I have checked out those cabinet paint kits and they seem to do a good job. How about a dove grey color with darker grey walls?

You could use the Rustoleum product, but honestly, regular paint will work. I've read many suggestions here about using a spray painter, but it may not be necessary. Houzz has a great post in the DIY section on painting kitchen cabinetry. There are tons on youtube as well.

What style do you like? It's hard to tell from the picture of the kitchen you've posted. What do you have in the rest of the house? The cabinets could go darker or lighter, they appear to be well made. I just re-did my cabinets with a clay/chalk paint, which doesn't require sanding beforehand. I purchased it from the woman who has this website, but there are dozens of stores out there that sell these products: http://fabulousfinishes.wordpress.com/

They are generally used for a distressed/aged look, but you don't have to distress them, just have to put a coat of finish on them for highly used areas.

Does this room have other rooms open around it? Dining area? Living room or family room? It helps to have them flow somehow.

Not to confuse you more but slightly darker bottom cabinets than the uppers worked fabulously for me. Like motownmom said, regular paint worked just fine.

Painted oak cabinets can be hard to get rid of the grain if you don't mind it . You clean them with tsp let them dry then scuff sand them prime them with an oil base primer then top coat with an enamel I prefer a oil base paint but for more DIY friendly advance from Benjamin Moore is a great paint for cabinets my description is the simple version if you need more info let me know

I painted my oak cabinets and no grain is visible. Clean with tsp, 2 light primer coats of zinnser primer/sealer, 2 coats paint then top coat polyurethane satin finish non yellowing. Beautiful! No sanding either.

Just a suggestion to take down the valance and put a straight one in it's place. The scalloped valances are not current.

Lm designers were your oak cabinets quarter sawn oak cabinets ?

As far as the cabinet painting goes you have been given the right advice for the paint job. I have used S/Williams paint visualizer and it is free and great for seeing exactly what the room would look like with different walls, cabinets, ceiling and even floors. Have you thought about the lower cabinets being darker than the top cabinets? I have contemplated doing this my self.I did a few of your kitchen, the colors are - all white-ramie with inkwell lower cabinets- coffee cabinets w/ sage green, your room looks completely different each time. I saved your kitchen in my S?W colors, so if you want I can try some colors you would think of doing.

Here are some more color combos

Notice I have cut out the scallop over the sink, have added color there for curtain

We agree with many of the comments here, that painting them is a good idea and in a high-use area such as the kitchen, taking the time to do a proper paint job will be worth it in the long run. You might want to investigate the difference between painting and doing a color "wash" on the cabinetry.

The dark cabinetry can be a beautiful contrast to your countertops. A black, or dark charcoal gray would be nice. With an update to the cabinet hardware, your look should be complete!

Aimee, I've painted 2 sets of bathroom cabinets and just finished painting my kitchen cabinets. I used BM advance for one bath- found it REALLY hard to work with-very drippy. Painted my kitchen and MB with SW pro classic and found it very easy to work with. Sanded and oil-primed all- read the label on your primer b/c some recommend against using tsp. This is a very doable project but takes time and mostly patience. I picked my color by going to a kitchen showroom, borrowed the door with the color I liked, took it to SW, and they color-matched the paint for me. When you look at magazine photos, what colors attract you? I think a darker color on the bottom would look great, but all white/soft white would totally change your look also. Agree getting rid of the scalloping above the sink is a good idea. Good luck.

so you preferred the sw pro classic? Is this just a typical paint? Di you put a glaze on them or just paint?

SunBev, thanks for changing the colors in the pictures ! I couldn't figure out how to do it on the web site??

Definitely preferred working with sw (and, no, I don't work for them) pro classic. It levels easily and it's water based, which I prefer to oil based. I didn't use a glaze b/c I wanted a crisper look. The ceiling and floor are wood, and even tho there are a lot of windows, it's west facing and not very bright, so I decided to stay light. Also, i bought a small orbital sander for these projects which helped to give the cabinets a smoother finish.

There is way too much brown colour . Paint the kitchen and walls white and stain the floor to give it a deeper colour . It will look amazing . Add a light coloured glass and a stainless steel oven .

Also change the microwave to a stainless steel one . Will make such a difference

Aimee, you have to use the out liner to draw around each section you want to change the color in. Click it on and move to the second point and click again and it will show a line being drawn. Rustolium has kitchen cabinet paint kits at home d or lowes. You can go lighter or darker, use a glaze over the paint or not. They also carry something ( DSP?) which is like a liquid sanding solution in order to prep your cabinets before painting or staining.

sorry the stuff is TSP

Have you checked out rustoleumtransformations,com. A time consuming process (aren't they all) but happy customers and great new looks.

Aimee, read the instructions on the primer can. Some specify NOT to use TSP.

Do you want to fill grain and make smooth cabinets or let the grain show through the paint? Two entirely different projects.