why are you installing the countertops first?

first off, remove that hardware. those knobs do not work.

are the cabs solid wood or a veneer?

what kind of quatz did you get?

do you plan on doing a backsplash tile?

secondly, are you keeping those floors? That tile is (sorry) horrific. getting new quartz and painting cabs w/new appliances is going to make that floor worse than it is.

are you keeping this little wet bar area?

what about that stove/hood vent and the rounded corner. is that all staying?

open up that top cab. is there ducting that leads to the outside? (not the attic)

have you thought about removing that soffitt and taking the uppers all the way to the ceiling? that would look a lot better.

can you stand furthr back and get the whole kitchen in one shot?

Beth, this is first time I post. So I don’t know how to reply to you. So I just leave my comment as following. Thank you so much for your comment. Our update is sort of stage. The cabinets are solid cherry wood. That is why my husband does not like the idea to paint them. Quartz will be Silestone Calacatta. Originally I want to paint cabinet white. My painter ask me to change countertops first and then pick the right white color goes with countertops. That is why we will get countertop first. I am thinking to update knob and backsplash, but I thought those can wait. The floor I hated. But right now it goes to half the house, so we will have to wait to change it. We will cover the wet bar area. There are duct goes to outside. I would like to take out soffit, but if go that route, I would have to do the whole kitchen renovation.

Kendrah, totally agree with you. The first thing we should change should be floor. But this floor goes half the house. So we don’t have good idea how to do it yet.

LW, honestly? I would change that floor before I did ANYTHING else.

Silestone Calacatta is beautiful countertop.

It will look nice w/the cabinet color. But that floor? no way.

your tile is extremely yellow (and that grout is very dirty. if you must keep it, please call in a professional floor tile expert and have it all steam cleaned)

with your color cabinets, your Silestone will look similar to this (similar in cab color) but your floor tile will ruin the look

If you have to beg or borrow the money, redo the floors. I'd hold off on the cabs and tile and do the floors now. look how pretty this seafoam color is w/the stone.

and shown here w/white cabinets and some other flooring.

this is silestone calacatta gold. shown w/cloe tile backsplash and white cabinets, wood accents

get new handles. like this. Knurled pulls. avail on amazon

(if you like the single hole option, use the bottom knob^ )

they also carry knobs in the knurled metal. comes in all colors

You could continue your hardwood floors from the other room into the kitchen and have them all stained to match

stand back and take a pic showing the entire kitchen.

what are the plans for this ceiling vent?

And what is at the other end of this bottom arrow?

The ceiling vent we don’t even know what is the function, so have no plan to do any thing yet. The left side of your arrow is 3 windows and under middle window is peninsular. I am traveling right now. later, I will attach more photos

The cabinets look good, and the existing countertops look good. I would use the money for new countertops, to get that floor updated. Nothing is going to look good, until thats done. I also do not like brass pulls on your beautiful cherry wood. I would change out the existing hardware though, and go with hardware that requires two holes. You can use the existing hole for one of those holes. Are you sure the vent in the ceiling isnt a heating vent? Looks just like the in ceiling heating vents, we had in our last house.

I agree with your husband. I would not paint solid cherry cabinets. They are beautiful. I would wait to do anything in your kitchen until you do the floors. Then if you have the money, change the counters.

My intention for this thread is painting the cabinets or not. But I got a lot’s comments about the ugly floor. Half of The house first floor are tiles. The floor need to change, we have considered 3 options. 1. Demolish the tiles and install hardwood floor, this option may be most beautiful, but most destructive and dusty. 2. Install floating floor on top of existing tiles , the problem will be transition to the other half house. And also turn solid floor into floating floor. Even looks good, not so sure feels good. 3. Paint the tiles, since tiles are in good conditions, just plain ugly. painting could be not lasting. So anybody has any experience and any comments regarding to 3 options.

Option #1 will be worth it. Nuthin else wrong with the kitchen.

I definitely wouldn't paint the tile. It won't last and you'll still be stuck with the small tiles. I would do option 1 before spending any more money on updating the kitchen. Replacing the flooring should be the top priority.

Lots of ideas and pictures here for you and keeping the wood cabs as is.

I can't stress enough about changing that floor tile. So here are my ideas:

option 1. you can't float a floor on top of that tile. (if it's LVP) it will leave imprints.

Bite the bullet and redo the flooring. I see oak flooring in the other room. is it in good shape?

You could get the same type of wood and lace it in to whats there.

the floor guys will sand down the old stuff to bare wood. The entire thing will then be stained and finished. I can't tell if you have red oak or white oak, but matching what's there and a stain on site will be the nicest option.

This is your best option. Do this and you'll never have to replace the floors as long as you're in the house. This option will also be the best for resale.

Unless of course you don't have much of the old oak floors? can't tell how much is in the house. if you don't have that much, it might be best to get all new floors.

If you and friends can demo up that old tile yourselves, you'll save about 2-4K in demo costs. yes it's dusty, but that's just the way it is. hang up some heavy duty plastic sheeting and install a fan to blow out the dust.

I've been here. I know what it's like.

I got all new, wide plank French Oak engineered wood floors. So much better and completely worth the mess.

Do the floors first, get your new quartz installed and then see how the cabs look.

Maybe all you'll need is a new paint color on the walls and some decent hardware.

It could look similar to this if you redo your oak floors in here. give your cabs a good cleaning w/a cabinet/wood cleaner polish, and some new knobs.

these are cool:

You plan on doing a tile splash?

These are walnut, but this marble mosaic w/the white quartz top is nice. they also did a brushed nickel cabinet pull

If you don't like the pulls, then get some mcm knobs that look better than those white things.

do you like any in these photos?

As for that vent fan, have it removed, covered and patched. Install a few recessed can lights.

I don't see any ceiling lights in this kitchen. (maybe two? Not enough. you need proper lighting)

Similar cabs to yours shown w/a gray hex tile floor, brass hardware and a geometric backsplash tile. notice the MCM style pendant lights. You could do a similar one in that space next to fridge, and on the other wall where the hole is.

they did a matte black countertop, but your white will look just as nice.

I'd consider an MCM style backsplash tile. (the built in eating nook is cool too)

another cherry cab w/mcm style knobs. I really like this one w/the blue geo tile and the mcm sconce

If you do a colorful tile like this, keep the walls white. SW Ibis White or BM Simply white will be perfect.

You could do a few pendants in the mid century design, like this, where you have the current holes.

You'll also need recessed lights, or at the minimum, put in a ceiling light in the middle of the room. for this you can do something like this sputnik style light:

https://www.wayfair.com/George-Oliver--Fashionette-6Light-14.76-Flush-Mount-X110095258-L6086-K~W009984147.html 

these lights on wayfair aren't expensive. a lot of options too.

this green one is nice too. Look at Makoto tile by Bedrosians. they have identical tile to this

once your ready to paint walls, any of these will look fab w/the wood cabinets

You can always opt to paint the cabs down the road. You'll save over 5K by leaving them. (and another 3K or more by demoing everything yourself) Put that money towards new flooring. Trust me (and the others) that floor is the worst thing in that kitchen.

BTW, If you want to do the labor and paint those tiles, I'm good w/that. it will buy you some time to save up for really nice floors. there are tons of tutorials online for the correct products to use.

you can do a solid color and then apply a stencil design

Lastly, here's a quick mockup using a glass pane door (in place of that solid one you have pictured) new lights, a black geometric tile backsplash w/gold dots, and the best change, a gray flamed basalt tile flooring

I think black, charcoal and gold look stunning w/cherry and your white countertops.

here's the Basalt tile floor,

and the Basalt mosaic tile backsplash. (I love this w/your cabinets)

I’m going to also jump on this bandwagon and say it’s not the wood cabinets it’s the floor. Doing the floor might be the most expensive change but it’s the only one that will dramatically alter how everything else looks. No new knob can do that. And personally, I’d rather get the biggest expense and biggest disruption out of the way before I started making smaller (in comparison) changes.

You can see two doorways and beyond is hardwood floor. you will add value to your property by changing to all hardwood flooring. how many sq feet is the tile if its only half of the entire area. ? look at this as savings compared to some folks have to do the entire….i dont know what you are waiting for.

I concur with James. If you paint the cabinets white and put in white countertops, then still have that sallow floor, you still won't be happy. I'd find a floor that made me happy and went with the rest of the floors in the house, and then worry about the cabinets and counter later.

I agree with Beth H. I would replace the flooring first. It clashes with the cherry cabinets. A change of flooring might make the cabinets look better without having to change or paint them.

Definitely change the floor. It will be worth the craziness. You won’t regret it. The cabinets are beautiful as is, just change the hardware.

Another vote for removing that awful floor. Beth showed you some really nice options--you're getting great advice and visuals from her. Take advantage of it.

Absolutely option 1. Yes, it will be dusty and it will be messy for a while, but, it is so worth it, in the end. It is actually the only thing your kitchen needs, to look really good. Make sure you consider the cherry cabinets etc, when you pick a color for the floors.

Just echoing others. First priority is the floor. Second priority is the cabinet hardware, which can be done for not too much. I don't hate the countertop, but appreciate that it might not look as nice in real life (assuming it is laminate), so if you feel strongly about replacing, I would do that third, cash permitting.

The overhead register doesn't bother me. We have similar in our midcentury home; we were just discussing yesterday with our GC whether they get removed as part of our large renovation. There are aesthetic pros and cons, so I don't think there's a right answer.

Never paint those cabinets; they are beautiful.

You could do a backsplash, cost permitting. But I also think a 4 inch countertop backsplash would be simple and lovely as well. I find backsplashes are often the things on this forum that people mess up, that push the kitchen one step into looking like a circus - so when in doubt, keep it simple and skip the backsplash.

The cabinets are the best thing about the room. They are great! That floor is the worst thing about the room. Always start with fixing the actual problem. Don't ignore the elephant.

Have you sprayed some bleach and used an old toothbrush on an inconspicuous portion of the grout to see if it is brown or originally beige? If the grout is as filthy as it looks and the floors are non-negotiable, at least get them professionally cleaned. With lighter grout, the floor won't be nearly as bossy.

I am overjoyed by so many advices and suggestions. Thank you all. First time use this discussion forum. I really appreciated everyone of you. Especially thank Beth giving me so many great ideas. It seems these discussions make my husband so happy. “ See, I told you” . The tile we have professionally cleaned , but grout is dark. So hopeless. I want to change it the day we moved in. And I am regret that we did not do it before we move in. But anyway… So my next step will be to get quotes for floor. Our first floor half is red oak hard floor, the other half is tile floor. So quite a lot ugly tiles.

You will really enjoy getting rid of all that tile, and some new flooring. It will make the rest of the house look much nicer too.

LW, did you see my last comment? I know there is ton to wade through w/all the pics, but just trying to show you what you can do w/o painting the cabs. Don't know if you saw this quick mock up

even by covering those floors w/this basalt tile, you can see how nice the cabs actually look. and I'm loving the idea of removing that door you have and replacing it w/this black glass door. You could do more of a mcm door w/frosted glass if you like. It's just that the other builder basic door detracts from this space.

if you think it's too dark, try something like this.

I can give you links to terrazzo tile or even porcelain tiles that look like terrazzo (cheaper) that will fit the style of the cabs. If you want a white backsplash, you can do this cube design or a stacked, longer white subway tile.

Anyway, I did post a lot of pics, sorry to crowd your post. I just had so many ideas w/colors and materials that I wanted you to explore.

Glad you're doing the floor!

I'd keep those cabinets.

Change the hardware

The steel black appliances are the perfect complement for the cherry stain

Change the floor

Paint the walls & trim.

Beth, thank you so much for all the great ideas. I did see your mockup picture. It really looks nice. One question is that you have simple white on the top, does that mean wall or ceiling color or both? I assume agreeable grey is option for wall color.

L W, you often get more than you bargained for when you post a dilemma!! But if keep an open mind (which it seems like you are) you can really accomplish amazing things!!

Drdeb1234, Indeed, like I mentioned this is my first post. I am really impressed by everyone’s suggestions and advices. It really open my mind to think differently. Again, big thanks for everyone!

LW, depending on the floor choice, you can do a lot of diff colors. I chose the white for that one because of the darker floors and backsplash tile (and black door)

however, any of these colors can also work for the wall. If you're doing all white w/a light floor, then maybe you'll want a diff wall color.

I love slate-look floors but keep in mind that gray floors in spaces that are predominately warm can sometimes end up sticking out like sore thumbs. It's not impossible to mix cool greys and warm woods and wall colors but it's not easy. Don't forget to consider what's going to happen in the rest of the spaces where you'll be replacing the floors.

I talked with my husband about changing knobs. his question is that the current knobs does not work because of color or shape or something else. I think when we move in, the knob was like stainless cylinders . So my husband changed into the current one. Any one have input on this ?

The knobs you can just change to another color. It looks off because the cherry cabs are warm and the white knobs are too cool. Change it back to stainless it will look better. Prevously posted were pictures of knobs.

the current one he used is all wrong.

for one thing, they're very round. and they're white? I mean, white??? In no way do these fit the style. sorry to him!

I showed you many options in my previous comments. pick one of those .

looks better just w/these

but, I've given you lots more choices

you can try amazon or other hardware places. just search, "mcm kitchen cabinet knobs"

This is what was popular at the time, (if you want more vintage look)

If it was mine, I'd do one of these knurled round knobs in the gold, which would look great against the wood. These are more modern mcm than vintage mcm.

Or, how about this Champagne color toggle knob? this is stunning. 10-pack, $25

https://www.amazon.com/ROMATEE-Champagne-Cabinet-Handles-Knurled/dp/B0C2BQP2ZC?th=1

If you plan on doing any of the black like I showed you here

the black and gold could be nice

Or, go w/the handles. you could do a combo of both.

Pick Gold or black. if you want a silver color, try something like this:

(amazon)

Or, any of these on this page would be nice

https://www.build.com/product/summary/1429783

traditional mcm hardware from the Atomic age.

these are actually really cool

https://www.hooksandknobs.com/products/modern-geo-knob-snow

I like the ones w/black too (

https://www.etsy.com/listing/792180977/modern-black-and-gold-geo-knob-round

so many to choose from. they aren't expensive. why not order a few samples and see what you like. you can always return them

show this to husband. see which ones he likes. there are plenty more to choose from if not

next on the list, that door you have. look online for a used french door (like the black on I photoshopped in that pic) ,

changes the whole look of the room w/a diff door.

or find something like this w/the obscure glass if you like, paint it black/or whatever color you plan on using in there

I found this old door on craigslist for $25.

painted it and frosted the glass (you'd want a hinged door)

Hi, Beth H. Thank you so much for your detailed answers to my question. I thought this post is running out of steam and have not check it for a while. and I was happy to see all your suggestions. I start to experiment the different option with hardwares. One question is that for the kitchen I have stainless steel appliances, sink and faucet etc. will gold or brass cabinet hardware bring too much color? Another things is that we have hardwood floor quote in and it’s quite a lot. We probably need to wait a little bit before we tear up the floor. In the interim, we want to paint the floor. we want the floor grey, similar like in mock-up photo. What paint color will close to slate grey? If we paint the wall as simple white and floor as light grey with cherry cabinet , will it working? Thank you all again!

so, mixing metals is fine. the SS appliances don't really count. you can still bring in gold and black if you like. maybe get a few samples to try out and see what you like. w/Amazon, you can always return them.

The floor. There are a lot of DIY tutorials on painting ceramic floor tile. you need a floor paint, not regular paint.

You'll have to research which one works best, but just remember it is a temporary solution until you save enough for the wood floors. you should be ok for a few years.

I can't stress enough how important it is for those floors (all corners, grout, etc) to be completely cleaned. Like, thoroughly steam cleaned. you want all traces of dust, grime, grease, oil to be gone or the paint won't look very good

This is more of a cooler, silver blue-gray. don't choose this color

how about a charcoal gray?

or, some type of griege Taupe-Gray. around this shade:

https://repurposeandupcycle.com/rustoleum-home-floor-coating-to-paint-outdated-tile-floor/

she has a how-to^

or, perhaps any of these others? you'll have to bring home a few samples and see which looks best w/your cabs and lighting.

she has a decent how-to

https://makingprettyspaces.com/2019/04/25/complete-guide-to-painting-tile/

do you want one color or maybe try a stencil or some sort of design?

This one has a tutorial and used diff products. sky is the limit on design. if you like something more modern, try that

https://www.artsychicksrule.com/how-to-paint-a-tile-floor/

something like this wouldn't be bad. I do like the warm white and the taupe-griege color

these are the griege colors that could work. (for the walls too) do simply white on the trim, walls one of these, darker floor color. (or vice versa)

I still really like this look. For sure I'd get a glass door, paint it a darker color. (black if you're doing a charcoal floor tile)

I'd also do these types/style of lights.

maybe try to match the color Peppercorn (SW) or BM Wrought Iron, to any of those floor paints.

or, try the checkerboard w/those griege colors I just posted.)

just use FOUR of your tiles to make one larger painted tile.

Make sense?

If doing a pattern or stencil, you don't want the same size small squares. make 4 squares represent ONE full tile and paint it that way. If you're doing one solid color, do the grout the same color so the small squares aren't visible

Beth H, Thank you so much. The glass door is really pretty. The thing is that door is go to mud room and butler’s pantry. check board is very attractive for me originally and your suggestion about make 4 small tiles into one is brilliant. I will have so many idea to think about . The only thing I am concerned with pattern is that I will have not only kitchen, but also foyer, hall way, bathroom, mud room etc. they all have same tiles. I feel may be too much. The kitchen during winter is very bright, but during summer is very dark since it has lots of tall trees. That is why I want to have white color as much as possible. Another information is that my countertop are installed, which actually is Silestone Classic Calacatta instead of Calacatta gold, which have distinct grey veins and the white background is not as white as ECG. Iwe like the countertop a lot. When I pick it, I am thinking to paint the cabinet white.

LW - I have been reading through this thread - This is a pic from 2006 when we gutted our kitchen installed Custom Mahogany cabs (showing much redder her than IRL) which is similar to your cherry cabs - Wanted to highlight the wood flooring and the hardware that you have been trying to choose - We are thinking of removing the granite and putting in white solid counters and painting the kitchen - I'll see if I have a better pic this was during the reno and not great quality pic - I also wanted to say I would be cautious about dark color flooring (temporary or permanent) we do get good natural light but with dark cabs and dark counters the light quickly gets sucked out of space. The expanse of your flooring is huge - I would reconsider painting a dark color - your current floor is lighter toned - Best to you and your kitchen journey

Jejvtr, thank you so much for your input. I understand what you mean. Our kitchen has three windows. In winter it is quite bright. But when the leaves are full, the kitchen getting very dark. That is also the reason I want to have white kitchen. My husband hated the idea to paint the cherry cabinet, which lead me to this forum. I did learn a lot. The kitchen is work in progress. I think eventually we will get there.

Additional questions following my kitchen refresh. The kitchen has three long windows on one wall. The peninsular cut or flush with one of the window., which makes that window not openable. This force the layout to be odd. The previous owner put backsplash in the odd space. When we changed countertop, we took those out and now our new countertop is in. We need to figure out how to deal with this wall. A few ideas, 1. Paint the whole wall and put two arts in the 2 spots between windows, 2. Wall paper the whole wall and put two scone lights near ceiling, 3. Partial Tile backsplash , this one have hard time to define where to start or where to end? Any thoughts? I will see if this discussion stream is still live. Otherwise I may start a new discussions. Again, thanks in advance. Any input will be appreciated.

You've had some great suggestions above particularly from BethH. If you're unable to replace the tile floor at this point, her suggestion to paint the tiles is a good one. Instead of spending time to paint a pattern, I suggest you place a nice long vintage style washable runner such as the one shown below by Ruggable.

I also suggest you paint the walls white (the coordinates with your new quartz countertop) and a white tile (that also coordinates) installed in a interesting pattern such as a classic herringbone or vertical staked.

Herringbone:

Vertical Stacked:

In answer to your above question on the window wall, I would simply paint the wall and not install any backsplash. You can however give a nice finishing touch to those windows by installing cordless roman shades inside the window frames.

Lisedv, thank you so much. And thank all of you, especially Beth H. You guys give me so many idea to make my cherry cabinet kitchen looks nice. I definitely want to paint wall white, now I am trying different white, simple white, white dove and chantilly lace as well as Swiss coffee. Definitely will use white backsplash. I am also try to decide the color of floor. Charcoal grey is a little dark for me. I want to use Rust-oleum floor paint. So the color I am considering is pearl grey, aged grey and Greige. The problems that I can not get sample and I can only see from their pamphlets. So still debating. Any thoughts regarding to color options?

Keep the cabinets change the floor maybe wait on the counter if you have to budget The floors are dingy and maybe they are LVT not tile? The knob change will not be as pricey as either of them but a light floor will make such a huge improvement Painting cherry don’t do it if the cabinets are in good shape

Lisedv, I am considering the window treatments. But I don’t want have whole coverage. That is what we took down. I only want lower half the window cover for privacy. Any recommendations regarding how to do half shade?

Sorry I just saw that the floors are tile not LVT. Painting …interesting idea do save $$ till you can put in wood…p

Here are the 3 gray options you're considering + I've added 2 darker ones.

I don't think the greige tone coordinates with you cherry cabinets and I find the 2 other lighter grays do nothing to make your kitchen stand out. So my suggestion is for one of the 2 darker greys, eigher the French Grey or the Charcoal Grey but my preference remains the Charcoal Gray for your kitchen with the white walls and white backsplash.

I agree, paint wall and paint the window trim.

if you want blinds, do inset, w/a top down option.

you could do roman blind,

woven wood blind,

a cellular

or even

a Sillouette or Pirouette blind. I really like these. You get privacy but also light. and those louvres tilt

(you can look up all of these)

Combi blinds

Flat Sheer shade

solar shades