I agree on taking down the upper cabinets over penninsula. Also stonington grey from BM is a lovely blue grey. I like dark floors over vinyl. If you can ount the cabinets a lighter colour would also help brighten up the space. I would do a clean quartz or coriander counter. Good luck!

Ugh. Corian counter not coriander! Darn spell check. Lol.

paint the cabinets, hate oak.. white cabinets with the grey walls. get a marbley countertop in greys and white..the floor can be a tile that is charcoal and looks like a wood grain..very sharp...

Upper cabinets hold all of my dishes, plates, etc. We are retired and have the wood all through the house ( hubbie loves it!). That is why I need help with what will go with the wood color. Help! And thank you for taking the time to help!

We are remodeling our kitchen. We used Giani Granite Countertop Paint http://www.gianigranite.com/ to make our old countertops look like granite. The kit is $80.00 and works great. Research it you'll find positive reviews on many DIY websites. We have same color cabinets that we can't afford to replace right now. We replaced all applicances with stainless steel. We painting are kitchen walls a blueish gray also. We are going to install Armstrong Alterna Mesa Stone - Beige D4106. I think it's going to look great!

Nanclake: can you post some pics of your countertop redo? we are considering doing the same thing and would love to see a REAL world picture. Thanks...

Yes, but give me a day. I just got an iPhone for the first time and took pictures on it, but I always go to this site on my computer so I have to figure out how to post them from iPhone.

the blue grey sounds lovely. I am a big fan of muddy grey colors and have the running through my house myself. I agree with removing the uppers over the peninsula but not at the expense of losing much need storage space. I also agree with painting or restaining the cabinets but there is nothing wrong with them the way they are either. What I would do though, is add some nice oil rubbed bronze hardware to the cabinets and dress them up a bit. It will play off of the black appliances very well. . Again, nothing wrong with the cabinetry in itself but they are kind of blah without hardware. I'd go with a nice porcelain or stone tile floor and forego the vinyl floor. In the end it just looks cheap and a you can find a porcelain tile within the same budget if you look hard enough. I think a nice light color tile and complimentary granite countertop would look great with the oak. Also, remove the chair rail in the dining area. Replace the fridge as well to black to match the other appliances. Finally change out the sink and faucet. something single hole and consider that in the oil rubbed bronze finish as well.

turboe5, here are before and after pics. Just a quick overview: old counters were a green formica, we painted them with Giani Granite Countertop paint kit ($80.00). Used Ashlar Rock Interlocking tile from Home Depot as backsplash. We still need to paint the walls above cabinets, install some nice stainless steel hardware on the cabinets, and plan on installing Armstrong Alterna Mesa Stone Beige tile.

I think you'll be pleased with your kitchen if you do remove that one set of upper cabinets, just sort through what you have and rearrange at few things...really you'll be amazed at how your kitchen will look. Granite is not for everyone, I for one would look for something else, like quartz. Simple and clean. And easy to care for. Cabinet hardware will go a long way too. A backsplash would be a big help here too. A black refrig. would look much better too.(appliances can be painted, take to an auto body shop) Removing all the stuff from the refrig. will give your eye a restful new view too. A tiled floor would be a better choice and a updated look for you too. Large tiles. I have had both a white floor (which I loved) and a dark floor......Either would work with your oak cabinets. A new faucet goes along way too. As far as color... grays are very popular and blues are coming on strong.