The color combination is my biggest dilemma. They will be professionally painted. The ben moore amherst gray on the bottom hides the uba tuba, which is my objective mostly.

The colors in the pic are beautiful. (Who cares if they lean in some style that is now not on trend. They are still lovely.) But, the floors in that pic are entirely different than your floors and I think that matters.

What is your motivation behind painting the cabinets? You just want a new look somehow and are hoping this is the least expensive route? You are prepping for resale and want some kind of refresh? Tell us more. As noted below, a good lasting paint job on cabinets is very expensive. It is a lot more than just a wall painter giving your quotes for cabinet painting. That doesn't really last long.

I know there are other things that someone might find objectionable, but at this point, being unable to replace the counters or cabs, I’ve decided painting is the best solution. Just can’t pull the trigger on a color 🙁

The picture is too over exposed to really tell. Can you take a better picture and post it?

“I’ve decided painting is the best solution.”

Is saving up for new counter or cabinets a better solution as a good paint just may cost just as much and any paint job other than an expensive one may leave you needing to replace your cabinets soon anyway?

The vent hood will be replaced with something shorter.

Paint estimate $3400 (we are in rural Florida). Services like these are much cheaper than other areas of the country. Our paint guy, he and his team have done several projects for us. I haven’t priced new countertops, but we have 66 sq feet of granite 🙁

I just want to break up all the golden oak (floor, cabs. Just had wooden doors painted-much better!) I don’t HATE any of it, just want some change/refresh.

Recent improvements in my dining area, which opens to my kitchen, are new Ben Moore White Dove on walls (also in kitchen) and new chandelier. Walls were builder beige before 😩

I'd get a bigger rug to break up the oak floor and put in a black and brown cement tile backsplash to tie everything together.

At the end of the day, I’m okay with my kitchen not looking EXACTLY like the AI rendering. However, if someone has an opinion on a better paint color combo, I’m here for it 😁

deegw- absolutely

To both

BM has a specific cabinet paint. Advance Satin. You can learn a lot about it to make talking to your painters more productive and act as a safeguard.

This type of preparation and application timing is completely different from other house painting projects.

deegw- I like that idea! no to cabinet paint? TY

I’ve heard good things about this paint. I also have a pro cabinet painter on standby, who normally only uses lacquer, so I have to decide on that as well.

Ok, that gives me some options I hadn’t considered. I’m not saying I don’t have some concerns about painting the cabinets. Mostly afraid I won’t like them, or they’ll have to be repainted in 2-3 years. Even though I want to pick something that I personally like, I do care about how others perceive it.

Regardless style of the kitchen, it’s your home and what you like - you’re the one that lives there. I very much like the kitchen you posted, looks clean, fresh and bright as well as stylish

I would buy a returnable rug to break up the floor and purchase some peel and stick tile stickers to mock up a different backsplash to see if those changes are enough to suit you. If not, the painting is always an option.

Painting out of date styled cabinetry often does not get the owner the reward they are after. The kitchen will look as dated after painting, because the cabinetry style is just not where the trends are heading. Are you thinking of two tone or all the dark gray for the cabinetry? For Florida this seems very dark. The wood tone is lovely as is and very on trend. If the floor is too much I agree buy a rug and call it a day.

Two most useful pieces of advice I’ve received so far. You’ve given me some ideas and some direction. Once I commit, I’ll try to hop back on share the updates. Thanks, guys!!

I think your cabinets are really beautiful with the countertops, as is. I also like the flooring, but I think the floor is too similar to the cabinet color. I agree if you could use more rugs /runners to break it up that might be a good thing to try. The cabinets really look nice. Maybe new hardware and as deegw suggested, and you liked, a new backsplash.

If it is your kitchen exctly why not post an exactly picture. I really dislike the fancy backspace behind a range I love ubatuba and the cabinets color you show is perfect with it . I do not think the floor and cabinets are the same . In fact I am not sure what it is you want from us. Take a REAL photo of the whole space , post it here in a comment that is how you get help

Well, I'm confused. I thought @P Griffin did post the actual kitchen.

??

Having now seen your actual kitchen, I like it as is.

You have brown, black, and stainless. Everything is neutral. It's calm. Too calm for me. It is bordering on boring, because there is really nothing to focus on.

If you want pattern, the idea of tile would work. You could also just change the wall paint to a "real color" (as some on here call them).

Or even just adding some color in your utensil holders/appliances. You wouldn't need much, but a couple of red (or whatever color is your favorite) utensil canister or tea kettle or toaster would make a big difference.

Totally agree that JUST accessorizing and adding some spectacular tile for the backsplash would be great here -even keep the hood and tile around / behind it all the way to the ceiling. That will add the impact / drama that takes this to the next level. Without spending a fortune or making a choice that might not be as great as you think (over time...) your kitchen is a fantastic base, it just needs the jewelry.

Thanks for posting the second pic of your kitchen. Wow, I certainly would not paint those cabinets. They and your counter are great. Yet, I completely understand you wanting a new look.

I'd get samples of tile backsplashes like in your inspo pic - with lighter backgrounds but some sort of deep grey and black in there. Bring them into your space and take pics. If you find one you really like make 15 color copies of it and post them on your wall as tile would be placed to get a better sense of what it will look like.

Can you post pics of all four walls of your kitchen? We might see other opportunities to make high impact low effort changes for this space to feel refreshed.

A good cabinet refinisher (NOT a "paint guy") would be 10-15K to tackle those, and frankly a new countertop would have far better return. Those select hickory cabinets are outstanding, and should be preserved. An actual cabinet finisher would be using an industrial wood coating like Envirolak, Milesi, Centurion, Ilva, etc. Advance or Emerald are trim paints, NOT cabinet paints. They don't hold a candle to the ability to resist wear and tear that a proper cabinet paint has. You would be buying replacement cabinets in just a short frame of time if you move forward with the $3400 ruiner.

Light counters, a new splash, better lighting, and you have a great look. Put refinishing the floors darker on the table too.

Your cabinets look really nice (in the real photo). They don't look very old + look like custom cabinets.

FYI - those are NOT the "golden oak" cabinets that remind so many people of the 90s. You have a different wood species (I know that they aren't oak cabinets - I'm getting ready to replace mine!) - according to Minardi they are select hickory cabinets.

I do think that adding a pretty backsplash + some rugs really would make a big difference. However, to answer your question re: the color combo in your inspiration photo - I think it looks nice (and would work with your floors now that you've posted a photo that shows the real stain color of the floors).

I typically dislike having different tile over the range - but the inspiration photo looks nice. The accent tile appears to perfectly tie the two colors together.

You do need to make sure that the type of cabinet coating that's used on them is a professional brand (Milesi/Renner/Envirolak/etc.) or the paint will start to chip/wear quickly. The flipper who did my daughter and SIL's house did NOT use the correct cabinet coating on their kitchen cabinets - they look pretty beat up after three years (I just noticed how bad they look while watching my baby granddaughter for the past three and a half days/nights).

Not a designer but IMO your kitchen is gorgeous! Please be careful you're not ruining what looks like a classic, custom, very expensive kitchen by trying to achieve a trendy look that will quickly become next season's do-over. I vote "No Paint!"

I would not paint those cabinets.

Thank you, everyone, for taking the time to respond. I’m not able to remember everone’s comments, but I’ll try to address a couple that stood out. I do have a professional cabinet maker/installer who also paints cabinets. He mentioned lacquer, but beyond that, no names of other products or brands. His quote was also significantly higher. I’ve always assumed they were oak, and in some lights, they look like other examples I’ve seen. I truly like the backsplash/accessorize idea. Maybe , deep down, I haven’t pulled the trigger on paint, because they are really nice, custom cabinets. I like the idea of some of the simple upgrades that several of you have suggested. Especially the peel and stick tiles, just for reference and design ideas. I’ve been considering rug changes for a while now, but agonize over making choices. I realize it needs color, and I have some color choices in mind. Patricia Colwell, I actually like the uba tuba as well. I’m committing to making it work for now, and realize it was probably the best choice for the type of cabinets that were chosen for the build. Thank you for the input. It’s a work in progress, and I have to make it work for now. In 5 years, I may be in a position to be able to completely renovate it. I didn’t build this house, and if I had, the finishes would have been vastly different.

These aren’t oak??

These aren’t oak??

They look like oak wood to me.

They aren't "golden oak", which is more of a color (Yellow-orange) that screams 1990s builder.

In your best picture, your cabinets look to be a medium brown oak. Not really yellow/orange.

I also wonder if you would enjoy new cabinet hardware. There is nothing wrong with what you have. It isn't my taste, maybe it is not yours either. Just another way to bring a new look to the cabinets.

I don't know a lot about wood species, but your last posted photo looks like oak to me. The pronounced grain looks like the grain of my oak cabinets which I recently painted. Thankfully, mine weren't golden oak, but rather sported a walnut stain. Yours look to be in better condition than mine (installed in 1983) so 40 years of wear. I was also tired of the busyness of the grain and its visual noise. I have black pearl granite countertops and painted the cabinets olive. I like the paint color you suggested in your post.

In truth, I’m not crazy about the hardware. I‘d like something simple, but a little more modern. Black would be my first color choice. Not sure there are many more options. Thanks, guys!

I thought initially they are not oak. They are more likely hickory. The grain colors vary like hickory. Oak has grain you can feel. These cabinets do not appear to and oak coloring does not vary this way.

^^^ Arcy_gw maakesmakes a good point. The oak grain on my cabinets could definitely be felt.

Oak is an open grain wood in which you can see the grain detents against the light. Hickory is more closed grain and smooth. Those are hickory or pecan, which appear interchangeable unless under a microscope.

Also, I don't care if he calls himself a finisher and uses lacquer that will explode your house with the fumes, he isn't charging enough for a 7 day job of the intense type of work needed to make that a long lasting and durable result. Just read the Guidesin the Kitchen Cabinet Painting Experts for all the tons of cleaning and sanding prep work needed before they get touched with primer, much less paint. They recommend homeowner trim paint, because the group is for homeowners that don't spray or have access to professional coatings. But the professional cabinet world has moved on from lacquer 20 years ago, because it doesn't hold up, especially to water.

Do your countertops show mostly black, or are there flecks of color? I have a double slab of uba tuba as my fireplace mantle, and it's much more green than black, with flecks of gold.

I'm no expert on painting cabinets, but if painting/replacing them is your choice, perhaps pick up on a color that's reflected in the granite?

I like the hardware in the inspo pic you posted. Black, closed on the ends instead of the long open ended ones you have now, and a slight square to the grab. Order a few samples and enjoy the immediate results.

Yeah, lacquer didn’t sound appealing to me either! Thank you for the heads up on that. Yes, the black hardware in the inspo pick is more up to date than what I have. Would that be too much black in the space? In answer to the color of my countertop, they are to me, a true black, with tan and whitish flecks. Mind you I said they LOOK black to me. They definitely aren’t the green uba tuba.

Keeping the cabinets in oak, new contemporary backsplash, new black hardware, and a washable runner...

Ooooh…I like this! Your rendering of my actual cabinet color is better as well. Thank you!

It's your picture and I didn't alter the colours but with the items I added it gives the cabinets a new look

Here's how it would look with your adjoining dining room.

Think the black hardware would look great.

These might be a lot of look for your whole kitchen backsplash but could be interesting behind the range.

Diamond tile LINK

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