Ten or less years goes by faster than you might think. DIY painting cabinets is so much work and can often look amateurish. I don't think painting the cabinets will be a win. You could try painting the walls a different color to give your kitchen the atsy-inspired energy it derserves for the time being.

I'd call that olive green. I wouldnt paint the cabinets at all......I'd paint the walls a neutral off white. I'd put black hardware on the cabinets . The cabinet surface condition looks pretty good . Builder grade usually does get replaced but not because of the tone of wood...more due to layout/ lack of drawers/ a generally dated space. I think it best to start to think and plan . I would aim for a five year destination for the remodel because the cabs will be about 25 years old then. Seems about right. You can get black switch covers [ or maybe a dark metal ?] against the dark green tile backsplash.

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And you are planning on leaving the green backsplash that you installed? The sage green doesn't seem to go with it at all. If you really are up for it...and prep and paint from now until Thanksgiving...I would do black for the lowers. I can't tell how large your kitchen is, assuming average size? If you have sunlight coming in directly shining on the cabinets, I would not do the black.

Just “doing the opposite” isn’t a great plan for design. Usually, lighter cabinets on the bottom will give you a feeling of imbalance. Agree that the green you have is not the right green. Also, your cabinets look fine to me. Seems like a lot of work to end up with a kitchen that’s not as nice as the one you already have. All that being said, if you want to paint the lowers, here are some suggestions. I would pull out a color from the backsplash if you want to keep it. Use a paint that’s mean for cabinets, not a generic house paint. I’d also paint your walls a color that works with everything. My first choice for advice for you is to save your money for a full remodel so you can upgrade to more functional cabinets. Instead of spending your time painting, make a list of everything you like or dislike and what your “dream” kitchen would look like.

The wood cabinets look very nice, and I particularly like the backsplash. What looks absolutely awful and the first thing that jumped out at me was the outlet covers -- somebody above beat me to the mention of it, so it's not just me who thinks it looks bad. Replace with something like a matte black or something dark.

I have a dark green splash and have charcoal slate switchplates I got from Switch Hits: Search results for: 'slate' (switchhits.com)

Changing the color of the walls to harmonize/coordinate with the bold backsplash would be a whole lot easier and likely more effective than painting the cabinets.

Cabinets look nice; the wall color does not.

Hi Everyone!

My cup runneth over! Thank you!

My gut told me not to paint them since they are 100% wood (hence, why we didn't immediately do it when we moved in), and a lot of you felt the same.

We need to paint the walls, for sure. The agent who refreshed the house before the last homeowner painted the whole house that color with Antique White trim. God awful. We are slowly, but surely repainting each room, and the main living room and somewhat open kitchen is the last to tackle. A bit overwhelmed on that with cathedral ceilings, so are looking past the horrid brown for now. Well, we were looking past it, until we read all of your suggestions today. We went to our local Ace today and picked out some colors to, at least, repaint the kitchen based on our beautiful backsplash. That will probably help alleviate the problem, and the problem is probably not the cabinets. The problem, for now, is the color of the room. The full remodel can come later.

We love our house and what we've done with it. We got overwhelmed by the kitchen, and it is probably because of the walls!

Thanks, again!!!

Stacy

Sounds good! I was just going to suggest looking at the backsplash and making some version of blue or blue-green( or gray-blue) your dominant color in the room - that way the mellow gold-brown of the wood becomes just an accent, not the overwhelming presence it now has (amplified by yellow tan walls.) I would be tempted to get some sheet vinyl (loose lay) and cover the tile - that color too is out of sync with everything else. Then when your big renovation happens you can re-use it in your basement or attic or somewhere. Youre supposed to fill gaps and smooth out old flooring before putting vinyl over the existing tile so the texture doesnt show through - you could either do that, or if its down only a few years and then destined for the basement, it prob doesnt matter. I have a square of sheet vinyl over tile Ive used for a chair mat for years and it looks fine. Some new pulls in nickel or chrome might be nice too.

Hi Debbie! Thanks so much for chiming in! Last night, we picked a cream-color wall paint that has a hint of the teal green from the backsplash in it. So, of good minds we are! 😀

And the flooring is laminate, not tile. And, while not the best in color, it is in great shape because the previous owners barely used the kitchen. Weird, huh? It is almost brand new! It will go, once we have a better vision down the road. But great suggestion! And thank you!

Hi The Kitchen Place! This is my kitchen almost to a T! And exactly what we were thinking, but we couldn't visualize it. Wow.

The Kitchen Place. Huge thank you!

My client's 1915 Craftsmas home had a kitchen that had gorgous original 1915 built in cabinets. As a KD, I could NOT take out the cabinets...but the lower cabinets were in really bad shape while the uppers looked amazing still. So I suggested we redo the bases only. :-) Glad you like it

Kitchen place. Would like to know what color green that is. I'm struggling with my kitchen. Lower cabinets in bad shape needing new doors. Upper grass cabinets to refresh stain wood. Hoping you can post what you used on the lower cabinets.

Coming in late but I think the wood and tone of your cabinets are really lovely. Covering that up with paint would be, i think, a significant downgrade.

Hi All! We went a completely different way. Upon closer inspection, the wood had a lot of “love” over the past 16 yrs and us being the 4th homeowner, they needed a good sanding, etc. Instead, took the advice and painted the uppers and lowers a green color we stumbled on at Lowe’s. We weren’t even looking! It’s called Thai Basil. Here’s a picture of where we ended up with our kitchen -floor, ceiling, cabinets, etc. Be kind, because we love it! And it is our home. Thanks for all of the advice!