Sure, if you're so tired of it. First world problem.

No, they’re beautiful! For them to hold up for 17 years and still look current and beautiful, it is clear they’re higher quality cabinets! I recommend putting the money towards lighter countertops instead. Of course it’s not necessary... your kitchen is beautiful!

You could also keep everything the same and just replace your backsplash.

keep cabs and replace countertop and backsplash. something white'ish

I love them.. ! It's a beautiful kitchen.

Light quartzite counters will bring you more current.

Your cabinets are beautiful and coming back into style. New light fixture and new clock would be nice.

Brighten with new countertops, sink and backslash. Change to a lighter stools and different lighting. The cabs are beautiful. Sell them before ever painting them. Someone will love them just the way they are.

Beautiful cabinets. I would replace the counters and backsplash to update if you are tired of the look. Don’t use the short bit of counter material on the wall, just to the wall and then full height backsplash. The counters actually look OK it’s the splash that looks a little dated.

Another vote for loving the cabinets. New light fixture, change backsplash.

Your cabinets and counters are nice. I would change the light fixtures and backsplash.

Uh I just installed a (half) cherry kitchen with black counters last year. If it's dated...I love it anyway!

If you want a different look: I agree on the light fixture or backsplash. What about a roman shade in a fun print? Or a runner? I love my persian from ebay--it also helps the wood move more into the background.

What about better undercabinet lighting and a new backsplash. Slate is always a classic look with dark counters and natural cherry. Please don't paint them. I think they are quite pretty and a nice medium tone. Perhaps new hardware?

dont paint if only for this reason: in 5 years the paint will look worn and then you'll be in a pickle when you go to sell.

change the backsplash and counter top, (that 3" bit is doing the looks more harm than the cabinets are), leave the cabinets alone or you'll rue every single time you whack the edge of a cabinet with a plate or pan and another bit of paint goes flying off.

Caligirl5 - I like your kitchen!

My sister has similar cabinets, about the same age as yours. She put in lighter granite and a different back splash, and painted her island dark gray. Honestly, I liked it better before.

no painting the cabinets. Update the back splash or lighting

maybe take down a few cabs around the window and the corner cab...that looks dated along with the valance over window. take down the short backsplash on that wall and choose a pretty tile to highlight that window wall. take off the remaining backsplash tile but just leave the short granite piece on the fridge wall. don't change cabinets or counters. maybe some more interesting metal brackets on the island.

and new light fixture. your cabinets are the prettiest element in the room.

Thank you all for the comments. This was very helpful and now we are rethinking our plans. Considering changing the backsplash and lighting as most of you mentioned.
Great tips!!

So you go do you! I just had my kitchen cabinets refinished and I love it! Below is a before and after. My kitchen was totally fine but it wasn’t my style. If you want to change them and can afford it go for it! I had my lacquered.

So you go do you! I just had my kitchen cabinets refinished and I love it! Below is a before and after. My kitchen was totally fine but it wasn’t my style. If you want to change them and can afford it go for it! I had my lacquered.

I think your cabinetry is gorgeous! If it were mine I would absolutely not paint it. While white and gray cabinets have been trendy lately, many people love good quality wood cabinets. Your cherry wood is beautiful and not dated at all.

If it were my space there are a few items I might consider if I had the budget.

• Remove the wood valance over the window.
• Replace the countertops with a light (white-ish) stone or quartzite.

"...everyone seems to want a white kitchen..."

No, everyone does NOT want a white kitchen.

You have cherry cabinets. If you paint them white, they might as well be cheap MDF. And the white finish will never look factory-quality. Nobody ever bought a house that advertised 'MDF cabinets' as a feature.

If I had money to burn, I'd get rid of the black counters and the diamond backsplash.

To add to the backsplash and light comments... I think the hardware is what's making the cabinets look the most dated. Can you replace the knobs with something more modern?

Painting your cabinets, even professionally, will reduce their remaining life because peeling will start where wood would not. But if you're ok with that, go for it. It's silly to live with something you hate for the sake of preserving "quality" wood. I've never understood that mentality. Like, great, so the thing I don't like will last even longer?

Like, great, so the thing I don't like will last even longer?

LOL, fair enough!

I agree with ElleN, a simple hardware change may have a big impact too! The knobs are a little blase to me.

Nope, I vote NO to painting the cabinets. Sometimes it is appropriate but these look like quality, well constructed cabinets and they don't look outdated. I would change out the counter top and add a light colored backsplash. Freshen the look with accessories. Many people on this site would kill for solid cherry cabinets. Keep us posted-

I have to say there is a lot of negative comments on painted cabinets but I just had mine done and they look like they had always been white. Now I did spend a lot of money because I wanted quality but it can be done and not look cheap. And yes while your wood cabinets are nice and a look a lot of people like if YOU don’t them then change it. So many people thought I was nuts to change my kitchen because of the gorgeous wood cabinets. But guess what. You live with it not the rest of the people. Do what makes you happy! It’s YOUR home!

My new white cabinets were installed today. I chose white because all the wood surfaces in my old house are painted white and this kitchen has had white cabinets for the past 80 years. I can tell already that they are going to be a nightmare to keep clean and free of fingerprints. If stained wood cabinets would blend with the rest of my house, that is what I would have chosen. However, my house is what it is and I felt compelled to go along with it. My recommendation is to follow your home and not trends or desires that may not be appropriate in the larger scheme. If you step back and look at your house as a whole, you will know what is best.

As others have mentioned wood cabinets are coming back in style. There have been many articles on design sites about this in 2017 and 2018.
It's possible that you could update other aspects of your kitchen: the light fixtures, the stools, the faucet, the wall clock, maybe replace the red accents with green. You could also replace the cabinet hardware.
Try updating the things that are inexpensive and changeable. The cherry wood and granite are classic and I'm assuming expensive as they look to be very high quality.
If you want to take it a step further you could probably remove the 4 inch granite backsplash. It's true that the 4 inch backsplashes are dated and aren't often done anymore. A good granite installer could remove it without damaging the countertops. Then you could install a new full height tile backsplash. Subway tile is still popular or you could choose a nice glass tile. This would update the kitchen considerably.

It is your kitchen so if you really want to paint them then do that, but don’t do it because you feel it is dated. I just (like literally last week) put in cherry cabinets. Two friends are doing kitchen remodels and both are ordering stained wood cabinets, one replacing white. My contractor said more and more people are ordering stained cabinets again. I agree with the others to update the counter, backsplash and pulls and see what you think.

If you just really want a white kitchen, then I would look at the cost of professional paint jobs vs new cabinets. When we were looking to buy we saw several houses that had obviously painted their cabinets white themselves (or hired cheap labor) and it wasn’t a selling point as the paint job wasn’t great. It was obvious that wasn’t a factory finish.

Note several glass fronted cabinets:

Color on walls. Don’t be afraid.

I think it should be a crime to paint wood as attractive as yours. What you have is classic and classic never goes out of style. I would start small (i.e. inexpensive) and go from there. It seems that your light fixture in the picture is maybe a brushed nickel, or painted, regardless, it's not ORB. You could start by replacing the hardware on your cabinets. There are so many styles that I'm sure you could find one that updated your look. The next item would be replacing the backsplash with something that gives you a little more POP. Right now it seems to just fade into the background. The final thing I would do is to replace the counters, although I think after you did the first two things you probably wouldn't even want to do that, especially since it's not going to be cheap. But please, oh please, do not paint that beautiful wood.

If you hate the stained cabinets, paint them!!! It's your kitchen and it doesn't matter if others think they're "gorgeous" - you do NOT think they are! Just have a pro do them so you get a good result.

I do not like wood cabinets. It's probably because all the wood furniture in my house is 18th-19th century antique mahogany centuries of patina. When I see wood cabinets, I think "reproduction new furniture" and I'm not a fan. So in my house, it's painted cabinets all the way. I also don't see why people swoon over "cherry" - one would think it's a rare wood that is priceless. My late father was a fan - always saying "Their dining room furniture was all solid cherry!". My mother did not share his enthusiasm.

As for white cabinets getting dirty, well so will the wood ones! At least one knows that there is crud on a white cabinet; with wood, it has to reach the point where ones hand sticks to the door due to all the crud. One is either a good housekeeper or not, and one either trains ones children to wash their hands and not get peanut butter and jelly all over them and then open a cabinet door. Some people think that's too much bother. Well, I prefer to know if my cabinets or countertops are dirty so I can clean them!

You know what you want. You do not need our permission to do it.

Anglo, she did ask for our opinions on whether to paint or not so she wasn't asking for our permission but for our opinions on painting or not. So . . . don't take us to task for opining that we would hate to see them painted.