Those are like mine & are still in stores. Agree with above. Pull out bottom shelves would help older peoples.

Wow what a dark cave. Quite worrying about “finishes” and upgrade the lighting.

Deface lower and upper cabinets in white. Get under counter lighting. If possible, switch all appliances to white. The kitchen will look bigger and airier.

do not rip out all those uppers and put shelving. you'll lose a ton of storage and won't gain anything worthwhile.

don't even think about refacing the bottoms of these cabinets. it's not worth the money.

my advice? either save more money and redo the lighting and new cabs altogether. check w/Ikea. they will draw up a layout for you for the price included in their cabs.

if you really have no money to spare, check craigslist for people selling their oak cabinets. I actually saw good looking oak cabinets, twice the size of your kitchen, for less than 1K. and that included the granite, handles, sink, etc. if you live near a big city or can find a craigslist w/a lot of sellers, you can find some great deal on these cabinets.

here, this is what I mean. today on craigslist near me,,,all of the cabs, fridge, stove, dishwasher, all the cabinets and granite. $800. I mean, cmon. for that price I'd make those fit. far better than what you have

another one. all these cabs...500

or solid maple. entire kitchen set. 800

they're all over the place. even if you have to do some custom work or fitting, it's still cheaper than refacing.

Can you move the refrigerator? I don't think you can open the oven and refrigerator at the same time.

I would remove the desk area and put the refrigerator there.

Under cabinet lighting is needed.

Reface cabs, install under cab lighting, get counter depth fridge. (Kitchen is too small for standard depth.) upgrade overhead lighting. Done!

I just remodeled a kitchen like this. I thought long and hard about refacing or painting these cabinets. In the end, we decided to purchase new cabinets because the bases were not the quality we wanted. I do however like Beth H's idea of picking up used cabinets and incorporating them into your remodel. You'd be amazed at the number of people remodel just because they don't like what came with the house. Check out cabinet makers they have there own guys that demo. I bet you can get some quality cabinets for a good price.

Open shelving is a bad idea.

Refacing for the whole kitchen would be around 3000-4000 for thermofoil doors , and maybe around 5000-6000 with lacquered doors.

Counter depth fridge and under cab lighting is a good idea.

Is that square ceiling opening a skylight? The worst things in this kitchen are the flooring and the lighting.
The refrigerator opens in the wrong direction. Replace it with a counter-depth refrigerator (if you can) with the doors opening from the left side. You may be able to change the door direction. See if the original owner's manual is still around, or go online with the manufacturer and model number for instructions.
If your cabinets are in good condition, consider cleaning them well and painting just the wood trim (proper preparation is necessary).
Add better lighting and replace the flooring with new linoleum...strip the old first.