I have posted couple months ago asking for countertop suggestions (https://www.houzz.com/discussions/5997497/countertop-recommendation-needed) and got a lot of amazing suggestions and warnings, I just want to say this community is so amazing!

Some changes have been made to the kitchen now, so I want to loop back to see people's opinions:

- Should I paint the cabinets white/off white/two-tone(navy bottom + white top)? I got a quote from a professional painter, and it's around 1k, so not too crazy and we liked his work. Is there any gotchas for painted cabinets? (current cabinets is maple)

- Should I change countertop? I think we will only consider quartz/marble at this point, any recommendations? I will not do waterfall thanks to the recommendations from this group!

- New range is great, but we probably need a real hood, but where can I put microwave? Or does people have recommendations for high CFM over the range microwave?

- I'm thinking of repainting the first floor/kitchen to a lighter tone of white. Benjamin Moore's chantilly lace?

- Should I change all the top level square 15 by 15 cabinet's doors with glass doors? (see reference photos for detail)

before:

Before + decluttering + change of back door

Now (still needs some finishing up work such as adding trims, some back-ordered hardwares, glass front doors on the range side)