You know there are techniques available where a cell from Sugar Maple could be fused with a cell of Silver Maple. Assuming these cells would be viable, it would be interesting to see what would result. Potentially you could end up with a very fast growing tree that is also very tough. Have 4 or more complete sets of chromosomes often result in very vigorous plants. Many of our crop plants have 8 or even more sets of chromosomes. Then there is the potential of hybrid vigor. The issue would be getting someone to pay for the lab work, then tissue culture work with no certainties. And for those of you who get uncomfortable with the ideal of combining species, it happens every day. The freemanii Maple is a excellent example. Venus Dogwood is another, along with the Stellar series. Then there are all the crop plants...... Arktrees

Your post caught my eye because I also have maple cabinets. They look very similar to yours (mine are Kraftmaid honey-spice maple--about 13 years old and still in great shape!) I also picked out a very light colored granite a few years ago that had lovely gold running in it that I thought would tie in with the cabinets. Unfortunately, when it was installed it was very hard to really see the gold--like you experienced! I also am not as thrilled about the way the colors of my granite and cabinets go together. I've thought about having a darker "antiquing" overglaze put on the cabinets to darken the wood slightly and adjust the tone to go with the granite better. (I originally had wanted to order them with the glaze from the manufacturer, but it would have cost an additional $1000 for the whole kitchen!) I thought perhaps a custom cabinet shop could do it for a reasonable price if I brought the doors in. Maybe one day....(or then again, if I wait long enough, the maple will darken on its own and aquire its own natural antiquing!) I agree that it does seem like a shame to paint such pretty wood, though I know that painted cabinets are so popular right now. Your backsplash tile looks like it has a pinkish undertone to it that doesn't seem to be complementing the golden undertone of the maple--but perhaps that is just in the photo. Are they travertine or tumbled marble? Those stones usually have a pinkish undertone to them- esp. next to a golden- undertoned wood. Perhaps that is what is bothering you--the backsplash next to your cabinets--or perhaps the backsplash is bringing out all the wrong tones in the granite? They are pretty tiles, however, in and of themselves, and do seem to go well with the granite. Maybe you can play with undercabinet lighting to see if you can make them look less "pinkish". Just a thought, fwiw. (I do know that with thinset, you can tile right over an existing tile backsplash in case you ever decide to change the tile.) One tip, if you need to "freshen up" the wood finish in a few spots, "Restor-a-Finish" is a wonderful product--just wipe it on. I used to use it on my kitchen cabinets in my old house--works fantastic. I use it on furniture, too. (Home Depot now carries it near the wood stains. Antique dealers often sell it, and use it a lot, too!) Here is a link: Just some food for thought, fwiw. Here is a link that might be useful: Restor-a-finish

IMO they look fine as is. If you are just looking for a change then I would add decorative molding to the doors and to the side and then paint with chalk paint. I really don't think there is any need to have a bathroom vanity professionally painted unless you really object to diy. That would be a very easy project.

Applying a stained poly is a TOUGH ask. It takes the MOST experienced flooring professional to handle this. Because the poly is the stain, it will DARKEN if it puddles (even an extra drop will look darker). If you create a 'wake' line (like water skiing creates a wake behind it) the wake will be a dark stripe. And then the FUN part of a water based poly = 10 minutes of 'working time' and then you have to GIVE UP trying to fix it. I've helped fix a cork floor that needed a tinted poly (water based) to 'fix' the fading (homeowner didn't 'get' the fading that cork goes through...it's a long story). The application was tedious and nerve wracking and had to be PERFECT. There was NO ROOM for error. Do NOT lap one line to another. You can only TOUCH the previous run...but don't run INTO it. Which is the OPPOSITE of how a polyurethane goes down. At the end of the day, the amount of 'trial and error' the installer has to go through is VERY high. That means the amount of money you will pay to FIND and HIRE the high-end person is more than it would be if you simply applied the stain to the wood.