To me, it's the wall coloring and decor issue. The paint color needs to be more in keeping with the tile and countertop/backsplash...in the grey family. Get rid of the ivy and plates. Put objects on top with varying heights. A window treatment instead of blinds to soften the black window trim.

Just re-read and understand that you are not interesting in leasing this house. I don't think you can compare a photo to something you MAY do in a house you are going to buy. Show us a photo of THAT kitchen. ;)

It depends on the style you are going for too. I agree in that the color of the walls in that photo and the decor is very 80s....which is not wrong, but sounds like that is not your preference. My kitchen cabinets are similar in style and are white and I do have a bigger molding on the top. Might also help if you find an inspiration kitchen picture and then the one of the kitchen in the house you plan to buy to determine what can help in the transformation.

Those cabinets need hardware. Crown molding at the top would help too. And of course the ivy has got to go!

Is that painted wood or melamine cabinets? First off knobs and/or pulls would help. The black appliances are too much of a contrast to the white, which looks very stark white to me.

It's probably the black appliances that's bothering you. I notice the window also appears to be black.

This picture provides a lesson: unless you plan to change the floor tile, counter and backsplash in your new buy, be careful what color you decide to paint the cabinets. For the pictured kitchen, the cabinets appear too stark white. I also agree about the hardware and crown molding.

In addition to some of the other suggestions regarding surrounding colors and so on, I think that white is the wrong white, it's way too stark.

Actually I don't mind the color of the cabinets -- but white appliances might work a bit better in this room.

I believe that the visual problem lies in the choice of the wall color -- that shade of yellow simply doesn't work with the strong pinky-taupe counters and floors.

Just a thought!

Jan at Rosemary Cottage

If this was my kitchen that I just bought, I think my answer would be yes, needs hardware, but also a darker glaze over top of the bright white paint to mute, age and give character to go with the counter and floors. The routed doors imply a more traditional decor. It would actually be an easy fix. Then I would decide abbout the wall color.

I see the same problems as other posters mentioned--
The stark white paint color is very jarring with the black appliances.
The wall paint color seems off with the floors and countertops.
The cabinets definitely need pulls or knobs, and crown molding would probably help.
I'm not a big fan of the ivy.
The floral plates/rugs have a creamy background and don't go well with the stark white cabs either.
Just my two cents :)
Jen

agree with all posters...needs hardware. molding, taupey walls to balance the black appliances and less foofoo (spelling?) on top. the yellow is distracting, but I think the white looks good on cabinets.

Can't believe that I didn't notice the hardware, or lack of it. :) Yes, stainless or white appliances would also help.

When we built our previous home, stainless was not yet in. I wanted white cabinets (the creamy color was not in either) without black appliances. I chose white and was very happy. If we remained in that home, I would have added beadboard backsplashing (to match the beadboard panels that I realize you cannot see in these photos. Each cabinet end/side, including the island, fridge and oven sides are beadboard panels. Also the back of the over the desk shelves. You can barely see the paneling on the desk end in the below photo.) Eventually, we would have changed the white appliances to stainless.

Another change you could make would be to remove a cabinet and have it hung higher. Variation is key in cabinet height.

newhomebuilder - Your old kitchen is what confuses me. It looks like the same bright white with a similar, but brighter yellow on the walls, and it works. I guess everyone else is right about the countertop and floor colors throwing it off. It's funny because I didn't notice the hardware was missing either, so that would certainly help. I've been saving lots of inspiration pictures that show how painting the cabinets can update the kitchen and I was thrown by how much I dislike this kitchen. Thanks to everyone for helping me figure out. Here's a few of the pictures I've saved where painting the cabinets does work:

{{!gwi}}

Reno's old kitchen
{{!gwi}}

Laurie

I think the problem is the door style is just not a very pretty style IMO. The inspiration kitchens you post, along with newhomebuilder's beautiful white kitchen have very squared fronts - not the cury wurvy ones of the kitchen you posted.

Also, the doors are not full overlay, so you see the frames around the doors - just not as pretty a look.

So not to be snobby, but other than the fact they're all painted white - there's really a huge difference in style and look from your posted kitchen and the one's you covet.

I never thought about the molding making such a difference. Msrose, the rental that you don't like looks to me as if the cupboards are just "stuck" onto the wall.

Newhomebuilder's kitchen and your last posting of inspiration pix both have molding. Hardware would help, but I think the molding is what is making the difference.

My cupboards are white, but so are my walls, with a green counter top that has white swirls, like marble. It is formica and I always thought I would replace it with an upgrade, but can't find anything I like as well. Gotta have that color ;) My cupboards go to the ceiling, and they have molding.

I was afraid to bring up the elephant in the room-the arches on the cabinets are not pleasing (to me)... but I also think that the counter color which is similar to the floor color - does not look great with that shade of yellow. Newhomebuildr's does look great- I think aside from the not curvywurvy arches, the counter color provides some stronger contrast to the cabinets etc.

I could be wrong here, but I believe one of the reasons the white in your pictures looks so stark (even when against a yellow) is because it seems to have a bluish base to it where, the white in NHB's cabinets has more of a yellowish base to it. The yellow we used in our kitchen is a very similar to the yellow NHB used in hers. Ours is RL Gold Finch, the white we used for our trim also has a yellowish base to it (Behr Pot of Cream) and they work very well together. The white doesn't have a stark appearance to it at all and it works very harmoniously with the yellow.

My cabinets were really white, but they were not a shiny laminate white. The cabinets had a baked on finish and were high end Haas, with a flat finish that was guaranteed not to yellow.

The granite - Tropical Brown - has flecks of black, brown, white and gold which helped pull the colors together. The hardwood floors were supposed to be darker and more a brown tone, but that didn't happen. However, that picture was taken early-on, and the floors did darken to a nice patina.

colorcrazy hit the nail on the head. I think if the ceiling in your first photo had white moulding, the cabinet would looked "married" to something instead of just being stuck on the wall.

I love the kitchen in your second inspirational photo.

The double cathedral doors are not my favorite, but I have seen them look a lot better than that kitchen! This kitchen at the top of the link, repainted based on advice from the Young House Love blog, really highlights how choosing the right color is crucial when keeping old floors and counters. I still can't believe the ONLY thing that changed is the cabinet color. It's amazing!

Here is a link that might be useful: Kitchen Magic!

What's not working for me - the ivy, black appliances, stark white cabinets compared to the more natural tones in the floor and countertops, and the lack of hardware. I have black appliances and oak cabinets that I'd love to paint, but the fear that my kitchen would look like this is what's been holding me back :-D

I'll wait until I can replace the appliances (+10 years now and starting to wear out so hopefully not too much longer!)

It hasn't decided on a coherant color scheme..need to go all white and pastel walls or white and black ...not both.

If I may make a comment, for what it is worth. The problem with the cabinets in your picture is they don't look intergal to the kitchen whatever color. The other examples that look good reach much higher. You could replace the two end cabinets with higher and deeper ones (closer to the ceiling), raise the middle cabinets and put a plate rack under them. Then add crown moding to the top of the cabinets.

The golden wall color ruins everything -- totally the wrong color for the counter tops and floor. The white cabinets would look 1000% better with the right wall color. Yeah, maybe a better color of white could have been chosen for the cabinets, but everything that's wrong with the white in relation to the whole kitchen is being emphasized by the golden walls.

I also suspect it's a crappily taken picture with bad, cold lighting. Even with the consideration of poor photography, the miss on the wall color is screaming at me. :~D

caroleoh - I do prefer the square doors. The house I just moved from also had the curvy tops, so I'm guessing that was really popular around here in the 80's.

lukkiirish - I see what you're talking about now with the rental house's cabinets being more bluish than NHB's.

Kiko - OMG, that smurf blue kitchen! I definitely love the after.

Thank you everyone for helping me pinpoint what's wrong with this kitchen.

Laurie

Laurie

- Yes, the kitchen is definitely color challenged
Here's what my eyes see:
-Cabs too stark white & a bit squatty
-Black appliance against them - not so good
- A bisque? fridge
- MOLDING around the counter top stark
- Counter top pinkish tones against a yellow wall color - just a bad combo
- Flooring adds nothing just harsh
- Even the window trim is all wrong
- and appears there is a popcorn ceiling

What could be done differently
- New counter top - minus the wood edge
- a white tiled back splash - simple- from counter to bottom of upper - more cohesive
- paint window w/white trim
- new flooring - laminate wood
- all white or stainless appliances

Once that is done - a paint color -

"Those cabinets need hardware. Crown molding at the top would help too. And of course the ivy has got to go!"

LOL! I second this!

It's the glaring white cabinets. It they were even slightly towards yellow/cream they would blend better.