You currently have partial overlay cabinets, a dated cabinet construction. When re-doing your kitchen, look for frameless cabinets. Frameless cabinets provide more storage space too, so a win-win.

"Change to white granite and grey cabinets"

Gray cabinetry is tough because there are so many different grays, light to dark, and some are warm gray and some are cool gray. It is hard to find counters, backsplash and flooring that are cohesive with gray. If you must go with gray, go with a light dove gray.

White granites are beautiful, but you need to choose it carefully, with research. White granites can be problematic because many white granites are more like marble and therefore are stain-prone. From what I have read on this forum, the good white granites that are durable and low maintenance are in the Alaska White type (google to see what I mean). You should pick the white granite first before deciding on what gray you want for your cabinets, or you could get the dreaded mismatch of warm and cool tones of granite and cabinets, and then you still have to pick a backsplash that goes with both. So if you want white granite, choose it before you choose the gray cabinet color. Speaking of the backsplash, that should be chosen dead last, after everything else is installed.

Your flooring should also be updated, but you didn't mention it.

Hi @Miranda33,

I was thinking to change to white granite and then accordingly color tone the cabinets to grey or may be some other color to match white. But thanks for pointing flooring and backsplash which I never calculated.

Idea is to remodel the kitchen to make it brighter with light colors in our budget. Any suggestions are most welcome and will be definitely help us in deciding.

I agree with mamagoose that your layout looks pretty good. I am doubtful that it would work well to make your island larger, although tots hard to know without seeing a floor plan. I think it’s more likely that you need to sacrifice some cabinet space in order to gain the space for counter overhang and seating. Gray is already dating/dated, so I’d go with white paint rather than gray.

I notice you've tagged only Kitchens, so if you want more advice on colors and styles, you could also include Design Dilemma, which reaches more Houzz members.

The layout is good. But I think in order to get that light updated airy look you should consider new flooring and possibly removing the bulk heads or at least push em back a bit. Other than that I think you’ll do fine. Countertops cabinets lighting hardware appliances...

Some sites to read while deciding what to do:

https://www.houzz.com/discussions/5500754/new-to-kitchens-read-me-first#n=533

http://starcraftcustombuilders.com/kitchen.design.rules.htm#.Wq1aeWrwaM8

https://www.gardenweb.com/discussions/2767033/how-do-i-ask-for-layout-help-and-what-information-should-i-include

https://www.gardenweb.com/discussions/3638270/faq-kitchen-work-zones-what-are-they

https://www.gardenweb.com/discussions/3638304/faq-aisle-widths-walkways-seating-overhangs-work-landing-space-etc

https://www.gardenweb.com/discussions/3638376/faq-how-do-i-plan-for-storage

https://www.gardenweb.com/discussions/2699918/looking-for-layout-help-memorize-this-first

https://www.houzz.com/discussions/4273188/things-you-added-or-removed-that-you-love-regret-in-your-kitchen-renov

https://www.houzz.com/discussions/5332686/10-tests-for-you-and-your-contractors-first-meeting#n=25

https://www.houzz.com/magazine/10-common-kitchen-layout-mistakes-and-how-to-avoid-them-stsetivw-vs~116563485?m_refid=us-ocnt-reg-ocnt-stories-ktichen-116563485&fbclid=IwAR2VNIFLSZEN3skfRbCDsZdylbGcyCVJO5cRAEvIJyyMAgPz0PLdReOkX-s

We made our island smaller, eliminated seating at the island to allow for better traffic flow, eliminated the kitchen table and made a seating bar with storage underneath.

kathi_steele's ideas · More Info

kathi_steele's ideas · More Info

Can I use the same counter -granite what is currently in my kitchen and just paint the cabinets and doors white?

I will change the floor