I'd paint the whole kitchen, ceiling, walls, including the cabinets SW White Sesame or even lighter, like SW Alabaster. If you are keeping the black appliances as is, I would Paint what I call the hutch wall (where the coffee maker is) a black, also the table. you already have a backsplash. Unless you har going to knock off the 4" curb.

Lot of work if you DIY the cabinet painting. Lot of dollars if you hire out. I would paint everything else, and change the hardware first.

I like the white cabinets as well, but would look for a backsplash that is closer to the colors in your granite countertop. Maybe a picture of the countertop close up would help.

I don’t care for any of the backsplashes you’ve shown. They don’t seem to go well with anything and you’ll be sorry if you don’t tile the area I think. It will be difficult to clean.

debra

I don't think that any of the backsplashes you've added in your photos will be difficult to clean - they are just subway tiles. Maybe I'm missing something . . .

I'm confused about why changing the exposed hinges to hidden ones isn't a possibility for you - it's not expensive. The Salice or Blum partial overlay concealed hinges for face frame cabinets are expensive + they take up quite a bit of room (based upon my understanding).

However, there are off brand name ones sold inexpensively.

$83 for 60 of them + they have various sizes. They also can be adjusted four different ways (vertical/horizontal/depth/how fast/slow the hinges self close).

Below photo shows the hinges used on new doors.

Below photo shows exposed hinged door changed to concealed slow close hinges:

They aren't the same quality as Blum - but they have good reviews. Plus, there are quite a few different sellers on Amazon.

For an even bigger update, you could replace your doors/drawer fronts with new ones. I spoke with the owner of Raile Cabinetry (Nick) when I was helping my sister replace her doors/drawer fronts in two bathrooms + a laundry room - he was very nice + helpful (she was updating from partial overlay to full overlay). You can contact them at sales@railecabinetry.com to receive help with updating your doors from partial overlay (dated) to full overlay (updated).

The cost for shaker style doors is $12/sf - a 36"x15" door would cost $45. If you want to have the door professionally finished in any SW paint color - it would cost $82.50 extra. If you have 30" tall cabinets - a 15" wide door would cost $37.50 ($68.75 additional cost for professional finishing).

They do good work - they have a few different designs - however, they customized ones for my sister's mudroom. They can make inset/partial/full overlay doors. Below is a new kitchen that used Raile Cabinetry to make their doors/drawer fronts:

If the look of partial overlay doors don't bother you, then you could pass on new doors/drawer fronts since your current cabinets are a pretty simple design. You could learn how to correctly prep the doors + use an inexpensive sprayer to spray the new paint color by looking up a painting group on FaceBook.

I'm sure that there are more than one - however, I know that there is one in particular where pros help DIYers with how to achieve a good finish on there existing cabinets (they recommend types of paint/spray guns/nozzle sizes/paint additives/prep work/etc.) I can't remember the name of the group - but it's pretty large and you should be able to tell if you are in the correct place by reading a few posts/comments.

"The cabinets are in bad shape"

What do you mean?

• Cosmetically? Meaning the finish is in bad shape but the "boxes" are fine and all work well.
• Structurally? Meaning the structure of the cabinet/drawer boxes is failing - drawers that no longer work well (stick, don't open fully, etc.), shelves no longer working (e.g., don't stay aligned or up b/c walls can no longer support them), etc.?
• Partial issue: Door hinges are no longer working well?
• Partial issue: Drawer glides no longer working well?

One or more of the above or something else?

Your cabinetry design is on trend enough to not throw the baby out with the bathwater. White would be a solid choice but wood is on trend. DIY painting is not advised. It just does not hold up. Refinishing would be a bit of work but if they are solid cabinets-worth the effort. You mentioned they are in bad shape, you must mean finish wise as paint does not fix cabinets that are falling apart. Putting tile on top of the back splash (photo 4) you have is a bad oops design no no. Yes to painting all walls. Freshen the place up. Your pics where the four inch back splash is removed looks soo much cleaner. Adding the brick with all the grout lines--clutters up the visual. Best case scenario is new counter tops with the same material used as back splash. If you can't afford to have the cabinets professionally painted--refinish yourself. The coffee area looks newer? It's possible a light sanding then go over with stain to catch the faded areas then repolly will be all they need. YES YES YES to hardware!!!

You have a backsplash that matches the counters that is best left as is with nothing else added there. I would need a close up to see the condition of the cabinets but rarely does DIY painting of cabinets stand up well and that would be abigger mess than what you think you have now.. The different colored appliances are a bigger eyesore to me.. Right now IMO fix the lighting to even decide what wall color . You need pots lights and lots of them I like LED 4000K bulbs but you can go 3500K. I find the flooring a bit off putting but now I would just wait for a bit before doing any major work.. Your cabinet color now is warm so not sure what change will make that more warm. So I need an understanding of the actual condition of the cabinets so close ups are a must post those here in a comment in jpeg format , then we can start actually helping.

Your photo three looks best with your countertop and floor IMO. Changing the hardware to nickel would look good and blend in more if you choose that look.

I was misunderstood…… I said if you DON’T tile the backsplash area you will be unhappy, because bare wall is difficult to clean.
debra

Thanks everyone.

ChatGPT seems to prefer tile backsplashes despite my insistence of just wanting to see color there. I agree I don't like any of the backsplashes and have thought I'd just paint the walls and live with it, see if I ever need a change because the granite countertops have a bit of a lip anyway.

A few folks have asked what I meant by the cabinets being in bad shape - it's definitely just cosmetic. I imagine they're original (1991) and and are super gross when you actually look at them in front of you. Because these cabinets have never had handles, the finish is totally worn through from hands, they're just so dingey looking.

I took the doors down as soon as I got the keys to the house so I could clean them thoroughly, including the hinge hardware. But once I started cleaning I thought, well why can't I just sand and paint these things? I realize it won't be the same as a brand new kitchen (not even close), but I'm fine with that. Maybe I'll gut the whole thing in 5 years from now or something.

I did look into hardware more and it seems like I'll be fine with hidden hinges, how exciting!

A lot of other people have said the floor has to go and I'm torn about that. I don't like the flooring, it's not what I would have chosen, but it's in really good shape so I don't see prioritizing replacing it right now. Maybe I could get a rug or something. It is throughout the main level. I might look into what it would be like to potentially remove it from just the kitchen and then the rest of the living area would keep it vs removing it throughout the whole room, idk. I feel like updating the cabinets and painting the walls will be a good first step.

I agree on one comment for lighting. It's funny how so many older homes have such horrid lighting. I want to install lights but am going to wait, it's a multi room project. At least there's no asbestos on the ceilings!!

Here's diy paint steps and the cost using BM Advance cabinet paint is $600-800. Pro to do this job would be $6000-8000.

"I don't like the flooring, it's not what I would have chosen, but it's in really good shape so I don't see prioritizing replacing it right now."

You should make it a priority because all you other choices revolve around it. It is by far the most egregious thing I see in your pics. It's awful.

If you are keeping the floor I think that staining the cabinets one of the mid-tone browns looks best with it , at least as much as I can tell from the pics.

If you are handy and patient, you could possibly do a passable job yourself. Otherwise I would do a deep clean on them, get some hardware and save my money for a remodel that includes the floor. Restore-A-Finish is a pretty amazing product to clean and pep up old wood finishes and is beloved of realtors trying to sell a home.
Is it vinyl plank? What are the colors in it?

Let's reframe this as a mid-stage upgrade. A refresh of the kitchen to get you through five years until you may gut.

Leave the floor as is. It is not beautiful, but it is throughout your whole home. Don't bit off more than you need to for the refresh.

You already have a backsplash. It is the 4" piece of counter. I prefer them and have never had a hard time cleaning the wall where a tile splash would have existed.

The two different tones of wood in the same room with the busy floor and busy counter feels a bit too much to me. For this reason I'd paint the cabinets white sesame. BUT, read everything you can about cabinet painting and spend the time and money to DIY it well so it lasts five years without chipping. This project is not worth you paying the big money it costs for a professional to do a factory finish grade paint job on them.

Even though you want to take on more electric in your next phase, you can still swap out these fixtures for new fixtures that have more directional lights on them and can increase the brightness of this room.

I appreciate the input @Kendrah and agree with what you're saying. I've decided I'll paint the cabinets - going to take my time with that as I'll be painting walls first throughout.

I'm leaving the floor, it really doesn't bother me. I understand people's position that it's ugly as sin but my eyes go straight to those cabinets whenever I'm there, not the floor. I'll look forward to a floor upgrade in some years though, without a doubt.

I will also consider just changing the light fixture prior to going wild with lighting in there.

My only worry with your suggestion to paint the cabinets White Sesame like the walls is that everything will look so....white. I think I'll be able to visualize it more once the walls are actually painted though.

People who can look past the floors seems to be split with cabinets:

- paint green

- paint white

The green image here includes the subway tile white backsplash which does NOT work IMO. I feel like if the wall were just painted white sesame and the cabinets were green, there would be some nice contrast.

In hindsight, I think painting the cabinets any kind of brown would seem like I'm trying to hard to make the wood look better than it ever will.

I like the green painted cabinets. Is there any way to just leave the backsplash you have in the pic?