I'll preface this by saying that I am biased towards wood, but I wouldn't paint those cabinets.

The thing that stands out to me in the fridge. The light bordering the wood panels is the most obvious thing in the kitchen, to me, and would be the aspect I would be looking to adjust. I'd probably remove the panels and just go with stainless, matching the wall ovens and hood.

What's your goal when you say you want to refresh your kitchen? What don't you like about it? Is it too dark, wrong style, just looking for different?

Do you have some images of things you like around your house that you want to be more similar to? Also, is there a kitchen somewhere that is inspiring the desire to paint the cabinets?

Thanks for the reply. I think we just don’t like the overall wood look of the kitchen. We are looking to modernize/update it a bit. Right now it feels a bit outdated to us.

new countertops (lighter) and paint island

Thanks for the responses. Seems like the best bet would be to possibly just change out the kitchen entirely.

I wonder if changing the backsplash ( I can't really see what it is?) to something light would be a good start? The cabinets do look very nice, and everything else looks pretty updated. I think if you changed the decorative lighting ( the pendants) you might get a lot more bang for the buck. I do also agree with removing the panels from the fridge.

I would not paint those cabinets- they look nice. Backsplash change and lighting I would say. What color is the paint? Bluish Gray?

Thank you for all the input. The paint color and backsplash we hate the most. It’s a light / mint green. Here is a picture that tries to capture both the wall color with the backsplash in it. What color / type of backsplash do you think you’d recommend to go with this color of cabinet with the black countertops

A cabinet refinisher is who paints your cabinets not your house painter . I would need to know a budget just a guess here 8k to do all of those and IMO the base cabinets should all be drawers , the floors are driving everything you choose right now. I have never liked panelled appliances . I would need to know more about how this space functions for you. That is the first question I have before deciding to paint. I think the curved island is dated and you do not have space at it for seating. Sit down and really analyze the space for function and what you would change if budget was not an issue.

Thank you. There actually is room under that island side for seating, we just haven’t gotten the stools yet since we were deciding on if to do the kitchen over. The space is our main hub that flows into your dining room and up into a mid floor living room area. If there was zero budget in mind, I think we would gut the kitchen with new flooring, cabinets, backsplash, countertops. We were just trying to think of ways to give it a little face lift.

I have received quotes for both someone to come in and refinish the cabinets (which is almost as expensive as new cabinets). To refinish them the quotes we’ve received were 14k and 13,200 and then to paint the cabinets a few quotes in at around $4,500.

The painting process, while not the best, I have heard ok things on. They sand them down and then apply a primer, sand again, and then 2 coats that are then sprayed. In your experience is this also horrible as it allows for chips, scratches, etc to occur?

We are trying to avoid having to spend 30k give or take on a new kitchen.