I think it would be a sacrilege to paint over your cabinets, but if you'd prefer them white than you should do it. Disclaimer - I just put in cherry cabs.

As long as you're replacing the counters, have you given any thought to changing your layout a bit? When standing in front of your cooktop, do you find interference from the dishwasher a. never, b. once or twice a day, c. so many times you want to scream? Do you use your MW for snacks and leftovers or for meal prep like melting butter, thawing meat? I see the child lock on your sink cab. Do you want the MW where (older) kids can use it or where it would be an adults only appliance?

Your cabs look great and I would definitely keep them, but would put some thought into the optimum layout before changing out the counters. You can move your cab boxes around(on paper) until the layout feels right. And if you're up for a little more work, you could modify some of them, too. If you are planning on doing a layout tweak with modifications, then painting the cabinets would be a great choice, because it would blend the new with the old.

There was a recent thread with a fantastic DIY kitchen that used the old cabs and modified them.

Looks like my cabinets. We are planning to begin refinishing this spring, I just can't bear to paint them. That's me though, ultimately it is your kitchen and cabs, so your choice.

It is a testament to the timelessness of your cherry cabinets that they should still look so appealing, and that they will probably always. Of course if you really want to change to white cabinets, you should, but I bet all the other changes will satisfy your need for "new'.

I used to have that exact dishwasher and it really was solid, and unlike anything new today. My new Bosch is quiet and efficient, but I really appreciated the amazing cleaning and powerful hot air dry of that old Superba.

I'm almost done with my own 60's DIY remodel, and it was fun and I wish you good luck!

We have decided NOT to paint the cabinets! Thanks for your responses, everyone. We are going to go forward with our remodel, and thanks to you, laxsupermom, we are going to reconfigure the layout a bit. I'll post pics of the progress!
Thanks again.

laxsupermom,

We have a 1912 era house that had a 1970's remodel. We kept the cabinets and upgraded other things.

I belong to picture trail and no matter what link I copy, it always goes to the front of the album. You'll have to scroll down and see on the left.

I didn't refinish my cabinets, I just put this restore a finish on them. It's simple stuff to use and left all the distressed marks from the years of use...

I loaned the can to my daughter and I just tried to phone her to get the brand and she must not be home but if you are interested, I can get the name of the stuff we used. I know it comes in a yellow can and you buy it at the paint store. It has a small screw on lid - it goes on with a small rag or 000 steel wool.

Good luck!

Good luck. We had harvest gold everything (sink, countertops,ovens, trash compactor!)

Here is a link that might be useful: My 1970's cherry cabinets that we kept

Hi Saray. I think your cherry cabinets may look better than you think with just a little clean up, touch up of scratches and minor repairs. I also kept my 20 year old original cherry cabinets for my kitchen remodel. I was a little worried I would need to totally refinish the faces but actually found that they cleaned and polished up very nicely.

Here is my original 1989 Kitchen:

And Here is my newly remodeled Kitchen. We just finished the wall paint this week.

I wrote a post awhile back about my process for cleaning and touching up my cabinets but I think it might have already dropped off the list.

Here is a pic of my original cabinet after removing the old hardware and before any cleanup or touchups.

And here is the same cabinet after I cleaned, polished and touched up the damaged areas.

I think you will love your cherry cabinets! Good luck with your remodel plans :)

Saray,

Out of curiosity, how wide is your sink base cabinet?

Imalm, Wow! What a complete transformation. Beautiful!

Saray, WOW, we had almost the exact same kitchen, complete with avocado appliances! (where's your avocado wall oven and frig?!) Our cabinets were a generic brown stained plywood though, not cherry. We're about halfway through a DIY overhaul. You'll be thrilled when yours is done.

While I agree with everyone else's opinions about painting cherry, the good think is if you really wanted white cabinets, paint is not permanent. They can always be stripped if you changed your mind.