Would White be a better option?

Oh, the dreaded arched cabinet door!

The cabinets you love look nothing like the cabinets you have. Buy a sample can of paint and try painting them. I don’t think you will get what you want.

New IKEA cabinets would be closer to the ideal profile. They will probably cost a little more than having your cabinets sprayed, but you would have drawers instead of shelves, and a much better layout.

IKEA Axstad blue

Are your countertops expanded or delaminating at the corners where the two pieces are attached? The diagonal seams look uneven.

What are the cabinets? gray on the walls and green lowers? what are the cabinet frames made of? how is the overall storage? put more thought into what you are trying to achieve… the arches are too much … the two colors are a problem …sounds like counters maybe need a change… maybe redoing the kitchen is the right option.

Neither the floor nor the counters work with the color you want and the arched cabinet doors are not worth the likely $$$ you will spend to paint. Additionally, it appears your kitchen needs new appliances.

Why are you doing this?

If you can turn this into a DIY project using the ALL-IN-ONE CABINET PAINT, it might be worth your time, otherwise, it might be better to save your money for a kitchen rehab.

https://www.allinonepaint.com/

https://www.allinonepaint.com/all-in-one-paint/polo-dark-navy-heirloom-traditions-all-in-one-paint.html

Beverly -interesting! Have you used that paint and can speak to its durability? OP - if you are a skilled and motivated DIY'er go for it, but as noted the arch door gives a verydifferent effect from your inspiration pic. Have heard of people reversing the door so the arch is inside and the square frame becomes the visible outer side.... but thats a lot of work!

Your cabinets are along way from the inspo pic and honestly very dated and IMO not worth the money to have painted but thta is up to you. You have outdated everything in thta space maybe just leave it for now and wait to do a nice new kitchen down the road. It looks fine as it is for now. I never like throwing good money after bad so I am in the wait camp. Ther eis no way your space will ever look like the inspo unless you do a makeover I am not trying to be mean but this is not worth the money

As others have said it's going to be hard to transform your existing cabinetry into those in your inspiration photo. The arched doors are a very dated style. You could have the doors replaced if the body of the cabinets is in good shape.

I don't know, I think people get fixated on the door style whenever people talk about paint and inspiration pictures and painting, as if when you are looking at a color, you expect a Literal translation of the inspiration with your own kitchen into the new one.

The only way someone could get a literal version of that kitchen is to replicate that kitchen--replace everything you have with everything in the picture.. But I think most people are more focused on the color scheme.

Paint can be any color. Right now navy or some similar shade of blue is popular. If you had posted this picture more than 5 years ago, most people in this forum would have talked you out of it.

What I think you are looking it, and you can correct me if I am wrong, is the Color Scheme in this kitchen. The biggest impediment to achieving something that looks like the kitchen in your inspiration picture is the countertop . The inspiration picture has a white countertop and backsplash. Your countertop looks like brown, prefabricated laminate. There is no way you will get anything that looks like your inspiration if you keep that brown countertop. If you simply replaced the existing countertop with a plain white prefabricated laminate countertop and painted or tiled the backsplash area white, and nothing else, you would be much closer to the inspiration even without painting the cabinets.

The blue is very pretty but I think the white laminate that Pal mentioned would freshen up the space nicely without having to paint. If the paint on the current cabinets is in decent condition, I'd consider just changing the counters and hardware. And then put a chunky wooden shelf or two to the right of the sink window.

If you do decide to go with the blue, the white laminate will look great with that as well. The cabinets look like a pretty green on my monitor. If they are grey, I'd do the blue and the white laminate.

This looks closer to the inspiration picture and it's just the change to a white countertop and I painted the back of the peninsula to match the existing cabinets.

You have a lovely kitchen. To make it match your beautiful inspiration means going with new cabs. If the cabinets are in good condition, you may be able to replace just the doors.

I know nothing about this company but have heard of people replacing just the doors.

https://www.nhance.com/tampa/cabinet-refacing/

The splotchy dark counter needs replacing before you even think about painting. Changing that will change the worst thing about the kitchen. Then add good lighting. That may be all that needs to be changed.

If you choose to paint, you will either spend 10K+ to have it done with a professional, or you will spend a month or more of nights and weekends doing all the prep.

The countertop is going to change to white with grey markings.

I had 1975 cabinet doors. The boxes were fine. I replaced both the doors and the drawer fronts and kept the boxes. We ordered through Home Depot. My husband measured for the new fronts and installed them. If your husband is a little handy this may be something he could do. I then painted the frames to match the door and drawer fronts. Turned out wonderful and a big savings. Two upper cabinets I had glass inserts. Had to paint inside the box but it turned out looking great.

Since you mentioned that you wanted to keep the top, I think the cabinet color must coordinate with that. Not sure about that really dark blue with it.

Not opposed to dark colors, but I would look into fixing your lighting then - that will be really important with a darker cabinet.

Please have a carpenter add some crown molding to make it look more finished.

Unfortunately your dream kitchen pictures are from from what you have now. Simply painting the cabinets won't get you there.

What condition are the current cabinets in? Are the drawers in good shape? are the shelves adjustable? Can you fit everything you need?

Before spending money on anything, make sure it will be money well spent.

Best of luck.

PS I'm 5'5" and have the microwave over the stove and I don't like it at all.

Hey, all you posters who are criticizing my suggestion she use a DIY paint on the cabinet.

HER CABINETS HAVE ALREADY BEEN PAINTED!

The durability of the next layer of paint is only superseded by the paint already on there.

My suggestion IS to keep her investment on the low end so she's not disappointed with the outcome and the amount of money she spent to achieve it!!

if theyve already been painted then the job is done. move on to white counters for a modest improvement if something has to be done …work with what is there. white paint wont make a darn difference for those cabs……just save for a bigger redo.

Change out the counters to a simple white and the difference will be tremendous.

Dittoing Beverly that your one unchanging surface (flooring) will have to drive the other choices (cabinets and counters). I see beige/griege Travertine-esque flooring so navy cabinets with white/grey counters will probably be a miss.

I think you need to slow things down and either reassess the cost of repainting arched cabinetry (professionally painting old cabinetry is likely a misstep), topping it with new counters/backsplash and yet keeping a mismatched floor doesn't make for a cohesive, planned outcome. Unless you're DIY'ing everything, then it'd be better to do nothing and keep saving for a redo that more closely resembles what you want.

I hope you really think about putting the microwave above the stove. It puts the microwave up way to high for most women, unless those women are close to 6 ft tall. Leave your microwave on the counter, or on a shelf unit, made especially for microwaves.

Are the uppers a different color than the lower cabinets?

Lowers look green and the uppers look gray on my monitor. If so, I would think about painting just the uppers to match the bottom cabinets and replace with a white countertop. Cause I rather like the green color that I'm seeing on my monitor. With white counters, it will look fresh & sweet.

The cabinets have already been painted but it appears that she wants to change the color to the blue in her inspiration photos. So, the color is not a done deal.

The very first sentence of her post says -

I have included the pictures of my existing cupboards. I am getting the doors sprayed,

Yes to your question about if white would be a better choice than the dark you have planned! You don't care for the COLOR of the previous owner. When you sell your buyer will feel the same about the dark. White or wood are the only long term universally liked options. I agree your cathedral cut door insets are not worth the effort. Live with what you have until you can afford new door fronts.

I was suggesting that she keep the current green? color of the (already painted) base cabs and paint only the uppers to match the base cabinets. Instead of painting all of the cabinets the 'blue'? that looks like dark charcoal? on my monitor.

I don't share everyone's disdain for cathedral cabinet fronts - merely a design choice not a moral failure. Sometimes we need to embrace the vintage of our home until budget allows us to make the big change. I do love green cabinets and they are everywhere right now. With the green painted cabinets, butcher block counter tops would look really nice! Our big box store has butcher block counters in stock for diy installation.

wait, you want to paint these??

they're already painted. You need to do a lot of work to prep these to accept new paint. (or if paying someone, the amount of time they will have to do to get these paint ready will cost you! save the money and put towards new cabs, or decent used ones)

otherwise, it will look horrible, nevermind the chipping.

You know what would be a lot easier than prepping these? Getting new unfinished cabinets w/shaker doors. These 1988 cabs need to go away. Painting them, again, is not going to work or look anything like that inspo pic.

Look into how much these would cost. prob not that much. if you really want to paint, paint unfinished, raw cabinets. (you will need to sand, prime, sand again, clean, and then paint)

go to a surplus warehouse that has these on hand.

I just looked at my FB marketplace and found this entire set for $60.

It's a builders surplus.

I assume you're on a budget? Have you checked craigslist or FB marketplace for used oak cabinets? similar to this, except they aren't painted and could have updated door styles.

You can find some killer deals on them.

$25 for the entire kitchen. yes, they need some love, but they're solid wood.

you have a small kitchen. you can easily find used oak cabs w/the square doors just like this. will look 100X better when painted.

there are pages and pages of deals like this.

you could opt to do a dark lower and white upper. this will work w/your gray/white countertop

https://honeybuilthome.com/diy-paint-oak-cabinets/

Or, remove all those uppers, go to lowes buy the unfiinished oak cabs w/taller doors, and prime and paint those.

here's a before,

and the after where she built boxes on top of what she has, and got taller doors to go up to the top

Or, go to Builders surplus and buy pre made cabs.

If you can DIY, you can also take down that horrible florescent light and hook up a regular ceiling light w/4LED bulbs.

What's your budget that you're working with?

I can't stress enough how important it is to know how to paint these. the ones you have? Even I wouldn't attempt those (and I'm a pro at painting) The cabs or the amount of work required are not worth it.

The unfinished or clear coat oak cabs? yes. but you MUST now how to properly prep or you'll end up w/something looking like this

Or these.

These are ALL poorly prepped. no sanding. no priming. no sanding after priming. improper paint/technique. It's a huge job

here's her what NOT to do:

https://evolutionofstyleblog.com/what-not-to-do-when-painting-your-cabinets/

the more you know...

The OP said in her second sentence, I am getting the doors sprayed.

So, it doesn't sound like she plans to DIY.

This thread is devolving into the telephone game :)

you're right. shes getting them sprayed.

by whom? And nothing has changed. Do you know how many people have no clue how to paint cabinets and simply trust someone who says, "I can do it". And then they wonder why they're so unhappy after it's done. The more you know how it's done, the more you can vet the frauds.

I would make sure she asks what their procedures are.

You know how many houses painters tell customers they can paint cabinets? take a look at my last comment, last few pics. those were done by a house painter.

some hack can simply come in and spray a coat over those current cabinets (and I'll bet that's what they're doing)

What the cost to getting these sprayed, OP ?? Because for a professional to come in, strip off the old paint, sand, prime, sand again, and then spray a new cabinet paint (off site, not in your kitchen) you're looking at over 5K. yeah, like I said, tons of work.

Or, you can pay someone who skips all those steps 2K, and have them chip and peel in a few months.

The counters are what need changing here. First. And NOW. Their hideous look is preventing you from seeing that the existing cabinet color will look great with white counters.

Everything except for the spraying and counter is a DIY. The floor is changing and I will put a molding on the top of cabinets and a shade molding on bottom…. Thanks for the advice on color! I’ve decided against, especially with the dreaded arch! Thanks for everyone’s input! I really appreciate it!

I think people were surprised into forgetting because the cost of having them professionally sprayed is just not worth the results given the design of your doors. Glad to hear you are saving for a better door!!