$1K won't be enough unless you DIY. But, since they are smooth, DIY probably won't get you professional results.

If you are not an experienced DIY-er, it’s a huge task to take on and often has mixed results. Before I did a remodel, I painted a small bathroom vanity, it took 2 days, I did everything right and it still chipped off and looked terrible within 6 months. I personally would never attempt a kitchen...

I’m thinking of paying a professional to do this . Right now I’m trying to figure out color .

It will be very hard to find someone to do this for $1000. As Live oak said above, professional cabinet paint jobs are somewhere in the range of $8000.

They appear to be in excellent condition. Because, they go so well with the rest of your house, I definitely would not be painting them.

id leave them. too expensive!

I would focus on a major decluttering and new lighting. You ought to be able to add under cabinet lighting for your budget or a bit over. It depends on your exact electrical. Painting the walls DIY would be over your budget because there’s a lot of connected space and it needs scaffolding to do. But that might be a goal for later. If you’re not a DIY type of person, you may be shocked at the cost of dealing with those high ceilings and awkward niches.

Painting cabinets is very involved, To do it professionally, with professional grade products, averages 7-9K.

I like your cabinets- the lighter wood with the stainless Steele fridge speaks transitional to me. I’d love to see the stove and microwave match in SS when the budget allows. Take down the plants above the cabinets- they aren’t adding to your room.

If you decide to paint your cabinets (not saying you have to!) it is an intermediate DIY project, for around $100 and some change.

https://www.familyhandyman.com/kitchen/diy-kitchen-cabinets/surprising-tips-for-painting-kitchen-cabinets/

It also involves a whole lot of work. Just the prep alone takes several days. They have to be totally cleaned, then they have to be sanded well, and then cleaned again and then they need to be primed with a top quality primer. Then, they need at least 2 coats of cabinet paint, (not regular paint), and most of those have a 12 hour wait time, before you can put on a second coat. You have several cabinets, so will take you a few days to prime, a few days to paint, and remember you also have to be able to flip the doors over to paint the inside of them, so that adds time. Then, they need to sit a few days, before you can put the doors back on, so the paint is set up and be careful for about a month, because it takes that long to fully cure. All this, when you already have beautiful cabinets that look good, only you can decide if its worth it. By the way, the paint you have doesnt look all that great with your trim and cabinets./ Best colors for your trim, etc would be either white, or an off white, or light blues, aquas, or greens.

To my eyes, the paint color makes the cabinets look orangey peach, rather than a neutral wood tone. I'd minimize that contrast by painting the WALLS. Add the lime green as an accent, not an entire wall. . Also, I'd rehome the plants above the cabinets.... If you keep your family sign and want something to accompany it, then two white serving platters used for holiday dinners, propped with plate display easels. It will give you room in the cupboads to store other items. (Clear counter tops except for appliances used everyday- coffee maker, toaster? )

ETA

This model house has a brown and cream decor with green accents. Your rug and couch reminded me of this home. Paint the walls a light color and add green as an accent. The neutral wall color will make your kitchen cabinets a neutral. A light color will reflect light and make the space look bigger and brighter. The gray greige is too dark and makes the cabs look off. I see a similar thing happening in the family room space. Use the green as an accent (Pillows, vases, artwork, ...) https://tours.stevenjamescollins.com/public/vtour/display/209717

This kitchen wall cover is BM Chatsworth Cream. The neutral paint compliments the cabinet color

Modern Kitchen · More Info

I like your cabinets and your whole kitchen. Agree with djb10 that transitioning to all stainless appliances would look great. In the mean time, trying out a new wall color sounds like a lot more fun than the tedium of painting cabinets. The stakes are much lower, plus there's the added benefit of pretending you let the hubby win a home decor decision. They love that.

Life with small children certainly is full of clutter ! Haha!

We had the kitchen cabinets painted (basically had to, after they were painted at the time I moved in back in 2002 and we didn't have the budget to strip, sand, and stain them!) a dark high gloss brown, which went over the highly chipped and crappy looking off white-ish (swiss coffee?) eggshell paint after the guys sanded the worst of the chipping down. If I'd put in the door hardware back in 2002 instead of dealing with catching my nails on the stupid doors trying to claw them open without the hardware, maybe the chipping wouldn't have been so bad? All I know is that the off whitish color never did it for me and that I should never let my mom choose the colors used inside a home I reside in ever again. ;)

If I could have, I would have had all the cabinets, the stair railings and such, stripped and stained instead of painting them to begin with. I guess what I'm trying to say is that you shouldn't paint your woodwork if you don't have to! :P It can only end in regrets and misery and damaged manicures. ;)

Your cabinets are a nice neutral wood, and I’d bet money they are coming back in style. I just saw an HGTV remodeling episode where they installed unstained maple hardwood in the entire house. It’s on its way back!

Better to spend the $1,000 on new wall paint that coordinates your open spaces. Remove all the dust-catchers and words and install LED lighting above and under the wall cabs.

Decoenthusiaste hit the nail on the head. Leave the cabinets, get rid of the over abundant stuff.

After de-cluttering figure out your color scheme and start working at harmonizing colors throughout the home.

I agree the clutter is the first thing to get rid of there is just too much stuff in a tiny space all the plants and other decor on top of the cabinets needs to go for sure Change all the bulbs in the light fictures to LEDs in daylight color Find a home for all the stuff on the counter the spaces I can see need the same decluttering espciallt the art that is in groups and hung too high.

I think painting the cabinets would look nice with your counters but I wouldn’t like painted cabinets with the rest of the trim being stained wood. I think it will create choppy. Since they’re open to each other you definitely want a good visual flow.

Also as others have mentioned is a huge undertaking. If your good with Diy, it can be done with proper prep and quality tools and products.

Your cabinets look in good shape and wood is coming back around. I’d consider having the wall color changed. I think the kitchen wall color would look better continued into your living area that’s currently the greenish gold color. It does look like both colors are in your rug but the two paint colors on the walls there is a little jarring visually. Whatever paint color, if you decide to paint walls, I think would look better if they were the same in those spaces. You can repeat the accent colors of your rug with pillows. I see you do have a few pillows. We can help with all this specific stuff to if you want.

You received a lot of feedback. It can be overwhelming at times on here. Try not to take it personally. Houses are lived in and people are busy. It’s not often I find mine completely clear of water bottles and everything put into closed away order. Some editing as suggested above would look nice but you have to decide if the changes are ‘you’ and your family.

Thank you sheisback. I’m def working on decluttering after all the feedback.

Think I’ll redo some wall hangings and the “words”. I’d love to get all new lighting fixtures as well . Everyone’s style is different and I’m a little quirky. Im trying to not take it all personally and just take the advice of people who seem to know a lot !

Becky,

When I left home and decorated my first home I bought what I could afford and filled my not so nice home with pretty things that made it look better. Then I moved into my next home, a much bigger and nicer home, and my first instinct was to put everything I had in my last home into the new home and over time I added new things that I found that I loved. It was the purging of the things from the past that took time. At some point I had too much stuff. I started with one room at a time and really looked at each item I had displayed. Did it fit my vision for my home? Did it bring me joy when I looked at it. Some things didn't really fit, but brought me great joy because they were connected to a special memory or a special person in my life. Many things were simply taking up space. They no longer fit my vision and didn't bring me joy - they were just there to fill an empty space. Some things that I loved when I bought them just didn't do much for me any more.

Once I had purged the things that just took up space I could look around my home and see the things that made me happy everywhere I looked.

I picked my home color pallet in very much the same fashion. I looked at my things, I looked in my closet, I looked at artwork and pictures on line and I narrowed my pallet to those colors that bring me joy. I love purples, teals and deep burgundy reds. ( I also love lime green and melon, but left those in my summer wardrobe rather than in my home design. )

My home has not ever been a current trend home. I did white on white with colorful accents around 25 years ago (now in style), did taupe and white with all my colors about 15 years ago (still in style, but wasn't a thing for another 5 or 10 years after I painted.) I am currently renovating a new home (new to me - built in 1970). I am finding myself leaning more toward subdued colors on my walls and less neutral. I will probably be the trend 10 years from now when I am feeling up to another change.

Do you love the colors that you have and all the things that are displayed. Do you sit in your living room and feel instantly happy? Don't worry about things being dated, or your taste being quirky - buy and display things that you love, surround yourself with the colors that make your heart sing.

...

Does anyone know what all the posts with the 3 dots mean? I keep seeing them all over the place...

It means we want to follow the thread without actually posting a comment, so we fill the space with dots or "following" or something like that. Then we get notifications of new posts on that thread.

Becky, it’s definitely not personal!

My observation is that the least-used things find their way to the back, bottom or top of the cupboard. So begin by pulling everything out and putting back the things you need and use the most. Chuck the ten-year-old spices, excess coffee mugs and saved plastic containers.

Think of it this way: decluttering is free! Then tell your husband you just saved $1K. Talk about a happy home!

Do you BK. You will get as many recommendations as there are people posting. Also regarding the mention of clutter, maybe you use all of those appliances on a daily basis. I have several appliances that I use several times a week, so I am not about to store them. Houses are to be lived in. You are not filming a TV show in your home, so do what is convenient for you. If you are entertaining you can temporarily remove the ones that you will not actually be using.

I'll just talk about the actual paint part (although taking down the things on top of the cabinets would help to de clutter)

Can you DIY? If you have the time, it can be done. It's a ton of work. you won't find anyone to paint those for 1K, and if you did, they'd look like crap and last about a week before peeling. don't bother.

If you're up for the work, use this link and follow her directions to a tee.

I wouldn't worry about the wood trim in the house. It's a diff type of wood than your cabs. And perhaps down the road you'd like to paint the trim around the windows and door the same white.

I'd paint the cabs a nice neutral white (Simply White- BM or Pure White-SW). Prepping and priming are 75% of the work on these cabs. skip any part of that and you'll end up w/chips/peeling paint.

https://www.evolutionofstyleblog.com/how-to-paint-your-kitchen-cabinets-like

before/after

and this link offers an online course, I think:

https://www.paintedbykaylapayne.com/are-you-thinking-about-painting-your-cabinets/

Thanks for the info. I was so confused. The 3 dots look like someone posted something and then later deleted it. I couldn't figure out why so many people kept deleting comments on such non-controversial threads.

It never occurred to me to post nothing, just to follow a thread. Of course I have no shortage of things to say anyway (ha ha!), so I always try to contribute something if the discussion interests me. :)

Patriceny, sometimes I follow just to see where the conversation is going before I decide to comment. I usually end up commenting at some point.

There is also the “save” option that lets you save discussions or comments into an idea book collection.

I had that exact cabinet in a house once. Yes, paint them, it will look updated and great. If you’re a DIYer you can tackle the other trim later, but these are cabinets and cabinets are often different than the trim. Look at BM Dove White.

Commenting because we just went back and forth and back and forth and back some more regarding this same issue. Here's what I learned:

1. Painting cabinets is not DIY job unless you like it to look less than great.

2. Paying someone to professionally paint/spray cabinets is crazy expensive.

That being said, there are times when it's worth the cost to spray them--or worth the risk to DIY them. And those times are when you are working with crappy cabinets to begin with--or cabinets which are beyond repair otherwise.

Your cabinets are in amazing shape. I would not paint them. And in fact I'm not painting mine, even though they are honey oak. Out of style wood beats chipping paint every day. Especially with the rest of the house has the same trim.

Out of style wood beats chipping paint every day.

And this can absolutely be avoided by carefully prepping and priming, and using the correct paint. It's not a risk. It's just tedious and takes a lot of time. If she were to follow the directions in the link I posted, there is no reason her paint should chip. Chipping paint means they weren't properly primed and/or the incorrect products were used.

OP obviously doesn't like them or she wouldn't want to paint them. As for "amazing shape", one can hardly tell this by looking at a small picture of them from 15 feet away. maybe on closer inspection they don't look quite as great. Do we even know if they are solid wood or maybe a veneer over that white MDF substrate? If it's the latter, I'd save and get them refaced. I opted to do that with mine since the price diff between painting my solid wood doors/drawers and getting new fronts wasn't that much.

I will preface my comment with although I like many white kitchens I actually think Beth's before picture actually looks better than the after (counter and light style looked so much better with the stain and the grey, chosen white, beige combo looks very off to me) so I vote to keep yours as is especially with the sounding rooms architecture features.

i also like beths before a lot better than the after. in general i think white is waaaayy overdone and prefer something warmer and more natural. id only paint if the cabs are not in good shape. white is ok if its just one item. its when people do everything in white that it really looks cold and sterile or at least boring. some designers are able to pull off that look and not have it be blah but not many that arent on tv or in magazines. in my neck of the woods at least, light and medium wood is coming back, something to also consider

roarah,, in that before/after combo, the pictures show what painting the cabinets look like when finished. Personally I don't care for the counter or the flooring. I don't mind the painted cabinets in the pictures, and hopefully the owner eventually changed the other two items.

they also painted the walls a very dark charcoal. might not have been the best color.

the island should have been trimmed out w/wood, and then painted for a cleaner look. right now it's just builder basic blah. (and the tile brought up along the base is also a no-no)

these are better options. do some easy trim work, prime and paint.

we don't really have a close up of OP's countertop, backsplash or the flooring, so it's hard to say. But honestly, her current cabinet color isn't at all awe inspiring, regardless if the cabinets look to be in excellent condition or not!

I agree with you Beth, her cabinets are not currently awe inspiring, but choices are painting the cabinets or painting the walls.

Off white or dove white would look very nice and I think is a very safe choice with any decor. To upgrade the look more and align it with the rest of the space, consider different handles and pulls. Regarding the painting job specifically, you should really hire a professional and use a high-quality paint. Paint can chip and crack, especially in the areas with big temperature differences and humidity. Not sure that the budget you mentioned will cover it, but it's better to invest more and do this properly than having to redo it after a while and spend even more money. Good luck!

I'd paint the walls before I'd paint the cabinets. I think it will give you a bigger bang for your buck. Streamlining the decor will open up the space as well.

I took your advice and have de cluttered . Its starting to look much better, cleaner. As Jennifer mentioned over time I acquired stuff, memories and gifts. It feels good to purge the items that no longer fit my life and vision.

i agree that the paint should match . Our home is in progress. You should see the basement paint color! Ack. That’s my next question for you .

how did you all get your kitchen “awe inspiring?”. I’d love to see .

I want that and don’t know how to get it . Budget aside, what would you suggest ?

@beckywilliams24 First, I see white trim in the molding above, so you already have started this color transition. Becky, don’t hesitate to paint the cabinets if it’s in your budget. Again, I had those same cabinets as you. The first thing my realtor said when we sold the house was, “you know those cabinets aren’t everyone’s favorites.” I said, I had no doubt since I didn’t even love them. I opted to paint the walls revere pewter by benj moore and it was much brighter, but if we were staying, I would have painted or replaced the cabinets. You already have a nice paint color and those bold colors only seem to try to distract. Like the old show Trading Spaces when they used bold colors to try to update. Invest in your cabinet update to a transitional color like dove white that you and future owners will really like. To your hubby’s point, the trim has to be changed to a light color if you want it to match in style, but the buyers of my house did paint the trim white as a diy project. If you are trying to get an updated look, don’t pick colors based on outdated features like trim and cabinets. My opinion of course.

Also, btw, google painting kitchen cabinets with chalk paint (e.g., Annie Sloan). No priming needed even on glossy cabinets. This is an incredible transformation on a budget and a conquerable DIY project that will give you a beautiful transition while you can save for more $ to reface some day if you want. There are tips to getting it not to chip but research this very good option for you.

https://hollandavenuehome.com/2019/01/19/chalk-painted-kitchen-cabinets-two-years-later/

true story re chalk paint-

My neighbor chalk painted her kitchen cabinets. Guess what? It PEELED AND FLAKED. She was a very crafty and skilled in her home maintenance. She regretted her decision to chalk paint the kitchen cabinets. Perhaps chalk painting should be reserved for painting an end table OR other item not subjected to daily wear and dishwasher heat.

We are painting the laundry room cabinets. It is DIFFICULT!

My DH is very skilled- painting, roofing, electrical, plumbing, whereas I am a novice. We have oak cabinets throughout the house. The laundry room is a test run for us. (Sink cabinet and only 3 upper doors)

TIP: It is so much easier to paint walls, then all the surfaces of the cabinet doors.

I found a new appreciation for wood cabinets. This pic is my inspiration for the next project- the guest bath -

Bathroom makeover & wall art · More Info

We repainted and got new carpet/floors in our previous house about a year before putting it on the market and selling - having to take everything out of cabinets/closets and bring all the furniture (at least during the painting portion) into the center of the rooms, stacking it all up so they can throw plastic sheeting and tarps over it all - that forced me to reckon with how much 'stuff' I'd accumulated in about a 10 year span within 984sqft. Leaning-towers-of-home-stuff aside, I got rid of quite a bit just so I didn't have to put as much back into the cabinets and closets! Then, I had to ruthlessly pare down more - only keeping what we packed into PODs right before the stager brought her stuff in and the MLS went live. It's actually felt sort of freeing to look at all that 'empty open wall space' once we'd unpacked in our new house, all the room in the cabinets/closets, and not feeling the need to rush out to buy new things...less to dust!

The master bedroom walk in closet is still mostly for my clothing and shoes, but the mister finally has a decent amount of hanging space and drawers for his things (the first real thing I can remember we fought about when we first moved in together was the fact that he had two tiny drawers and maybe two feet of hanging space in our prior walk-in, while I had the rest of the 9-drawer dresser, two and a half rows with one on each side wall in the closet for hanging things, installed a three shelf wall unit for just my shoes (in their original boxes mostly) along the back wall of the closet, etc...I think I might have told him he's lucky I let him have the whole nightstand on his side of the bed for his stuff - two deep drawers and a shallow top one - and that the dog let him share her pillow on that side at all! ;) ...And that the dog allowed him in the bed to begin with. :P She still likes to wedge herself in the middle between us, like we're middle school kids at a Catholic-nun-supervised school dance and need to "Leave room for Jesus!" and the mister has learned to share his pillow over the years - usually it's not sharing his pillow with her booty right next to his face anymore either. Lol)

My experiences since becoming a homeowner in 2002 have been invaluable lessons; how much I want to clean, how much space the things I need are going to require and how much effort will it involve to keep those things clean, what colors I really like, maintenance schedules and when/what should be updated...etc...In the beginning I had no idea how dusty all the things out on shelves/tables/etc would get and how much I dislike having to wash things that were already clean before I can use them because I'd kept them out on a shelf with no cabinet door/not in a drawer and they'd gotten dusty! If I don't have a kitchen drawer or enclosed cabinet to put it in, I don't need to own it that badly. While I do miss the ease of my old tile countertops and not needing to bother with a cutting board (just proper cleanup afterwards), I still like having granite in our new(er) home despite it being 'higher maintenance'. I definitely made the right choice to skip the carpet on the stairs in our previous home when we replaced the flooring there - vacuuming on no-riser tread only stairs that turned out to have the wrong mounting brackets (explains why some of them would sort of tilt when standing on them or going up/downstairs...:P) was NO FUN. I don't like vacuuming the much wider stairs in our split entry but at least they're not dangerous and there's no carpet in the basement, just LVP so I can Swiffer around down there and be done. The kitchen cabinets here are above the builder grade style you'd see in the late 70's throughout the 80's, with solid doors and housing/frames in cherry even if the shelves inside are MDF (I think?), wouldn't dream of painting them. The mister and I will be dying in our house though, because I refuse to do another residential move even just across town. Sadly, our basement is entirely finished so I won't be able to just bury him down there... ;) Maybe I could put him in the garden...or below the deck? ;)

Totally agree on decluttering. Have you you maybe considered adding open shelving instead of some cabinets? It would open up the space more. Also, instead of painting the cabinets, I would rather make upper cabinets go all the way to the ceiling.

my inlaws painted their guest bath cabinets themselves. used primer and 2 coats, watched lots of videos on how to, asked a professional what brand/type of paint to use. they looked awesome at first! like they were always that way. 1 (maybe 2) years later, you can tell its already not holding up. and this is the guest bath thats not used nearly as much! they are so glad they didnt do their kitchen like they originally planned

Becky, in order to get that awe inspiring kitchen, and everyone's idea of awe inspiring is different, is to make a journal. Find pictures of kitchens that you like. Find pictures of kitchens that you don't like. Study them. Figure out what you like and don't like about each picture. This will help you find your voice. Then, see how you can incorporate some of those ideas into your kitchen. Planning, planning, planning is THE ONLY WAY to get your awe inspiring kitchen!!!

Once you have a plan then you can.....start going thru things.

If you were going to paint your kitchen cabinets, you would have to remove EVERY SINGLE THING from the counter tops and from each and every cabinet.

Do that. Then go thru each and every thing and decide is this something that I have to have to function in my kitchen???? Does it require a place of honor on my counter top? Does it get used enough to command a front row place in my cabinets and/or drawers???

As Jan so famously advised, purge, purge and purge some more!!!!!! You will be amazed at how liberating it can be and you will be shocked at the stuff you find!!!

st5330,,,,using primer isn't enough. you must sand off the current finish on the cabinets and get it down to raw, or at least the unsealed stained base. That's why we all say prep is the most important part. The finish is only as good as the prep. so if all they did was clean it and apply the primer, the primer didn't have a good adherence to the actual wood cabinet. That's the problem. now anything else on top of that primer will peel and flake. And using any type of paint that meant for drywall is also a big fail. it has to be paint meant for wood (wood trim).

I painted my friends oak kitchen cabinets over 10 years ago. Took two days to completely strip and sand them down to the base wood. then primed. then painted. (and we didn't even use the good paint!) Those cabs are still in great shape to this day. no chipping. It was because of the prep work.

(they also make a special bonding primer for hard to prep/prime surfaces)