The picture is my current kitchen-should I keep the dark wood and get new countertops and backsplash or should I refinish the cabinets to a lighter color and keep the granite. HELP!!! All advice appreciated. I read that dark wood is trending again so I don't want to regret changing the wood to a lighter color such as dove white or pale oak.

What do you dislike? What's your budget?
I think a new backsplash, new granite, new hardware and a new wall color could really freshen it up. I'd also consider replacing the trim around the sink cabinet with something simpler but that could get complicated.

IMO the cabinets are dated wood or not The floors are also very dated . My question is do you love everything about this kitchen except the cabinet color and counter ??? It look like the counter is granite and works pretty well with the floors and the cabinets so what is the reason for this very expensive change ? It is also a good idea to post pics of the whole space . Do so here just in a comment

Replace the busy counter top with a solid white counter, get a new backsplash, paint the trim around your window, do a good purge and reorganization to declutter your counters. This all will make a world of difference.

Thank you for your input! I should have stated I am replacing the floors too. The project started with looking into floors at first but I am tired of the dark cabinets and I want to brighten things up so I feel like I don't live in Tuscany. I am considering different options of leaving the granite and even changing the backsplash to paint the cabinets a pale oak or white dove color. The floor I am looking into a vinyl tile from Coretec flooring because I have 2 other rooms that join my kitchen

so I don't want three different woods to join together because it is all not the same floor. I will post some other picutes.

floors against my current cabinets or if I paint cabinets to a pale oak or possibly white dove

Second what Kendrah said, plus, I would replace the patterned glass insert with just plain glass & get a new window treatment, perhaps a shade.

I'm not crazy about any of those floors, most are too gray, the others have a pink undertone on my monitor.
I think your best bet is to stick to a warm white color palette. It will nicely freshen up the space and you won't have to worry about clashing undertones.

Should I leave the cabinets dark?

You could do it incrementally - floors, counter and backsplash. If it turns out it's not enough of a refresh, you could always paint the cabinets a warm white.

Sorry I am new to houzz and not sure how to directly reply to comments-can you suggest a warm white color palette of floors for me to check out! If I change color of cabinets to white dove what floor color palette do you suggest?

It depends upon how much you want ( or can $pend ) . Having cabinets repainted professionally is very expensive. Actually, “dated” ( I hate that overused word) or not, I think your cabinets are the nicest thing in there, even though my taste ( & home ) is very modern.

On Houzz, the winter months bring a flood of complaints about dark rooms and dark cabinets. Try changing the light bulbs in your fixtures to brighter ones: replace the 60-watt equivalent LEDs with 75-watt equivalents, and the 75-watt equivalents with 100-watt equivalents and so on. This will give you a much brighter kitchen while you consider painting the cabinets or leaving them natural wood.

Another easy thing to do: have your tile floors professionally cleaned if that hasn't been done recently. They may be much lighter after cleaning.

When you consider new tile, it needs to coordinate with the existing adjacent wood flooring.

Here is a well lit kitchen with dark wood cabinets:

South Natick Light and Bright · More Info

Leave cabinets dark with lighter countertops, backsplash, and under-cabinet lighting. Lighting will play important role in hard scape and flooring selection. Have you talked to flooring people to see if you can get a hardwood in your kitchen stained and finished to work with existing hardwood? you don’t have to do the same flooring pattern and may be able to have it leveled to remove the threshold piece. I’ve done tat and loved it. OK, a bit of a mess but that was over soon.

Actually I was just looking at a charcoal slate LVP that I think will look really nice with your cabinets but worry that it will make the room too dark. For some reason, charcoal slate reads as a neutral with warm woods so it could work.

I got an estimate in the 6K range to paint cabinets, 2K range to change countertops and 2 K range to change backsplash and 2 K range for floor. That is in my budget-I want to do it under 15k

Will suggest that you have the cabinetry stripped and then pickled. Pickling will lighten the cabinetry color and make your kitchen seem less dark while letting the wood grain of the cabinetry show thru.

I would do different floors but which one is better for cabinets?

light with a darker floor

I’m not fond of that wood with the backsplash. To me it seems somewhat off. What about the lighter floor in wood rather than tile?

debra

I wouldn't do the wood LVP next to your parquet floor. I think your choices are getting close. It can be tough to find the perfect neutral.

I'd keep the cabinets and replace the floor, backsplash and counter tops.

As lalagirl stated, a wood floor that blends with your adjoining wood floors, stained in a slightly lighter color than the cabinets. Then do a plain white backsplash and counter tops.

Like this:

Kitchen of the Week: The Making of an Arts & Crafts Kitchen · More Info

Similar but with a soapstone counter top. Would look just as beautiful with white marble or quartz:

Craftsman Kitchen · More Info

BTW LED 4000K bulbs are what you need every type bulb has a LED replacement I happen to love the granite you have but that backsplash is one more dated thing in the space .

Your countertops are really nice, but you need a new backsplash. Pick a plain, rippled tile in the cream background color of the countertop. Paint the walls the same cream. Get the floors scrubbed. Change out the lightbulbs per others' advice. Take down the valence. Clean up the countertops by putting paper towels under the sink, storing cups and other stuff in cabinets. Put your nicest dishes in the windowed cabinet. Consider changing out the cabinets right by the window with glass fronted doors with attractive daily glassware, cups, plates inside. Or replace one of the window cabinets with open shelves. Look how great this looks:

Youle St. Kitchen & Bathrooms · More Info

Forest Retreat Kitchen · More Info

The countertops would not ever have been my choice. Even when everyone else was using them. Plain white as shown in the above comment as well as my post would go a very long way in brightening up the room.

I would replace the countertop with white quartz and the backsplash with white tiles (can be installed metro style or a pattern such as herringbone), and also replace the cabinet hardware.. Paint the wall a warm white to coordinate with the counter and tiles. I don't know why you would want to replace a ceramic/porcelain tile for vinyl if your floor is in good condition. I'm showing a roman shade on the window and a washable runner along the counter with your existing flooring. If you don't have under-cabinet lighting, I suggest you install them.

I'm not sure what is the struggle you are having. Maybe you already know what you want to do? You want white cabinets and a light vinyl floor and a light counter. Is that right? In the comment you posted yesterday, I prefer photo #1 over the last photo.

I think that is a simple face lift. I think some of the comments here are trying to make suggestions to take advantage of the opportunity that you have to make it really effective like the idea to blend it in to the rest of the house with the wood flooring. And also, just to make sure you are going to be happy with the final result. You will be spending a good amount and not really changing a lot except color, but if you think you will be very happy and feel your money is well spent, then that' what you should do.

Diana, I love that last photo in your comment labeled 'Craftsman Kitchen'.

It's one of my favorites, prairiemoon!

Agree on the Craftsman Kitchen.👍🏻

Thank you so much for all the comments! I’m not sure how to reply to each one individually, so I wanted to clarify a few things here. I do have under-cabinet lighting, and I love the suggestion to try changing the type of bulbs. My current floor is a laminate tile with grout from 2006—it's worn, chipped, and definitely needs to be replaced. I’ve also never been a fan of the granite, but I didn’t choose this kitchen. My mom remodeled everything in 2006, and I bought the house from her in 2015, and we just have different tastes.

Thanks again for all the advice—I truly appreciate it!

It would've been good to know about laminate tile floor. Whatever you get for flooring, if you're staying with current countertops and wood cabinets, needs to stay at the golden side of things--no gray. It's not just harmonizing with wood floors but with all the "givens" you keep in the kitchen. Put it up against cabinets, countertop, and adjacent wood floors.

I agree with @Diana Bier Interiors, LLC. I've never liked that type of granite - it's so busy.

Question: will you be replacing your OTR microwave with a vent hood instead?

I think a solid white countertop would look nice with your cabinets + help brighten up the room. Plus, replacing the backsplash + kitchen floors would make a huge difference.

You could save some money by running part of your countertop on your wall instead of having someone install a full backsplash. Instead of using a 4" piece (which will make it look builder's grade), you could make it 2" which provides an updated look.

You could also make it taller than 4" (which will also provide an updated look) + you could add a small edge (shelf) on the top of it.

Here is a very small edge used to finish off the countertop piece that was used:

In the below photo, microcement was used for the countertops/backsplash/shelf/vent hood:

I would change the counters, backsplash and wall paint to all white or off white like cream. Light floors. Then see if you still need to refinish the cabinets.

They might look great. Otherwise, if they are quality, I like the idea of pickling them.

For now, consider keeping cabinets as is if they're in good condition and focus on the floor update because it will be important to make the connection between the two adjoining rooms that have different floors (shown below). Any layout change should occur before flooring install. Once the floor is updated then you can explore countertop and backsplash ideas more easily with the wonderful pro help here.

Any chance there's a pantry nearby? Can you post a photo of the space that is opposite the sink? Because you could sure use a mini coffee station to free up some countertop space :)

I would keep the cabinets as is, same with granite. Both are timeless. Lighter floor tile and backsplash, along with hardware refresh and your kitchen will look new again. Definitely bamboo shade installed higher above the window.

I don't think the granite is timeless--brown speckly granite was trendy in the early 2000s, but no one is using it anymore for good reason. A "lighter floor tile and backsplash," as proposed above, against the dark cabinets and granite would be a waste of money and your kitchen will still look dated.

I don't have software but trying a sketch

borrowing deegw