We are moving and many of the homes don't have the type of cabinets I like. I hate to pass up a house with a great floor plan in a great neighborhood just because of the cabinetry but know that we couldn't afford to replace them, at least in the near future. How could I inexpensively change the look of either white or light oak cabinetry. I like darker woods or creamy glazed cabinets.

Amazing transformation! I have heard that oak with its strong grain was very difficult to paint over. Is that why you did so many coats and can you see the grain now? We have some cabinet doors in our living room that are oak veneer and I would love to do them cream with a glaze but unfortunately as they are flat faced I don't think the glaze would show much but I am curious as to whether the oak is hard to paint.

Wow, thanks for all the suggestions and roobear to you for the great photoshopping, as well! Family room is an addition , so we are going to eventually be replacing most of the furnishings from our old space. There are high ceilings, the same early American stained wood floors and a fieldstone fireplace at the far end. Because this is part of one large open floor plan, I have been leaning toward a neutral color on the walls and then I would bring in some color with accessories etc. But I am now realizing that another reason I am finding it challenging to find one color that will work throughout the whole space is that I also don't want to go too dark in the family room. However, maybe I could go darker in the kitchen and a shade or two lighter in the family room area? Cabinets are kind of a cross between Sherwin Williams Antique White and Vanillin, if that helps. I thought I'd try out SW Believable Buff in the kitchen, Whole Wheat, which is one shade down for the family room or the reverse (or even darker for the kitchen) - anyone familiar with those? newhomebuilder - Thanks for the warning! Would limestone be any less peachy? What did you end up doing for your backsplash? Thanks again, all!

Thanks everyone. It's so hard making these choices. Not only do I have to choose glaze or no glaze, but also white vs cream (vs off-white vs french vanilla, etc. etc.). Txsuszq - the overall style I'm going for is definitely traditional. The RIGHT glaze doesn't bother me (one that just subtly changes the overall color, but doesn't leave DARK lines), but most of the cabinets I'm considering don't have glazes like that. I like the subtle patina, but not the dark lines. I am now leaning AWAY from glazes because as I look closer at the lines I'm considering, I'm finding that most of the glazes I do not actually like. To breezygirl - I have looked at some large local cabinet makers (i.e., not little shops, but larger ones) and what I am finding is that most local people don't offer lifetime warranties. I think I need to go to a bigger cabinet maker for that (which I can understand). My rule about having a lifetime warranty is making me toss some lines that are no doubt very good (Shiloh, Plain & Fancy, and some locals I like), but I need to stick to my rule. If I don't, and I have problems with my cabs in 10 years, I'm going to hate that I violated my own rule. My current cabinets had a 5-year warranty, and now I'm regretting that choice. Amy - I saw your kitchen previously when looking at creamy kitchens. It is gorgeous! You have great before and after pix. Shiloh is a line I ruled out because they don't have a lifetime warranty, but the glaze on the Shiloh cabinets like yours is beautiful. Again, maybe I'm being silly about my "rule." Dianalo - I know what you mean. I have white thermofoil now, and they clean up very well, and I see every speck and get it right away. But since they are thermofoil, they are EASY to clean. I also have a white vinyl floor (which has fulfilled its Floor Destiny and soon will no longer live here). My thinking with that is that I'd clean it as soon as it was dirty. The problem is that it is a horrible quality floor, so it's HARD to clean. It looks dirty AFTER I clean it. That's my fear with white or cream cabinets - not that I won't try to clean them when they are dirty, but that they won't clean up well. You have a slab door, and I was planning on a slightly more intricate one, which would probably be harder to clean just because of its design. It's odd how I want a glaze to hide the dirt and imperfections, but I don't like the way it makes the cabinets look dirty. I saw another poster with the same paradoxical thought. Does anyone have any comments about the whites/creams in the lines I'm considering (in my original post)? Do they clean well, or badly? Do they age badly? I am concerned about white turning yellow. If you get cream, who can tell if it yellowed? Again, I have thermofoil, and while very durable, I now have some white cabinets, and some cream. :) I have a multi-colored kitchen (and drawer fronts that have been superglued on because they are particleboard and fell apart!). So, any comments about white/cream in the cabinets above? I recently talked to someone who deals with Kraftmaid, and my concern there is that with a large manufacturer, I'm not sure how much work they do by hand, and that might reflect in the quality/durability of the painted finishes. If I liked darker woods, I wouldn't be stressing nearly as much about this... Any more comments would be greatly appreciated, especially about the white/creams of the lines I'm considering, or Kraftmaid. Thanks!! Piglet