Those cabs look very nice. Why change?

They are nice! It’s just too country for me I like clean lines and clean look so trying to figure a way to achieve this without a heavy price tag. I figured refacing is best?

You only have natural light during the day. And unless you're retired, you'll use the kitchen mostly at night. You need to give the nighttime lighting equal billing when choosing colors.

Are you planning to paint those actual doors? That's not going to look good.

I would not change cabinets either. No need to reface!! If you want to change the color, paint them. I would skip the grey, and put a dark brown 'gel stain' over them, and wipe them off. It will give a more updated color. These are nice cabinets and nicely made, great wood.

Agreed tfitz! The cabinets are nicer than the granite. (sorry vziv) .

Maybe you can change hardware &'save for new lighter counter..

I love how the granite top hide everything, but agreed it’s not sexy. Would it be a worth seeing if the counter tops could be changed along with hardware and leave the cabinets as is?

New counter backsplash and hardware will give you a totally different feel.

Counters are the problem here, not the cabinets. Refacing is actually very expensive; new counters would likely be cheaper.

Update the pulls and call it a day.

I agree with others -- it's the counters & pull style that are giving you what you think of as "country". Change them out and I think you will be happier.

Yes, the counters most likely will be cheaper to replace than refacing the cabinets. Professional/good quality refacing is not cheap! There are cheap options out there, but I would not recommend them if you plan to stay in your home more than a year or two.

Agree with most of the others posting on here. The cabinet pulls, knobs and the countertop are dragging this kitchen down. I would invest in new countertops. Good luck!

Love, love the cabinets. Like the backsplash quite well. Not a fan of Baltic brown granite. It is definitely dating the space. Consider changing to bar pulls and a light, modern countertop. We recently used Cambria Beaumont with a very similar tile and were pleased, but it isn’t to everyone’s taste, and has to be seen in person, honestly, because the depth and sparkle of it just won’t photograph. Good luck.

Thank you thank you thank you for all the responses. They have completely made me rethink this process. I am going to speak with contractor about the possibility of changing the counters instead. I have one small problem. This island has my cooktop in it!! Looks like a custom piece. How do I change the counter top and keep the shape and cooktop as is? Can pros cut the same shape?

Of course they can. A pro should be able to cut anything with a template.

Refacing the cabinets could easily cost as much as new counters. And those cabinets look to be of very good quality, so refacing or painting them seems tragic. I’d focus on the counters and backsplash.

One more vote for keeping the cabinets (which look really nice), and getting rid of that granite.

Another vote for changing the countertops. Your cabinets are nice & don’t read “country “ to me, but the countertops are the problem. I would be interested in seeing how it turns out. I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised.

Cabinets look nice. If you can change countertops and hardware with your budget, do that. But keep in mind that changing the perimeter counter likely means needing new backsplash.

I think it looks nice as is ...and think , just live and enjoy ...but if you like a lighter kitchen , just paint the cabinets ..do what you want , you live there !

Another vote for counters/hardware change instead of cabinets. I'd like to see how this turns out!

The thing that would make me crazy is the placement of that cooktop so I guess to stay in your budget new counters but I honestly think a look at redoing the kitchen is a better way to go and of course that will require a bit of a wait to save enough money. Right now I would just leave i except for new lighting LEDs in 4000K range will help with colors to keep them true at night.

I agree with PCC. That cooktop is a disaster.

Update the hardware and lighting and take a pause to see how it looks before spending too much.

I agree with others. Cabinets are beautiful. I don’t think anything in your kitchen looks country. If you are determined to make a change, I’d do countertops.