How are things going have you removed any tile? The last image you posted just shows how beautiful your Hickory cabinets could be with simple white tile and counters...

I am debating the same thing. Paint or restore??

krisnjeffrey, I would restore, add some shine to the cabinets, and choose different hardware. Your cabinets are beautiful! The only downside is they're not all the way to the ceiling, but there are ways to take care of that. Also consider different backsplash to brighten up the look.

Thank you! I will try in our master bath first, as the cabinets are throughout the house. Just to be sure they look good. We will be replacing the counter tops and the back splash. Maybe glass tiles for the back splash with white and browns to pull all of the colors together. We have already replaced the floors with dark planks. Will be replacing the light fixtures and hardware, also. Would love to enclose the top of the cabinets. I have looked at how to do that.

Hello All, I’m sorry I have not posted any updates on our kitchen. Life got super busy. I will get some pics posted today so you can see the changes we made.

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I skimmed through and would like to see what changes you made. Personally I love the granite but then again I'm not a fan of the marble look quartz that is popular now, I've always liked "busier", interesting granite. I agree there's some darkness with hickory cabs and dark floors but I'm sure lighting can make a huge difference and hope you tried that. Wondering if you removed the tile as most people suggested. I was wondering if that can just be painted? I'm not being snarky, I'm really asking.

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Hi, once again, sorry for the delay. My daughter went into labor and things have been crazy ever since. I am writing up a response now and will post some images.

We went ahead and painted the cabinets white and we absolutely love them. We really loved the granite on the island but we wanted to lower the bar height counter and remove the floating chairs to make one large level counter. We had to choose another surface so we went with a quartz that looks beautiful. It has tan and greys And works well with our existing counters.

My pictures are not sending

No, I wouldn't paint the cabinets, they are so unique and beautiful. Rather, I would add more lighting and change the tiling all around the stove and backsplash. Simple white marble tile would look amazing with the countertops and cabinets. Look to simplify and declutter the space.

Too bad we can't see the end result. Please try some other time. I would really love to see what you did with your kitchen.

The room brightened up so much!

For the stove area I painted the large tiles grey and the small ones white. It made such a huge difference.

Another view

Rach....it looks amazing!! So happy to see that range area painted..great job..no more elephant in the room!:))) love the island countertop..great choice..ENJOY

The lower counter is now huge with tons of workspace for cooking and crafts.

I still have more painting to do around

Yes removing that higher counter area is one of the first things I do when doing a redesign in a kitchen....so much more counter space and a counter stool is much more comfortable! Looks great really opens up the kitchen...

Wow! Looks AMAZING! Love the new counter tops, too. Hmmmm... making me rethink not doing mine! :-)

krisnjeffreyI did not mean to sway your painting your kitchen. If I had to do it again I would for sure.Our floors are super dark and looked very dreary with the dark hickory cabinets. With the white cabinets it brightened things up and opened up the room so we don't notice the floor so much. Since your floors are white it may wash out your room if you did white cabinets.

One thing you cant see in the pictures is how beautiful the grain of the wood looks coming thru the paint. The hickory uniqueness comes thru so they don't look like a flat painted surface. They still have a ton of character.

Beautiful!

Rach what quarz did you end up going with? We have dark cherry colored maple cabinets and dark granite with a massive pennisula that is two tiers. I want to lower it to counter height, it would be so much easier for the kids and our aging parents who often visit.

We got ours installed by Home Depot. It is called Viatera Soprano.

Wow it looks FABULOUS!! Great job!!

Can I ask approx how much a square foot installed,etc. it costs. I am in the SAME situation but keeping my hickory cabinets but hate my granite.

lmuhrich It was about $79 sq ft installed. The installers did a great job. It looks beautiful.

I have Viatera also - it is made by LG. Home Depot was not a reseller of it when I had my counters done - I used a local fabricator - but I never would have taken the chance with HD here. Too many horror stories of HD for me. Nice to know that they did a good job for you though.

http://www.lgviaterausa.com/productOverviews/83/by-product-line

Yea, they use a 3rd party company for the material and fabrication in our state. Both HD and the 3rd party guarantee the labor and product. HD in each state handles things differently.

Very nicely done. Hard to believe what the “before” was like. I bet you love it every day!

Wow! Thanks for sharing the "after"! I loved the granite you had but this looks wonderful.

Good heavens that looks great! Such a huge change!

Thanks you for sharing what you did. I’m in the process of doing something similar.

Thank you

It looks amazing and beautiful. I have hickory cabinets in my kitchen too. I just installed dark hardwood floors though out my main floor. It of course has darkened the my kitchen. I go back and forth to paint or not to paint. I still love my cabinets so I think I’m going to go with white countertops and white subways backsplash with gray grout to give the space an updated look.

I did a similar makeover but because of the Houzzers I kept my hickory cabinets.. And could not be happier

I love it.

Rach,

were you able to resell your old counter top?

what Color white did you paint your cabinets?

i have hickory cabinets and a darker granite counter top. I want to paint the cabinets white but change the granite To something lighter.

thank you,

jeanette

your kitchen turned out beautiful!

I have exactly the same question as the one posted.

Love the kitchen, but want to brighten it up. I saw a kitchen where a friend painted a white wash on the cabinets & it looked super. Do you recommend doing the same with these?

Your kitchen is really beautiful but that is a lot of wood. Whitewash might create more texture but maybe a milk paint or actual paint could lighten up the space and make it a little more country modern. If it were my kitchen I might keep some of the wood and update countertops and maybe the ceilings. It certainly is a beautiful space. Here are some kitchens below that use the wood but add some areas of light or paint. Just ideas that might help think about the space.

Here are a few ideas that come to mind.

update without paintpainting cabinets never again

this one looks like white wash

Modern Update to the Mount Washington Plan · More Info

Modern Update to the Mount Washington Plan · More Info

I love the wood but the ceiling and counters help balance the space

Rustic Reclaimed Chestnut · More Info

The Hideaway · More Info

Country Retreat · More Info

In The Country · More Info

The Gatehouse · More Info

Springs Ranch · More Info

Lake Anna Remodel · More Info

Winter Cabin · More Info

Sheri, your kitchen is really beautiful with the wood and those beams. White washing them would allow fir the wood texture to show thru. I agree that you could leave some areas wood. Your backsplash looks very dark and could be painted to save money. I actually painted all the tile surrounding my stove and it came out really nice. I used Behr Polar white. I would pull a white that compliments your counters. Not Bright white, it will be to stark against your countertop. Post what you end up doing. Good luck.

Rach,

Thank you so much! I didn't realize I could paint the tile. Great idea!!!!

I will definitely post my fixes & upgrades.

Thank you🌹

Sheri
I would replace the counters and backsplash....the backsplash can be painted if not part of the makeover budget..just painting the uppers might be a great way to cut down on the hickory overload...I would do a solid paint not a wash...the solid paint will help take away the wood look instead of accenting it...

What a huge improvement!! We are in the same boat. Have hickory cabinets and would love to paint vs completely replace. I have a question for you Rach. Did you get these professionally painted or was it diy? Also, how did you prevent any wood grain or the knots from showing through? It’s looks fabulous!!

Painting hickory? I'd as soon paint my cat. Please, no -- I now see this is an old thread, and I hope you didn't do it - and if you did, I really don't want to see the photos.

They were like a golden oak color.

A

I never thought in a million years we would paint our hickory cabinets. Just so outdated and very much not the modern theme we were looking for. We tried redecorating around them...just didn't cut it for me. So...we did this and LOVE it. Best of all, if down the road we want the original look back...we just sand it--we tried and it worked.