What is on the floor NOW?

Is that the flooring that is all through the main floor ? IMO this is a sea of taupey beige what are the areas around the kitchen like . Kitchens need to work with the rest of the home not done in a vacuum .The lighting is the big issue here it needs to be LED 4000K before choosing any other colors for even the cabinets . I would like to see the kitchen as it is now.

THE PIC is there as it is.....minus the floor.

Initially I'd change the backsplash, add hardware and change the pendants. I don't think I'd paint the cabinets, at all. If you insist, try white uppers only and swap a few upper cab doors for some glass fronted doors so you can put nice things on view.....windowless space can benefit in that way...do you have some crystal or bowls...pick a cabinet and show it off !!

I have a kitchen that had very similar finishes to your current one. We actually painted our cabinets Alabaster, too. Yes, there were many people that said we shouldn't paint them, but in the end, we were very happy with the look. Did it give us to look of a major kitchen rennovation? No, but it did update the space to our liking and make things brighter, especially since, like you, we were needing to keep our darker countertops. We also swapped out our mosaic backsplash for a simple 3x6 subway tile. GAME CHANGER! We sampled many subway tiles to find the right shade to coordinate with the Alabaster cabinets. We went with this tile and I couldn't be happier! It has just the right warmth without reading dirty to play well with the warm tones of Alabaster. I'll post some before and after photos later today.

I hope you are planning to remove the backsplash as well. It does make the room very dark. Keeping the countertops means going lighter all around it. I would agree with KF. I’m interested to see the photos from her kitchen. Can you post a photo of the floor?

Thank you for the comments! I so appreciate your help! I’ll post a pic of the floor, which is throughout our mail floor open concept home, with the exception of the living room. The flooring, which is currently engineered hardwood needs to be replaced, which is what originally kicked off this project. We are going to extend the LVP into the living room as well.

Current flooring.

We had a similar granite from a 2002 kitchen remodel so painted cabinets in 2017 and refinished hardwoods, painted all walls accessible beige. Your backsplash doesn’t go at all with your counters. Anyway, we used BM white dove advance. I would recommend a lacquer finish. Then our hardwoods were refinished to Jacobean. You have too many creamy colors. I also second the subway tile game changer! And knobs too.

I would get rid of agreeable grey as you have nothing grey in the kitchen. You need to tighten up the browns beiges, more contrast.

And def. paint the cabinets!

Here are my before and after photos...

Before:

After:

Cabinet Paint: SW Alabaster Satin

Wall Color: SW Twilight Gray

Flooring: Waterproof Pergo Timbercraft Valley Grove Oak

While painting the cabinets is quite the task, I found that it made a big difference in my space. I think it would do the same for yours. You have great bones in your kitchen. There is a lot of prep work involved, but can make a big impact for minimal $. While I still have some dated features in my kitchen (soffit, upper cabinet doors, darker counters, etc), a simple coat of paint and a new backsplash made me much happier every time I enter my kitchen.

I think you've picked out a nice color palette. Agreeable Gray is a great neutral and I find that it reads a touch warmer which would go nicely with the browns you currently have in your space. You could also look into SW Urbane Bronze for an island color.

If you are still considering changing out the pendants, I would recommend still having something with a glass shade. I think that will make your space feel lighter and airy. You could do plain glass or add in a textured or seeded glass. I would also look into adding hardware to your cabinets. Oil-rubbed bronze would look nice.

Please keep us updated on your project! I'd love to see your final choices. I think this space has great potential!

I think it may be possible to sand and refinish your engineered hardwood floors. I read that in order to create that ridged (wire-brushed?) look they manufacture it with a harder oak or hickory wood which sanded down and refinished could give you an entirely new look. A lighter, white background countertop and backsplash would go a long way to refresh the cabinets as well and go with your white doors and trim color too.

Refinish the floors if they are damaged. Don’t replace wood with vinyl. Ever. Ditch the backsplash and add under cabinet lighting. Then stop and assess.

removing real wood floors to replace w/vinyl is a big mistake.

I’m so grateful for the feedback! Thank you all, very much. The floors definitely need to be replaced. There is gaping between the boards and they’re pretty scratched up. Also, we want to extend the flooring into our living room and the color we have is no longer available.

We are definitely changing the backsplash. I hate our backsplash. I literally can’t believe I picked it out myself 7 years ago. 😂😂. It’s what our builders designer recommended and I went with it.

I really like our agreeable gray walls- we just painted them a few months ago. They were a beige/more brown/khaki tone and it lightened our open concept living/dining/kitchen area a lot.

I originally was leaning towards a light white oak door, but my husband really likes the Glendale pine and I’m fine with it too.

While I want to lighten things up, I definitely lean towards warm and cozy, so I’m trying to pull it all together. Not sure I’m doing a good job though. 🤦‍♀️😂😂

So, definitely replacing floors, definitely replacing backsplash, definitely painting the island, definitely adding handles to kitchen cabinets and definitely replacing light fixtures. Still on the fence about pairing kitchen cabinets. Knowing this, I would love your continued feedback. This is so helpful any I’m so grateful!

That should say, I was leaning towards white oak floors, not door.

Any chance real hardwood could be installed? It’s messy tho. Or a better engineered?? We had Monarch floors in a house once. They were nice for engineered

Then we sold our house and new owners did this. Little busy for me, but same cabinets and updated appliances, counter, backsplash and out in open shelving. Still shows you the power of paint!!!

I wouldn't paint the cabinets Alabaster. it's a very warm, almost yellow white. If you want to use white tile against it, its' going to look really yellow. Ditto your trim white.

this is alabaster. look at the cabs over to the left where no natural light hits it. it's much yellower. And with those yellow hued lights you have, it's going to look even more creamy yellow
this kitchen has yellow pine floors, and yellow toned butcher block. it works.

If you want more gray tones, then don't pick Alabaster.

Pick a neutral white. doesn't have to be a super bright white, but pick one that's just 'white'.

If you want a warm neutral, pick Simply White.

Alabaster on these next two. see how it looks next to white? dingy.

SW Pure White

this one is also Alabaster. has similar tones to your kitchen. if you don't mind painting the pantry door this color, and all the trim surrounding the cabs, flooring, etc, and, you have no intention of using any type of white tile, then go ahead and pick this one.

We did all our trim, crown, doors and ceilings in Simply White. It’s a beautiful white

Thank you! I’m not sold on white backsplash. I just want to make sure the cabinet color doesn’t look stupid next to our white trim, which is the same white trim completely throughout our home.

I am planning to switch out the light fixtures- any suggestions? And, would love ideas for backsplash! Thinking about changing out the pantry door to something with frosted glass as well.

You are all so helpful and I really appreciate it!

lights and backsplash come last, after everything else is painted.

btw, I also like Simply White. I had mine painted a year ago. (it was a lacquer conversion and one shade lighter than Simply White. my walls and trim I painted in Simply White. I started w/White Dove, but it was so dingy, I repainted w/Simply. You can see how it looks on the wall in this pic. it's all natural lighting.

my island is Wrought Iron. look into SW Iron Ore for yours. or, Urbane bronze. might be a good choice w/your granite, Black Fox would be another one.

Remove that pantry door completely and do something diff. get a salvaged wood door, get a glass door, get two smaller doors, whatever. you can keep them a wood stain, an antique look, paint it black or an accent color,

go to a restore, or a salvage place and look for old doors that would fit your size.

at the very least, get a diff type of door from what you have and paint it Wrought Iron or Iron Ore.

We had custom cabinets made and struggled to get the right (for us). Chose Sw Alabaster because it was not a bright white but also did not have a lot of undertones. Just “off white “enough for what I was looking for. Used Antico Bianco for counters. After bringing home MANY backsplash option went with this one from Menards as it was much less white (but not yellow) than many of the others we looked at. Good luck, it’s a tough decision!!BTW , we are very happy with out choice and went with a 1/16 grout line with a bright white

Beth H. Love all those, especially pantry doors!

@Beth H. Could you kindly head over to Ceci’s thread? Curb appeal for tired ranch house??? She really needs your expertise

kitkatkisses...you've never properly refinished cabinets, have you? if you had, you'd realize it's no job for a novice, and for a pro, would cost more than painting.

To do a proper job and have it look better than it does currently requires days and days of prepping, sanding, staining, clearcoat, etc. It's so labor intensive, you have no idea. She doesn't want to go darker, so why mention staining the cabinets? to go lighter, you'd have to remove all of that current stain and take everything back to raw wood. You ever done that? I have.

Kind of like dying your hair. if someone w/dark brown hair wants to be a golden brown or blonde, can you just dye it? no. you have to bleach it first to get the hair almost white, or lighter than the color you want. same thing w/wood. if you want a lighter color, you have to remove the current color. and if you want darker, well, she doesn't want darker, so that's moot.

These bloggers you see that just say, "rub some gel coat over it" are clueless. If someone doesn't understand wood finishing and stains, that someone should not undertake a project like this.

who is angry? you just casually throw out, "save yourself some money and refinish them yourself" like it's no big deal. It's a very big deal and most homeowners have no clue how to do it. paying someone to do it would be more expensive than painting.

'some people' showing her pics of white cabs and white counters were trying to show her what the color Alabaster actually looks like. I'm sorry, and you've given her what help? what have you shown her?

Maybe "some people" want lighter cabinets, or white painted cabinets. why does that make you angry?

Perhaps the OP should wait and save up some more so that she can do a more extensive remodel but I don’t know her situation and neither do you.

and perhaps OP has done research. why are you treating her like an imbecile?

OP is a grown up. she said the granite has to stay. why would you, or I argue w/her about it? If she paints her cabs white and discovers that the granite has to go, then perhaps that will be her next project. it's up to her.

kitkat...I'm sure you mean well, but I don't think you've thought everything through.

It's just odd that you honestly think she's going to strip every single one of those doors, inside and out, remove all the hardware (marking which door they belong to) strip all of the panels, and carcasses, then sand everything (by hand since an orbital isn't going to reach in a lot of those nook and crannies) with graduating grits. clean up, apply the stain, wipe clean and then spray a lacquer clear coat? Or even apply a clear coat with a brush? And where might all of this take place? does she have a hidden work shop? heated?

I mean, come on. this isn't the same scale as refinishing a dresser or a few chairs. this is her kitchen.

But hey, Emily. Maybe I'm being completely presumptuous. I'll actually ask

"Are the cabinets in good enough shape that they could be refinished? have you taken any classes in wood refinishing? would you be up to putting your life on a complete hold for the next month (I assume you work?) to devote every spare waking moment to these cabinets? do you have a garage you could move everything into and spread them out so you can apply chemicals to them? (you don't want to do it in your house) Is it somewhat heated? most of the strippers and stains do not work in cold temps.

Or, are you just tired of the wood look cabinets and prefer to have them painted white?

@Beth H. : Your responses are entirely out of proportion. You could have explained why in your opinion staining is a bad idea, without personally attacking me. Hope you feel better now that you have ranted and raved.

kitkat,,,I never did until you started on me. Your snide comment of "some people keep showing pictures of white kitchens....." That was totally uncalled for. (what, are you 10?) There wasn't one thing I said to your first response that was out of line. not one. Your next comment towards me was the catalyst. Your reaction is way off base.

BTW that's what I did advise. I said "staining was a bad idea". And that's when you started this whole mess.

oh, so now you just delete your comments so you won't look like fool? good lord. you come on here, run your mouth, and when someone calls you out on it, you delete the comments, after accusing them of 'attacking' you? is that how you roll? oh wow,,,the things I can assume about you,,

@Beth H. :It wasn’t snide; you are not the only person doing that. Not everything is about you. What is the grain on her cabinets? Will paint adequately hide it? Far too many painted cabinets never look right, like a factory finish does. Has she considered new fronts and just painting the boxes? That might not cost that more than hiring painters. What is her budget? What look is she trying to achieve? Her countertops IMO are far more dated looking than her stained cabinets. These are things I was wondering about before you jumped down my throat.

Trying to tell her paint and a backsplash will fix everything is too simplistic.

first off, I never "told" her to paint anything. She had already decided to do that.

she had clearly said, "the granite is staying".

She also said she's changing the backsplash.

So, when I answer someone, I'm not here to change their minds if they've already made certain things clear.

secondly, Did you ask her about the cabinets? Did you ask her if she even wants them stained?

did you ask her any of those questions you just posted?

No, you told her she could save money and get new countertops if she stained the cabinets herself.

Again, she said THE COUNTERTOPS HAVE TO STAY. you keep pointing out the problem is her countertops. maybe she is stuck w/them. I don't know. and neither do you and it's not your place to decide whether or not she keeps them.

Lastly,

I didn't jump down your throat, I pointed out the obvious that seemed to be obscure to you.

I deleted my comments because this is not worth it. Maybe I do look like a fool. But it’s better than spewing vitriol at a stranger on the internet.

kitkat- ah, there it is. be the instigator and then sit back and point fingers at the reaction. You do this in RL too, eh?

I deleted my comments because this is not worth it. Maybe I do look like a fool. But it’s better than spewing vitriol at a stranger on the internet."

btw, your description of 'spewing vitriol' is really skewed. get a dictionary.

Then show me this Vitriol that I spewed at you. go ahead. I haven't deleted my comments. show me.

@Beth H. : your tone and your responses are overly aggressive and hostile. But whatever, I’m sure its all my fault because I dared make a suggestion. And of course you are never wrong.

never said any such thing. you're scrambling to find a way to defend what you said. you accused me of spewing vitriol, which is a lie. You're calling me names and making accusatory comments(also lies) but I'm hostile? you're a trip.

btw, you're the one ranting. I'm merely responding to these ridiculous claims you're throwing at me.

my tone and responses are not aggressive. show me where they are. I'm not the least bit hostile. again, show me. you're completely overreacting.

why did you delete your comments? Show me the vitriol! if you're going to accuse someone of something, have the balls to back it up.

just because someone disagrees w/your opinion doesn't make them hostile and aggressive. Now please, stop with this nonsense.

Hmmm

We missed a good one! I can never delete my comments!!

Drucila I love that

It’s a huge job to paint kitchen cabinets and not for amateurs!!

@Kathy Furt I've noticed I can delete or edit my comments only when I'm on a desktop browser. From my phone app, I can't do diddly squat! It won't even let me tag someone. It's 2021 Houzz, can you bring your app up to date please!

Yes their IT has really gone downhill!! Amazing as i think they’re based on Palo Alto, CA which is very close to Silicon Valley! 🤦🏼‍♀️🤦🏼‍♀️🤦🏼‍♀️🤦🏼‍♀️🤦🏼‍♀️

😂😂😂