Sorry, the kitchen I love uploaded as the FIRST picture (light gray cabinets) The new home has the wood toned cabinets

Having cabinets painted is very expensive- it is labor intensive to do well. That said it is completely doable and will transform the space. If you are spending all that money though I would get a woodworker in to make some modifications to the cabinets prior to painting- I would remove the little corner shelves that close in the window, I would remove the busy wood hood in lieu of a stainless steel model, and of course remove the existing tile and the granite riser so the new backsplash can go down to the counter.

Completely agree Hallett. It's much too traditional for my taste.

You are not going to get your inspiration kitchen out of “just” painting, unless you change your counters and a whole lot more things than you are willing to change. Find a different inspiration that is more achievable with the bones you have.

If you’re willing to spend the 7-9K to have them professionally painted, then work with a designer to pick a color and to make other changes. You’ll easily be at 15-20K for a refresh before it’s over. “Minor” changes are not minor.

If you want to DIY, you need to be pretty experienced to start with. None of this is forgiving of shoddy beginner work. All requires a pretty good investment in tools Join the Kitchen Cabinet Painting Experts FB group if you want to find out what would be ahead of you. It’s weeks of work.

The bossy warm rose and gray stone choice is more limiting to options than you think. Hold off on doing anything. Keep researching and planning and saving. IMHO, the stone would be among the first things to address, rather than being off the options list.

So I got a few estimates on painting the cabinets and doing a new backsplash. It's within my budget. I will be uncovering all the appliances as they are stainless steel.

I cannot afford to completely gut the kitchen so any cabinet colors that go with the granite would be appreciated. I was thinking of doing a subway tile backsplash and replacing the cabinet handles.

Thoughts?

You could do some doors glass. I see a creamy white and charcoal grey in the counter. Do you want an all white kitchen or two tone? The floor looks ok with that copper/brown in the counter. Maybe it would help to go get samples and bring them home. You'll want to put them against your floor and counter both.

In my experience, panel ready appliances are not finished on the fronts. If you take off the wood panel you’ll need to replace it with a stainless panel.

He's gonna use oil based paint.

I was thinking all white or all gray. I wonder how it will look if I did two tone. Would you leave lowers wood tone and then uppers painted? I'll definitely get some samples before choosing a color.

Thanks, I'll make sure to order the stainless panels! I thought they would just come off with the stainless steel under.

Before painting your uppers and lowers different colors, can you try this idea out in a photo editing program?

I don't think your counters are a bad color, if you like them, you can keep them and you can find a paint color for the cabinets that works with them.

Just make positively sure you get a painter that is experienced in painting cabinetry.

For tile you can use subway tile if you like. Glass subway tile would like nice in the same color as the paint as the cabinetry.

You can save a lot of money by not putting it everywhere, but only putting it where you need it- behind the sink and the stove and bordering it with with something like quarter round or some other edging tile.

"He's going to use oil based paint." Won't cut it. Ask which exact paint he'll use and procedure.

There are multiple prep steps including dismantling, cleaning, sanding, priming, sanding and painting several coats of a cabinet specific paint product like Cabinet Coat or BM Advance. Here's an info link.

The products in the video aren't listed in the US.

An Italian 2K urethane with a hardener is listed here. It needs to be sprayed. The finish is harder. Doesn't scratch as easily.

https://www.atlanticplywood.com/brand/milesi/

You can paint the cabinets yourself. I've painted multiple kitchen cabinets over the years and never had any issues with peeling or chipping. You have to sand A LOT so you'll need a sander and be sure you don't miss the trim. Benjamin Moore's Advance paint is easy to work with and is self leveling. Prime at least 2 coats. It's labor intensive but if you have time and patience you CAN do it yourself and it can still look good and last. Most bad paint jobs are a result of not sanding enough, not priming enough or wrong primer and paint that isn't compatible with the primer.

I love the idea of doing white uppers and diff color lowers or leaving wood (but staining a different tone). I've also seen kitchens where lowers were painted but island was wood and uppers were white. (As long as all 3 tones match the countertop). If you do something like that I recommend a more basic backsplash--like a subway tile--but you could always do it in a different pattern (ie. herringbone) and could possibly add an accent too--based on the counters id suggest a brushed nickel or pewter accent. For cabinet colors, the counter looks like it has a greenish-grey...try to find a color that is within that color family (it will tone down the patterning) and I think you could get away with lowers in a color, island stained wood, and uppers repainted white/slightly off-white (grayish tone not yellow/ivory)

We agree with the above comments. Have you thought about staining the cabinets instead of painting them? Here are a few kitchen designs of ours that might aid you in deciding what to do for your kitchen cabinets.

Contemporary Kitchen & Bath · More Info

Alpine Ski Home: Kitchen · More Info

I would pick up subway tile samples to match your granite (off-white, taupe, or grey). I would also replace the pendants.

I have crema bordeaux granite with a bit more movement and color than yours - some look-at-me black splashes - but many colors are similar - the gray/green, for instance. I used a light sea green/aqua glass tile that looks great. And for all I know, sienna bordeaux and crema bordeaux are the same thing, lol. I agree with others that it won't be inexpensive to paint all of those cabinets.

er612 I agree with replacing the pendants as well!

I'm thinking of painting the cabinets SW Alabaster. With that being said, I think maybe a cream colored subway tile?? I'm definitely doing subway tile just back and forth on the color.

I don't know about using SW for cabinets, maybe someone on here has had experience with it but I'll only use Benjamin Moore Advance from now on.

I've read good reviews for the emerald urethane line but I could look into a BM alabaster match and go with the Advance

I've only done furniture, not cabinets, but I much prefer Benjamin Moore to Sherwin Williams. I have painted a desk (except the drawers and top, which are stained) and a nightstand in Benjamin Moore Advance, and they have come out wonderfully, and I've had no issue with their finishes. The desk is low use, and the most contact prone sectioned are stained, but the nightstand is used regularly. It has remotes, eye glasses, books, and bottles on and off of it with no damage; items are placed, not thrown, but it's not babied. It cured quickly and only had wax paper for about a week, maybe two in places I was being extra cautious. I painted a round, slate-topped cabinet in Sherwin Williams All-Surface Enamel (the line the clerk recommended when I said I was painting furniture), and while it looked nice, it took months to get to the point where I could close the door without wax paper, as the one time the wax paper slipped the paint stuck, proving the lack of cure; it was also softer to a fingernail poke. The round piece was painted first, and I'm still not entirely convinced it's fully cured; the nightstand certainly is fully cured, as is the desk. Of course there are more factors, and it may be just which paint I'm best at using, but that's my experience with the two.

Thank you Blueberry for your insight! Sounds like BM Advance is the better choice