It’s only my opinion, but I’d leave the cabinets as they are. I’d remove everything from the outside of the fridge, and as much as possible from the counters. Then I’d remove the runner and paint the walls with a color that helps you feel like your whole kitchen has been refreshed. Good luck!

If you'd like to paint them this video shows you what supplies and equipment you can use for a quality job using BenjMoore Advance cabinet paint and primer with an airless spray gun. 5 days of work. $600-800.

You can do taupe, greens, gray, white, I’m remodeling my kitchen and couldn’t decide on my cabinet color so I went in Pinterest and decided on Sherwin Williams Stardew. I narrowed it down to3 and bought paint samples and painted cardboard and hung it on different places in my kitchen to see what it looked like at different times of the day. Check Pinterest for idea. I’m getting white quartz countertop with gray/gold veining, white oak cabinets on my island.

And depending on what color you decide on, I would get a different color runner with a nice pattern. Experts actually recommend putting long runners in kitchens vs a bunch of small rugs. I’ve done tons of research and watched 100’s of kitchen videos.

" I am trying to do a cheap kitchen makeover where I paint the cabinets "

Cheap and a quality paint finish that will not look far worse in a year are two entirely different animals.

A cheap paint job just ensures that you replace all of that. The issues that you perceive are mainly about lighting and the dark counter. A new white counter, new splash, and better lighting, is all you need. And that's cheaper than a good paint job.

Ignore the floating tile on the ceiling. Software can be weird.

Eventually, refinish your floors to be more neutral, and it all looks perfect!

I think your kitchen looks good just the way it is. Your cabinets appear to be in great condition. I wouldnt touch any of it, except that runner, which could be replaced, and I would either put a nice piece of art work on that wall, or wallpaper like posted above. Your floors go nicely with the cabinets, so I wouldnt be messing with them either.

I like your kitchen, including the style and color of your cabinets. I would get rid of the rug and tidy things up (refrigerator clutter). If you want to make a change I would look at the walls instead of the cabinets. Maybe someone could do a mock-up of sage green for the walls.

I was thinking about this

Am I the only one looking at an elephant in the room? That GRAY wall is a poor fit with your lovely cabinets and floor. Use a very slightly off-white to differentiate the walls from the trim.

It would be a whole lot easier and cheaper to paint over the gray walls, improve the lighting, and replace the rug runner than to approach those wood cabinets with a paint brush.

Then find a framed poster in your favorite color(s) to hang on that blank wall.

IMO, of course.

Giant NOPE to the painted cabinets mockup. It is not addressing the actual room issues. It's "fixing" the best part about the room. That doesn't need to be fixed.

Nooooo! None of your mockups work. They are far too cool for the floor. Unless you are going to change or refinish your floor as the first order of business, you work WITH it. Which that dated gray wall does not. It's the big culprit in things not working. A great natural GREEN looks wonderful with the wood.

The floor looks like wide enough planks to be engineered hardwood. It likely runs into other areas. If the top layer is at least 3mm you can refinish to a lighter non orange tone. Then your other changes can work. Diy for this is very doable. Ciranova Ecofix Plus matte or Bona products for finish.

How about doing the floors next.

I dont like either one of the mock ups. The tanish one is actually the worst. Neither go with anything else in your kitchen. Stop trying to fix what looks good and works, and fix the things, that dont work, which is the wall color, and the runner.

Unless I'm missing something, those cabinets look to be in great shape and look very nice. I would not mess with something that looks good and is one of the best things in the Kitchen.

While I like the black counter, I understand a lot (if not most) people don't. So, maybe change the counters? However, think long and hard about what you change them to so they don't stick out like a sore thumb among the other items.

How's your lighting? Do you have under cabinet task lighting? That may make a difference in how you see your Kitchen. (Others addressed this above as well.)

I think the cabinets look good as-is. The wall paint clashes with the cabinets. Paint the walls and then re-assess what else needs to be done.

Mud colored cabinets and gray walls is never going to work with orange floors. It wouldn’t even work with a neutral brown floor. The grey wall is pretty awful. It’s clash with the floor and cabinets is your biggest problem. You’ve already had some good suggestions for the green that does work, and is popular, so I won’t repeat that. You need warm tones here.

The other elephant in the room is that even your small kitchen is probably 8-10k to have professionally finished by a cabinet finisher, in a 2K industrial wood coating. You do not want a cheap guy using house paint, or you will be replacing all of that. So, unless you learn to safely spray, with a respirator and long sleeves, plus buy about $1300 of materials, and do plenty of practice, you aren't really looking at any ”cheap” changes.

Would it be weird to paint just the kitchen? This is a very small condo.

You’re not going to like my answer: paint over all gray walls in rooms with that gorgeous wood floor.

On the other hand, if it is a small condo like you say, it won’t take long. Probably less time than it would to do a professional paint job on your cabinets.

What color do you think? The blue accent wall is actually black now

I agree with others. Painting cabinets is a huge endeavor and will easily chip and peel unless you take pain staking measures, which can be hard to do in a small condo, which I'm guess has not workspace like a garage or yard. I agree that painting the entire common area and kitchen will be much less work.

Frankly, I'd paint the accent wall the same color as the rest of the space as well. I think the raised wood design will be far more interesting in a color that is the same as the rest of the walls.

Be careful when selecting neutral wall tones as they make your sofa look dingy in comparison.

I'd also like to see kitchen hardware that is as small as you can go given the drilled hole span. It is a lot of look to have those over extended bars in such a small space.

Given a blank slate, I'd paint all of the walls a bright, ever so slightly warm white. Find a great focal point piece of art for the kitchen wall. And a punchy living room rug.

There is a nice bit of wall up on the left of your sink . why dont you get a shelf or a couple small ledges there. ? another spot for improvement can be the pantry door in your kitchen. doors are a great opportunity for upgrade .

see these 2 ledges above their sink.. do you have a little pottery in that beige color you showed? display .

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Vibrant colors need their "match" in vibrancy. Placing grayed or browned colors next to them creates lifelessness, and makes the vibrant colors appear to be that much MORE in your face. The orange of the floors is more dominant than the cabinet, so it sets the scene for what will work. You really need better lighting, and to get away from trying to "tone it down". To lessen the impact of something vibrant, you match it's energy with similar saturation. To make it seem "lesser" you use similar colors next to it in the color wheel, to take the focus away as the floors being the most colorful thing in the room. Blues and greens always complement terracottas and oranges. Terracottas and oranges done in a major way will take the focus off of the floor.

A great wallpaper mural on that big blank gray wall could set the stage for something spectacular!

Here is a better picture of the entire condo space

The whole room is dying for some color and life to match the life that the floors bring to the table.