I have dark wood cabinets that I have wanted to switch out for years but life kept getting in the way. I have 16 year old marble counters on them already but during lock down we painted the walls a white( they were a light green) and added a trendy sconce over the sink and changed an over head fixture. Cleared clutter and leaned a stack of wood cutting boards against my backsplash and a retro toaster and suddenly I really like my kitchen and am not jonesing to redo it. I do still want all lower drawers but the pull outs help a lot.

Changing things like your fabrics, lighting and wall paint can go far in updating a kitchen. And if your budget permits changing counters and splash go even farther. I googled wood kitchens for inspiration help to make my changes.

Wood is NOT out of style.

Please post pictures of what you have now, and you will get some very helpful suggestions. You may get some that are not so helpful. By providing more information about what your goals are for the kitchen, you will get more of the helpful variety.

Some inspiration for light wood kitchens

Oh I forgot to add Joanna Gains used light cabinets for her show kitchen.

Wood has been back in style for for the last couple years.

That said, it’s going to depend on what your cabs look like and whether they can be modernized, versus if you have old looking wood cabs. Post a picture.

Well, I just signed a contract for custom made, slab door, natural maple cabinets. So, not everyone only uses painted cabinetry.

Wood is totally in style. The top kitchen designers - the ones who do kitchens for $200k+ - use wood cabinetry in their kitchens. They also use white cabinetry and jewel colors like sapphire and emerald on cabinets. All are "in style" as you put it.

@Mary beth Grice - what may not be in style is the type of door you have, the type of stain the maple has, or the configuration of the cabinets (e.g. are the uppers the up-and-down look, or are they short 30" cabinets, or that sort of thing), or it's not the cabinets at all; it could be the counters and/or backsplash that is the problem.

Here are photos of kitchens with maple cabinets (though I hate cooktops on islands, but at least it's to give you the idea of the cabinets):

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We are building a new house and doing our kitchen in rustic hickory. Not everyone loves stark white cabinets and plasticky looking fake marble countertops. Sometimes older cabinets may not be in good condition, whether stained or painted. I think that is a different issue. But I hate to see people avoiding wood because they fear it will be “dated”. Go with what you like and makes you feel good. Nothing beats the warmth of wood IMO.

I love my new wood cabinets (red birch with walnut trim).... Not to everyone’s taste (just as all white is not to mine). Unless you are concerned about short term resale I’d go with what you love...

D Walker...love your kitchen. So refreshing to see a beautiful kitchen with stained wood. And kudos to you for doing something a little unusual...the walnut trim! Who wants their kitchen to look like everyone else’s? Well actually I think many people do...unfortunately.

My medium stained wood kitchen, now 5 1/2 yo, still makes me happy. Paired with Belvedere soapstone counters, and three layers of lighting, the kitchen is warm and inviting. Wouldn’t change a thing.

Follow your heart, not the herd.

Darbuka...beautiful! Makes me happy too just looking at the pictures.

Wood is not just in style - it is now trendy based on what the highest level designers are doing. There are still some high end white kitchens but they don't resemble the ubiquitous white Shaker cabinet in the least. Even the Martha Stewart gray kitchen which theoretically kicked off the trend doesn't resemble the gray kitchens as they passed in the mass emulation.

If you follow trends, you are going to be very sad when the trend is past unless you have the kind of wealth where you demo a kitchen in five years because are bored with the way it looks. In the most expensive areas in my city (Los Angeles) people will completely gut remodel newish kitchens which were previously done by the previous owner - my friend has lived on her block for 20 years and has watched the gut remodels of various homes as they passed hands :-).

I recently gut remodeled my place and didn't follow trends but followed what I liked. I am actually a bit peeved when I see that something is now "trending" :- and which I used). I have some teal blue stuff and I was so sad when my friends sent me design magazines showing the color was now trending. :-(

My kitchen is quarter sawn white oak stained a medium tone - I don't think it is trendy but I like it and after two years I still like it :-).

Helen - beautiful cabinets! I love the detail in the doors...

I have new custom hickory cabinets. I love the warmth the wood cabinets bring to the kitchen.

@D Walker - Your kitchen is lovely. If it had been done in white, it would have been completely banal.

Helen - I love your kitchen. I feel the same way about not wanting my tastes to become trendy. I like being different. I loved black windows before they became trendy!

J J - I have hickory cabinets in the current house and will have rustic hickory in the new house! I guess I am boring. You cannot go wrong with hickory...beautiful and bullet proof.

@darbuka- mind sharing what wood species your cabinets are? I love the color and the look of the grain.

@A G, the cabinets are birch, and the stain was called, Autumn.

We just moved but our last kitchen was done 10 years ago and we still loved it. The person who bought our home told the realtor that he fell in love with the kitchen. It's quarter sawn white oak.

@D Walker - what countertop material did you use on your island? Looks really cool!

I’d love to know that too!

It’s leathered Green Fusion quartzite...My husband and I both fell in love with it. Pics actually don’t do it justice - the leathered finish gives a ton of depth.

It’s lovely!

@D Walker - I was hoping that it was a real stone! I was worried that it wasn’t because it actually looks TOO PERFECT to be real! All the colors + dramatic pattern of the veining = WOW! Stunning.

I‘ve never considered introducing green into my kitchen (it had teal in it back in 1996!) but if I saw a slab like this in person, it would be hard to pass up!

dmac1108 Thanks! It was hard to pass up... we saw lots of beautiful slabs but kept being drawn back to that one. At this point it’s the only artwork we have in the house 😊