Paint them white, remove the dated appliance garage and put in new countertops. I'd go with a black or dark grey quartz.

Or, paint them a rich dark brown and lighter countertop with a great backsplash. You could even use the glass tiles.

A light sanding and a new coat of poly would be good. Crown molding around the top would make a huge difference. Backsplash tiles would brighten up the space. How about a new countertop with an under-mounted sink, depending on your budget. Did you consider lighting? Is there a fixture over the sink? Under-cabinet lighting is really nice.

I agree with the coat of poly, mine were lighter than yours, I sanded them down and stained them about the same color yours are now, and the coat of poly made all the difference. Puts a nice shine to them. I guess it all depends on what your budget is to what kind of changes you want to make.

Hi Kelly, can you tell me why you think the last picture is a bad paint job?

It isn't the paint job...the paint looks good. but if you look closely you can see the wood grain and on the right door you can see the sanding was not done properly. There is a wave in the molding on the door. When you paint you have to make the doors perfect. It's just my opinion, but to me the cabinets just do not look nice. Oak is hard to paint. Now if you like the wood grain coming through that's fine- it's all opinion and personal taste really.

I would pay someone to paint them who will spray them -- they would look brand new. I also would do either white or black, depending onthe rest of your decor in your house. Add a cool backsplash and new counters -- Wow, it would be great!

A countertop replacement might be all you need, honestly. The cabinets themselves are fine, but the white Formica is really dating them. I'd look into a new counter, even just a new updated Formica or that rustoleum counter transformations stuff (don't know how well it holds up, so research that) over top. You can get granite sheathing for your counters, too, to save over slab granite.

Thank you everyone for your input, I am fearful of painting. Because of the heavy grain that would come through and Kelly pointed that our very well in the example

We are definitely going for granite countertops...feel like I need to lighten it up because the lighting is not awesome. Were leaning towards new venetian gold. Thoughts? What is granite sheathing?.

Sand and stain. Do nOt paint. What lok do you want if more modern. Add brush nickel long pulls. Nothing on top of cabinets.stain a expresso.

Add backsplash. With a color. That alone will change whole look. Take splash to bottom of cab.

Add some color with kitchen accessories.

really? Venetian gold -- it's okay, but why not look for something more unique and lighter, with a more white or creamy background?

Always hire a pro to refinish cabinetry. Worth every penny! Quartz will take a beating better than granite. Forget the sheeting idea, it looks cheap, and you will see seams next to the stove, etc... A new back splash should be installed while doing the countertops. If your installing under cabinet lighting, be sure to see what it looks like under the lighting before you purchase. Some lighting will give your tiles a green tint. In such a narrow space, be careful of the shine factor when picking back splash and counter tops.

I had the same problem Christine. My cabinets were solid oak and in too good a shape to replace but I knew they needed something. First I cleaned them with a heavy duty commercial cleaner safe for wood. Some of them I sanded, some I steel wooled. It depended how they looked. Some I had to take almost all of the color off. Some turned out beautiful, some not so beautiful. After all of that I put a new coat of Satin poly on all of them and added new stainless steel knobs and pulls on the doors. The doors on the smaller higher cabinets my son cut out the inside panel and I took them to the local glass company and had them insert glass in the panel. I had an electrician install some small lights in the tops of the inside of these cabinets. I painted the insides of these cabinets a light color and put fancy glasses inside. On all of the cabinets we found a fancy trim at Lowes and stained it to match the cabinets and ran it all around the bottom of the cabinets. We had lights installed under the cabinets. We got a new granite countertop to compliment the dark wood cabinets, new appliances and a new duraceramic floor. We created a very unique backsplash by mixing glass subway tiles of 2 shades of gray with glass mosaic tiles of various shades of grays and black and I found gorgeous silver glitter and red glitter mosaic tiles to make the coordinating pattern. I love my new kitchen and so do most of the people that have seen it. The work was definitely worth it and I know I saved thousands by salvaging my 30 year old cabinets that look like new now. My advice, if you have solid wood cabinets in good condition NEVER paint them. Recondition them instead.

I would love to see photos of your new kitchen I am curious how that trim on the bottom of the cabinets look , your backsplash , and especially the new glass inserts on the doors can you post some pictures ?!?

Also does anybody have any good ideas for the appliance garage had to make that updated

Christine, I took a few pictures of the things that you asked for. I hope that it can help you make up your mind.

Christine there was something else that I added that every woman who sees it in my kitchen wants one. It is a rack that you install inside of a cabinet and it holds your pots and pans and the top rack holds their lids. It is one of my favorite things in my kitchen.

Ivlaplata, can you post an overall picture of your kitchen? love that pot rack!

We too have a dated oak kitchen. We consider new cabinets, but our solid oak is actually much nicer than the more modern particleboard/veneered ones we see in the showrooms.

Ivlaplata-- thank you for posting those photos your kitchen came out wonderful

Thank you Christine. I really love the kitchen. Good luck with yours.

Wysel, here are some pictures that you asked for. Regarding that pots and pan rack you can buy at Lowe's and install it yourself.

Well I had a few more to post but I guess I've already posted my limit.

The every bad lighting is giving a black-hole effect. Start by washing the cabinets with something like Spic-n-span. Paint the backsplash a color that can hold its own with all that wood. Install a track for hallogens aimed at upper cabinets (so you can find stuff), and install under-cabinet lighting. You can get add-on at a Big Box store, and have an electrician connect it to an existing switch. Maybe throw down a richly-colored and patterned carpet too (not wall-to-wall; you'll want to be able to hose it down in the back yard a couple times a year). You may discover the kitchen looks good enough to buy you a few years for further planning and saving for a future major overhaul.

PS: We inherited painted oak cabinets, and aren't too happy with them (sure enough, the grain shows through), but new backsplash color, new lighting, and eventually new countertops did a world of good.

I had Oak cabs and sanded them down and painted them a light grey. I'm just not a fan of white...seems so overused of late. If you can afford it, get someone to paint them. I did my own, and they're fine with me, but the cabs were not initially expensive and not the best quality. I liked the style and they were not that old, so I just painted them. Lots and lots of prep, but made a huge difference. Countertops will make a huge difference too. Good luck~