I would try a different paint color on the walls and maybe redo the backsplash above the band without the medallions or remove the medallions and replace them with tile similar to the field tile (and maybe add more lighting in the low part of the ceiling), before I would paint the cabinets.

I would redo the backsplash with a solid color pulled from your granite and change your window treatment - before doing anything else.

Would not reface cabs to match a backsplash.

I think your kitchen looks very nice and if it was me I would not paint those cabinets. I also think the backsplash looks fine the way it is. However, I do think using the subway all the way up to the cabinet bottom would be preferable, as I prefer a simpler look. But really not necessary. Maybe if you really want take off upper backsplash portion and do all the subway up . Or maybe just gently lift out the medallions and cut a small square of tile from a subway and put that in its place.

What about just painting the medallions a matching color to the background tile so that they blend in? They are high enough that splatters should not be a problem. If that does not work, they can certainly be taken out and replaced.

Nicce cabinets, agree with above suggestions and please Don’t paint them!

She's posting b/c she's looking for options and opinions.

I’m not sure if refacing cabinets means painting them, but seems like either would cost a lot more than just replacing the backsplash. I’d just live with it until I could save up my money for a redo on the backsplash before touching the cabinets. They look nice. I know you hate it, but it doesn’t look all that bad to me. Although, Chispa has a point that we cannot really see what you do because the photo is so dark. You floor are gorgeous btw!

thadcopeland, why are you posting if you do not have anything constructive to add ? You just wasted my time and your time. I assume she is looking for ideas but maybe she just felt like typing.

Your kitchen looks like a lovely kitchen that was designed 10 years ago. Assuming you "hate" it because it doesn't look like a more recent kitchen, here are the easiest updates:

- New wall color. The wall color is probably the thing that dates it the most. Sage was all the rage in 2008. It's a lovely color, but picking an updated greige or other more updated color will make the biggest immediate improvement. A lot of people don't want to paint. That's your prerogative. But just recognize that if you don't paint, there's only so much else you can do.

- Remove the window covering.

- Tear out the backsplash. Yup. The whole thing. Assuming a new one isn't in budget right now, you can do this for free yourself. The wall might be damaged, but you can put something temporary over to cover it up and paint it (see first bullet). If you have it in budget, then yes, get a new backsplash. I can't make any suggestions based on the dark photo. But no backsplash would probably go a long way to making you like your kitchen.

The cabinets are quite nice and not particularly dated by themselves. Lots of people on this site are still using cabinets that look like those. That's why I think what you hate about your kitchen isn't actually the cabinets but are the dated features I mentioned above (paint, valence, backsplash).

One other thing that I'd want to update if it were in budget is replacing the range with a slide in with knobs in front. But that is an "aspirational" and certainly not a must do! Just something to consider if the unit dies or needs a pricey repair!!

Did you like the kitchen 10 years ago, or have you always not been happy with it? Be cautious of the merry go round of home improvement. HGTV is a marketing site in many ways, designed to make people dislike what they have and go buy new stuff. If you did not like the kitchen 10 years ago, find your style and save towards it. if you did, try to figure out why you don't like it now - maybe all those pretty pics of white kitchens, or a change of style preference or whatever. If you make changes, be sure you will like them even when they are no longer the trend. Many have turned older wood kitchens into trendy white / gray kitchens - which is fine if they will still like white / gray when that trend is over, and it is already over in some places.

If this was my kitchen, I might change out the backsplash - in the pic it doesn't really bother me.I would change the micro for a hood - I'm too short for over the range micro. I might paint the walls - only because I'm partial to creams.

Agree with jhmarie that you don't want to get caught in the quick hgtv lifecycle.... But I also don't think 10 years is particularly early to make some updates to a nicely done kitchen. I think 10 years is a total reasonable time to think about repainting, or swapping out the wall decor, or the fabric on your dining chairs, or replacing a trendy light fixture, or the cabinet hardware, or a window valence. The backsplash is a different category: It is both 10-15 years dated, and even 10 years ago I can see that a lot of people would objectively not like it. Point is: the backsplash replacement is because OP made a mistake (she doesn't like it at all). The paint and valence are because, at 10 years out, it's perfectly reasonable to want to make some updates without spending a lot of money (paint and valence).

Remodel merry-go-round. I love it!

i like the kitchen. IMO, medallions were too small or s/h been placed lower for better visibility. Other than that, I would change nothing. New window covering or paint might go a long ways towards ridding yourself of the “stale kitchen feeling” you are experiencing.

Removing the medallions and replacing them with tile that blends in to the background is easy. The problem is finding a tile setter willing to do a small, finicky job, but someone will.

Were it my kitchen, I’d pull down the whole bs, but I’d leave the cabinets alone, or just paint the uppers.

~Leave the `cabinets as they are`, repaint the walls, remove the window `coverings and remove the backsplash. If you can't afford another backsplash then just paint there for now.

if there is an element you hate the best two ways to handle it are a) to ignore it-easy to do since allover it's a lovely kitchen(well from what I can see since pics are a bit dim) b) redo it-partially or fully(taking off just medallions that irritate you-or put a new backsplash-now or later on

but not to change another element you're fine with. refacing cabinets is several grand. it won't save you any money, actually it will be more expensive..and nothing garantees you'll still like your backsplash after that

so i echo all the other wise people oh the thread

(except for couldn't care less whether sage is 2008 or 1998..but if you're tired of paint-paint is the cheapest(after the hardware) to change..yours works well withyour kitchen though..and maybe with an ajacent space we can't see right now. Do it only if bugs you. And the new paint if you decide to go with it should also go well with what you've got, and make you happier than the one you've got.

now. if I were to ask you "what irritates you the most about your backsplash?" what'd be the answer?

maybe the answer will give you/us directions we didn't think about before

Occasionally someone will suggest painting a tile backsplash...have no idea how that holds up.

https://www.designertrapped.com/paint-a-tile-backsplash/

http://www.countryliving.com/remodeling-renovation/how-to/a300/paint-tiled-backsplash/

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=SdwVJ88Wj04

backsplash works there..color-wise..as far as i can see of course..hence my question to understand better..it seems travertine(? is it?)..is it the material itself that irritates, design, something else?..

or am i reading the colors wrong?

or is it difference between the backsplash-and backsplashes of the moment?

if it was installed last year only plenty other "current" choices were available..the OP chose this one I guess because it worked well with the rest?

(I admit: I disliked a portion of our old backsplash that was travertine..and had some painting on it too. But yours is much prettier let me tell you. Like so much prettier!

of course we didn't choose our previous backsplash- we inherited it..obviously one's more sad when he doesn't like his own choice..well I mean in decor matters)

ok..I think debi will come to the thread if she feels so inclined..lots of great advice but we would be nice to know whether it was as great as we think:)

Scrappy said what I was thinking - I would try painting the medallions to match the bs color first unless you and your budget are up for a new bs. The change might be enough, along with wall color and removing the valance. It's really a lovely kitchen!