Here are the colors for prepainted cabinets facing

Your plan for renovation seems sound enough.

Love the color.

i actually like the cabinets. they have a bit of artsy-crafty vibe with the edge detail. If the finish is in good shape I'd keep as is / certain about that. Find something interesting /bigger/with closed off doors or part closed off where the red cart is. I'd get the cereal put away there and so on/ get a trac light or alternative for the fan at the ceiling. Can the strip come off and get a backsplash? some roll out chrome things can go in older base cabs like you have. How many wall inches do you have where red cart is? do something there...leave the kitchen alone generally and this is a nice space [ for a period of time] What is the space beyond the opening where windows are? Some nice decorating can give you a special / fairly large area between the right wall area yet to be set up, and the ?table zone? not even set up either. Arches always are an opportunity for detail whether casing w trim / color on the wall there......create something visual "beyond " the arch.....etc.

French-country Formal · More Info

various set ups could be used on the wall where red cart sits.....I'd spend for that before spending to change your wood cabinet doors.

Stunning 1st Floor Redesign in Tower Lakes · More Info

Stunning 1st Floor Redesign in Tower Lakes · More Info

Most refacing companies can change lower door cabinets to all drawers, so ask your company if they provide that service. I think your color scheme will be nice.

Are you doing shaker style new doors? The can be done in drawer fronts on the bottom as well. We redid ALL the lowers to drawers and couldn’t be happier. The photo represents what used to be a run of doors.

Are you the GC or is the refacing being done by professionals?

I kind of like the doors too (and I don't like cathedral arched doors, so go figure.) For starters, I'd focus on decluttering - get as much as you can off the counters and fridge (maybe put some of that stuff in baskets on top of the fridge if you have nowhere else for it.) As mentioned earlier, put something with hidden storage where the red cart is (get something wider than the current cart), and put your toaster oven and MW over there. (Do you need both?) Get stuff off the top of the cabinets and counters and use the new hidden storage for it (and for all the papers that are currently on the side of a cabinet.) Consider removing the wooden valance and replacing the light, and update the hardware.

Save your money for a complete remodel.

Don't waste your money on refacing. You'll never use small cabinets on top of what you have. Either get 42" tall cabinets or keep what you have.

I really like your kitchen, especially the funky valence. It has a funky artsy vibe to it. It could use some tweaking, but overall it is a fun kitchen. Get a beautiful hutch, preferably antique, for the area where the red cart is, and live with it for a while. It may grow on you.

Do your drawers function smoothly? Is your counter material a laminate or granite/stone?
If you have new cabinet and drawer fronts made, painted sage and installed, will you have a professional painter prep and paint the cabinet boxes? Half of the job on the cabinets is prep before painting. I prefer stainless appliances, but if your appliances are in good working condition, you could put the emphasis on the cabinetry refinishing and save up for new SS appliances in the future. An undermount sink is more modern and easier to keep clean than the drop-in sink you have now. I would consider having new cabinets made, upper and lower, for the area where the red cart is. Moving the large toaster oven and microwave away from the sink zone would be a good idea: more prep area near the water source. Declutter, and declutter some more. Is the window over the sink a real window or a mirror/window?

Yes to replacing the fronts and painting.

Obviously, there will be opinion both ways.

Information, which includes OTHER possibilities is usually the best place to begin.

Thus I ask, aside from color and cabinet style? Appliance replacement, hardware..

You love everything else, and by that I mean

the storage, the fridge up against an entry wall, the counter TOPS...., the no real venting range hood, the microwave on the counter top.....the granite.

Now. Go online and post some inspo's of the dream kitchen. As many as you like.

When you're done? Post the drawing as I begged above, for the as IS condition in entirety.

Okay? Humor me............

I don't want you to waste money, to find you would have DO OVERS in a couple years, and that fast/cheap/ fix money g.o.n.e . Because haste will make waste.

In the meantime? You are eating, yes? : ) Probably.

How do you plan to match the frames to the factory color doors with diy? I am doubtful it will match and look ok and 17 doors and 9 drawer fronts will cost a few grand and still fails to fix the biggest issue this kitchen has, lack of storage. I think, regardless of refacing, you need to add storage. A free standing pantry in the far cabinet to help hide the stuff above the fridge will make a better improvement than a color change would.

I'm another one who likes the 'craftsman-like' cabinets as is, and another possibility is to dig into the Arts & Crafts look.

It's your choice, but it is ok to not change this into yet another HGTV clone - those are the epitome of Blah.

So it seems to me I should either A) completely gut the entire kitchen and start from the beginning or B) basically leave it as it is 😆.

To be honest I would love a brand new kitchen but financially I can’t afford $30k+ for complete gut. My budget is around 15k. Some flexibility there. We could diy ourselves, minus the countertops of course.

If I had your kitchen and a $15k budget, I'd paint the walls, get new appliances, replace the counters and hardware, put in a new backsplash, and call it a day. Even that's probably stretching the budget. But I think what's really making the kitchen unappealing is the combo of black appliances + speckled black and white granite + orangey cabinets + green-ish walls + pinkish floor. I'd do stainless appliances, a white counter, warm white/cream walls, and a classic tile backsplash in a coordinating color.

You have a lot of cabinetry facing each other. I suggest you consider doing the top in Salt and the bottom in Sage with the new stainless steel appliances you plan to buy (look into cabinet depth refrigerator)..

Complete with brass hardware it would be bright and stunning!

Note: It's hard to tell the actual colour of your granite because it varies from one photo to another. But, you might be able to save on replacing it, it might work with the new paint colours I'm suggesting...

You will never match factory colors with your own paint color (for the base portion)

You could get all new doors (the drawers are fine) and paint everything yourselves. that will save you thousands.

**Before I would reface, I would make sure your skeleton bases are solid wood, sturdy and in good shape. can they stand up to sanding and painting? If they are good quality/solid wood, go ahead and reface. if they are cheap 1990 laminate or veneered oak over MDF, don't waste your money on refacing***

Yours actually look to be a stained birch or a cherry.

Ok, moving on:

Spend money on new countertops (if you're in an area that has pre-fab countertops, great. for 500-700 bucks you can get a 9'X24" pre fabbed quartz/granite/marble and have it cut to your specs on site by a fabricator. usually another 800 or so for your size kitchen.)

Pre-fabs look like these in the middle

You could also look for Remnants (left over cuts from other jobs)

You can make a DIY fridge panel surround. (these always look better)

lots of ways to make one. look it up online

https://danaplusdavid.com/2017/08/07/weve-got-the-fridge-surrounded/

So far you're at about 2K. that leaves you plenty leftover for appliances and other things.

you want the best how to on paiting cabinets? go here. (i've done 3 sets of kitchen cabs. this tutorial is right on. ) https://www.evolutionofstyleblog.com/how-to-paint-your-kitchen-cabinets-like

Not sure what's above the sink. it's not a real window is it? if not, try doing some shelving like shown in this pic

If you pay someone to do this, you'll spend about 6K for your size kitchen (to be done correctly) Up to you if you want to tackle this.

(BTW, when I had mine painted I went w/all new doors/drawer fronts. I paid an addtional 2K for this. pretty cheap. I had 6X the number you need, so you shouldn't have to pay that much IF you get a pro to paint yours and get all new doors)

the other option is Ikea Cabinets.

Or, RTA cabinets:

Or, look on craigslist for people selling kitchen cabinets. you'd be amazed at what people try and get rid of. barely used wood shaker cabs can sell for $500. you can paint those if you like.

Remove that valance

Super inexpensive. paint cabs, replace a few door panels w/glass, get butcher block or countertop, drop in farmhouse sink, new hardware, cheap subway tile

I'd also scrape your popcorn ceiling (test first if done prior to 1977)

think about doing taller upper cabs (go to the ceiling),

like here they built boxes on top and got taller doors:

or you could add on some boxes or large crown.

get a backless range and a diff vent hood

(I don't like them, but an over the range microwave would be better than leaving yours on the countertop)

you could also remove some of the doors and have large drawers made for the bottom cabs. better storage.

over where the red cart is? do a double door floor to ceiling pantry cabinet.

And like I mentioned earlier, do some storage over the fridge. It's ok if it comes out further than the other upper cabs.

You have no storage and too much clutter. find alternatives to help you kitchen organization. adding more cabinetry is the key. even Ikea could work here.

Is that door next to the dishwasher needed? (is there another door around the corner that could be used? or, could you close it up and move the door further to the left? this could give you more counter and storage space

Cabinet doors are the expenzive part so IMO wait until you can afoord the new cabinets that will make this space work and look so much better . I have done used cabinets in my kitchen when money was tight and I wanted the best appliances I could get before new cabinets. You do however have to have some imagination to figure out how they can work in your space . it took about 3 days of drawing , measuring and drawing again before I managed to fit most nad had to build 2 boxes to make it all work together. Can be done for sure but do not trade one set of dated cabinets for another .The other way is to just paint what you have for now and keep saving. New cabinets are just plain more functional than old ones and maybe if you are handy check out Ikea they are fun to put together after the first 3 and antone able to measure and screw in screws can mount them.

You have 15K now.

How much might you have in another year.or another?

This message is harsh, but it should be a wakeup call. I like the kitchen that you have and suggest that you hold off any "improvements". Instead, declutter the life out of the space. Get rid of almost everything on the counters and above the cabinets. This will involve clearing out cabinets of "stuff" that you really don't need or use to make room for the junk on the counters. Clear off the refrigerator debris. Maybe use pretty baskets above the refrigerator to hold some extra stuff. If you really need more storage and don't indend to put a table by the windows, then purchase stand-alone storage for there.

The first thing I would do is swap out the fixture for something gorgeous and find a way to keep the counters and top of the fridge clear. Then I would wait and see over a year how your priorities change, and save up money every month.

You may want a completely different layout, I know that I did in mine!

Found this inspiration in Facebook. She spent a total of $9k to do this. I love it . Has concrete countertops.

Actually the kitchen is decluttered everyone. Nothing in the house but essentials . I was renting out for a bit Airbnb and not I am moving back in and want to spruce up the kitchen after 5 years of owning.

9K for that?? on what? If she painted the cabs herself and did her own tile splash (which btw, that tile is too large for that space) then what did she spend 9K on? (I see a new range, but that's it. everything else is paint and simple DIY items)

For what she did there, I could have done for 3K.

did you even see my comment w/all of the helpful how-to's further up? can't tell if you read it or not. Plenty of details on what you could do for your kitchen.

you can use Ardex over any countertop for about $100. it's a concrete overlay.

I would get concrete QUARTZ countertops before the real stuff, especially if you had to pay someone to pour those on site. concrete is very porous.

Remember I talked about Pre-fab countertops? In the middle of this pic are the quartz pre-fabs that look like concrete

this is smaller size, but the 9' long one cost about $550 or so. another 800 or so for a fabricator to come to your house to cut on site and fit them. (you have a very easy kitchen to do pre-fab countertops. )

here's another Pre-fab marble

Or, you could go visit a stoneyard/fabricators warehouse and see what kind of remnants they have.

You don't have to spend 15K to spruce up your kitchen. if you paint yourself, tile yourself and look for deals on other items, you could then spend the money for the countertops. you just have to know how to do some DIY and how to shop.

Hey Beth. Yes I saw your response and it was so detailed oriented and I am super appreciate of your insight and diy input. Definitely want to stick to diy and cheap as possible if I can help it. We have done one of our bathrooms in our home from scratch and it turned out amazing .So not afraid of work and patience.

I have a home emporium store close to me that has a ton of countertops and tiles and even cabinets . Might run by there this weekend and see what they have . Also have a habitat for humanity store around the corner so I might be lucky to find some things there also.

Go for it love your plan. You will be amazes by what painting cabinets ( try local hardware store sometimes find paint that been mixed in clearance), new pulls (buy in bulk), and lighting will do to the kitchen. As for appliances try a liquidation places (scratch and dent) if not worried about cosmetic side. I do like your countertop (they are expensive) try to work with it to save money. Stone countertops are expensive and lamimate countertops at hardware stores are getting expensive too.

Loads of comments so I apologize if I am redundant. My home is craftsman and the cabinets are oak. I just could just pull the trigger on painting etc. I changed the granite to fantasy brown which has whites, light Brown’s etc. to break up the umber look and did a classic white subway tile backsplash, changed the knobs and other sink hardware to Champaign bronze. Also repainted any wall space to a taupe. It completely changed the look. It looks very modern farmhouse. I would start there. Take a minute, and then decide.