out of favor and wood is coming back in style because everyone is sick of looking at white kitchen.

i agree about hardware. why do people not put them on? do you know how dirty and greasy the cabinets get???

Really, the cabinets aren't bad. just install some hardware for them. that will help.

painting those cabinets professionally will be in the realm of 5K. do you want to spend the money on that?? I'd replace the countertop before I painted the cabinets. Wait. change the other things first. maybe wall paint, new blinds, etc. Come back in 6 months if you still hate them. or maybe just paint the island.

Wow- that's a ton of cabs. You can def paint, but you'll need to do awesome prep, and want to do it right with a sprayer and oil-based paint. Another option is just replacing doors/drawer fronts with something more to your liking. For counters, maybe wait until you find a sale? Soap stone amazing, but quartz and similar look great too.

Leave it alone be except for adding pulls.

By just changing island lighting, bar stools and cabinet pulls all in a style you like will give your kitchen a different look and cheap too.

Thanks for your thoughts so far! For sure we are changing the bar stools, island lighting & adding pulls. If we paint it will be done professionally, but I didn't think it would be as high as $5k, but maybe it will be. I was thinking about spending $5-7k max on the kitchen at this point bc we have about 12-15k in other house projects. I was hoping to do as much as possible before we move in bc we are a family of 6 with young kids. However, I will consider what y'all have said so far about waiting and doing it later with a bigger budget. Thanks!

I wouldn't take a home equity line down the road to fix up your house especially when kitchen is fine. Just save and pay cash. If you can't pay cash you can't afford the changes. I'd focus on getting house paid off before those 4 kids are in college :-) I'm not a huge fan of counters either if I had the money id paint the cabinets myself yes it's a ton of work but you save thousands and get new countertops.

Honestly, I think that the cabinets would go fine with an "industrial farmhouse" feel -- it's the stone you're never going to like. Say you paint them all some cream color: now you have cream cabinets with pink counters!! I'd rather have the rustic wood cabinets and pair them with, say, medium gray quartz that looks like soapstone. Or maybe cement. Either way, painting the cabinets (well, professional job by an actual cabinet painter) could easily cost you as much as replacing all the counters would without getting you any closer to your goals. I usually agree with waiting a year, so you don't spend money on cosmetics only to find you have functional issues, but if you're going to spend money, spend it on the thing that's really in the way, and that's the pink stone. Even an inexpensive granite would get you a lot farther.

I think you are right, I'm trying to make changes when it's the countertops that Are the biggest deal breaker for me. I'd love to see some pictures of a similar wood color and grey quartz countertops. If y'all find any, please post them! Thanks!

I thought maybe you could just paint the island a charcoal matte finish for now but it might make the pink pop a little more. So like the other posters, I'd say keep the cabinets as they are for now. The kitchen looks very nice and after you live in it for awhile, you'll know what you really want. Congrats on your new home- it looks lovely.

Live in the kitchen for a while. Update the other things first that are inexpensive to address and see where you want to go with the house. I think the kitchen would look awesome with soapstone and a new backsplash - but that might not be the direction you want. I would NOT do grey in the countertops - its a warm kitchen and grey will just pull it down.

I would get some interesting hardware for the cabinets. You will be amazed by the change that good quality hardware can bring into the kitchen and maybe you'll change your mind. Regarding the countertops, I would wait for the final decision on the cabinets and then act on that.

This one has more of a marble look, and is smaller than yours, but I think maybe changing out the hood over the range (ditch those corbels if possible) and changing the counters/lighting will help dramatically. And definitely consider a new backsplash, if not now than in the next year or two.

If you truly hate the countertops, I’d replace the one on the island, with a solid surface in a gray taken from the perimeter counters. The perimeter counters will be covered with appliances, and other kitchen things, so they aren’t as noticeable. But the island is a large expanse, usually clear of stuff. I’d put money there, and leave the rest alone.

I think your kitchen looks ok and is quite liveable. The one thing that jumps out at me in the photos is the fridge. Could you change that to counter depth. It looks like it's too big for the space but maybe it's the photo.

In addition to your planned update to lighting and hardware, I would retro a cabinet to hide the garbage and update the window treatment. New lighting and window treatment will bring you a new look with minimal investment.

I differ on waiting on cabinet change and would paint the island now and wait on the granite. I think a black or deep charcoal grey would work well w/existing granite and break up the expanse of wood.

These kitchens vary in feel, but they give you a sense of directions that oak, pine, and hickory cabinets can go with lighter or gray counters...

This is tough because the kitchen is so large. To change the feel of it I would change the hood style and get rid of the fancy corbels. The hood is a large focal point in the room and dictates the style of the kitchen. If the plan is to redo the kitchen in the next 5 years, then I wouldn't spend a lot of money now. Functionally, I can see where you could improve the layout (such as an island prep sink and drawers to replace all those lower cabinets). Right now the fridge and ovens are a mile away from the sink. Live in the space and figure out the ideal layout, then spend $$.

Counter depth fridge, hardware, then in a year paint just top cabinets creamy white except range hood.

Thanks everyone for the great comments & pictures! I'm now leaning towards waiting to paint the cabinets until we've lived in it a little while. I think after we are all moved in with our furniture I'll have a better feel for it. I'm still tossing around the idea of doing something to the island and maybe the range hood to break up the brown wood. I'd love to get rid of the corbels! I'll check into That. I'm going to price countertops but we might just wait and do it all at once next year. For sure we will do the window treatments, cabinet hardware, pendant lights & stools before we move in. I love the idea of retrofitting a cabinet for the trash. I hadn't noticed how far the sink is from the fridge so that will be interesting to see if it becomes an issue over time. I was just glad it overlooks the backyard while kids play! I think a counterdepth fridge would probably look nicer, but it comes with the house and I don't want to loose fridge space with our big family so I'm thinking it will stay for now. Y'all have been a great, big help! It's going to be e few months but I'll post the pics!