Painting the cabinets nicely is a lot of work. How about some other improvements? Do you have pullout shelves in the lower cabinets? Undercabinet lighting?

I would get hardware for the doors and update the countertop. It doesn't look like you have a high sq of counter, so if budget is really tight you could locate a stoneyard that sells remnants, or replace with a solid-surface that is on the more modern side. I also really don't like that wall color -- I don't think it's doing anything for the cabinets, and I find the color drab and depressing. Definitely change the wall color.

I agree, I dont think it is the cabinets that are the problem, it is the wall color. Its a muddy type color and looks a bit on the dark and dingy side. You need a nice lighter brighter type color in there. There is a lot of work, to painting cabinets. You need to clean them, and when you think they are perfectly clean, then clean them again. Any oils in them, will affect your paint job. Then, you need to sand them all very well. Once they are sanded and all wiped down, you need to prime them all, with a top quality bonding sealing type primer. Once that is done and the wait time is done (that will be on the can), then paint them, with a paint that is meant for cabinets. There is a wait time between coats. It will take at least 2 coats, and possibly 3 coats, all with the wait times in between. Then, once you are finished, give them a week, and still being very careful, put your hinges, and door hardware on, and rehang your doors, and put your drawers back in. I always leave the doors open a gap (drawers too), about an inch, for 30 more days, to make sure the paint is totally cured. It Is a time consuming job, and must be done right, or what you will end up with is peeling paint, chips in the paint and cabinets that look terrible, in just a very short amount of time. The alternative is to having a qualified cabinet painter (not a house painter), bring them to his shop and do them for you, but, that can cost into the thousands of dollars. Good Luck with your decision.

IF I were to paint the cabinetsI would only have it done professionally by someone with recommendations. i had them done in a previous home, they came out beautiful, but it wasn’t cheap ( several thousand $ ). He set up an enclosed tent on my property to spray the finish .

I think the suggestions to do other things is good advice ( paint , hardware etc .)

https://jennakateathome.com/paint-colors-honey-oak/

^ I read several blogs similar to this and opted to do Benjamin Moore Green Wave on my kitchen walls. very happy with it.

I’d paint the walls before the cabinets.

I agree with all the above comments. Remove the trim from the top of the cabinets, get new hardware in either bronze or black, replace the countertops with something dark, and install a backsplash. Repaint with a neutral such as SW Accessible Beige. I wish that I had better pictures to share with you, but this is what I did to update a kitchen with honey oak cabinets. It turned out very nicely. I also added a free-standing island from Ikea. I might also look at a counter-depth refrigerator.

This is a really nice update keeping the original cabinets.

https://inbetweenchaos.com/2017/09/29/updating-a-90s-kitchen-without-painting-cabinets/

In order: Declutter. Take the decor piece off the top of the cabinets. Add hardware to existing cabinets. Paint the room a soft, clean color. Switch lighting. Change out the countertop. Add a backsplash. Get a counter-depth refrigerator.

Thanks for all your help.

The walls are a blue green color. Planning on painting.

The new owner painted my MIL's honey oak. Oak does not paint well. AWFUL. They also swapped the white appliances for black so explain that one!! Paint is not a solution to your frustration.

Maybe try removing the trim from on top of the cabinets, adding under cabinet lighting, adding hardware and updating the pendant light, and window treatment. You also might be able to add a rug.

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Thanks I keep going back and forth on changing out the cabinets and because we have so much oak in the house it just won’t work to paint the cabinets or replace them. Unless we paint all the windows and trim white.

That cabinet add on with the DW is strange. You must splash water down the side all the time. If you get a new countertop make sure there is no divide. I would remove the upper cabinet on that side as makes the window look squished. And possibly the one on the right but it's not shown in your pictures. Eventually replace the refrigerator with a counter depth refrigerator.

That's not true about painting everything white. There are lovely kitchens with white cabinets and stained trim

Oak cabinets

If you haven’t yet , read the article that @Madden, Slick & Bontempo, Inc reccomended . It is spot on . I live in a 90s kitchen too and am slowly making updates . I recently purchased a counter depth refrigerator and love it . I have honey oak cabinets and have had people tell me over and over to paint them .. I thought i hated mine too until i seen this picture . Its my inspiration now .

I may not paint the island that exact color but I think it looks great . Also ,check out the Briwax for cabinets that the article talks about . I know I will . Once you start making some changes , I think cleaning off the counters will make you feel better . I love the clean , open counters in my inspiration pic . I have bare minimum on my counters and love it . Take your time and find inspiration pics of your own . Good luck !

A lot of posters have suggested painting lighter, however i am seeing mdln's darker example (top left) and think it looks fantastic. You already have the oak and the light counters!

When we updated our previous home we built in 1999, we had the honey oak cabinets, floors, and all. We contacted the kitchen store the cabinets came from and had 12” cabinets installed on top of existing so storage available to the ceiling, getting rid of a lot of clutter by putting seeldom used items in top cupboards. White walls and ceiling made the cabinets stand out as the star.

Instead of painting you might try pickling. This would cover most of the honey oak color but would leave much of the wood grain.

I would paint the walls, change the hardware, change the countertop & add a simple backsplash. I would leave the cabinets alone.

@kazzh, yes, I also really like this one.