Welcome! You are doing a beautiful job, one that will set your kitchen a part from the rest of the houses in the neighborhood when you go to sell. The backsplash makes a huge difference.

What color are you going to paint the cabs? Please keep showing us pics as you go.

Nice! I was glad to see you kept the blue. It looks really good with the new stuff (and the old, actually). I have a feeling you might not need to paint those cabinets once you get the hardware on. They really aren't bad once they're dressed up in slinky black granite!

Excellent progress so far!

I love it! It is so sleek and pretty at the same time. Your choices made the cabs look new and it is all so fresh looking. I don't even think you "need" to paint the cabs any more, although, that would look nice.

I had to log in just to say fabulous job and another vote for not painting the cabs. I think they look really good with all of your new choices.

I love your backsplash. It really brightens the space up.

Thanks, everyone, for the lovely compliments.

Cabinets are definitely getting painted. There is nothing else in our house that is oak and the cabinets stick out like a sore thumb. All other wood is either stained very dark or painted white. I know many people love color and I actually do, too, but our house really doesn't get much sun except in the morning so we've stuck with a pale color scheme to brighten it up.

I tried to work with the oak/warmer tones but it's just not me (you can see that the dining room was formerly yellow and is now a pale greige).

I like what you've done!

Unless you're set on painted white, or another color, cabinet, I have a suggestion. I once re-stained our kitchen cabinets. This involved stripping, sanding, and re-staining. I added a coat of polyurethane to the top. Not that I had any experience or expertise, but it worked really well and looks terrific. It helped alot that my teenagers were in charge of taking all the doors off and putting them back up after.

Gel staining dark would be another choice BUT since you plan on adding crown molding and you kinda NEED to add crown molding, painting is the only sure way of getting that to match. And it'll be beautifuler. On the bright side, you can take your time to do it because it's still pretty darn nice!

Just lovely. I really like your granite choice. And can't wait to see how your painting turns out. Those are the exact cabinets we just pulled out (circa 1988!), although ours looked a little worse for wear than yours (finish was peeling, etc.). We considered painting or staining darker, but decided to rip down some faux walls and extend a bank of cabinets, so went with replacing them.

I don't know if you did this on purpose, but the rhythm of the black counters between white backsplash and soon-to-be-white counters creates a black outline effect, which you have repeated in your mirror, sconces, frames and other elements. Nice way to tie in the kitchen to the larger living space!

Just replacing the granite has really added a new dimension to the whole open area, not just the kitchen. It has tied everything together which is necessary in open concept plans.

What colour are you planning on doing the cabinets - any ideas yet?

Just had to chime in and say hi, since I'm an OU Katie, too. :)

Love your backsplash! I think you're doing a great job!

~ MM

It looks beautiful! Wow! What a difference. I'm sure that your husband will think this was a great move when he sees the smile on your face everytime you're in the kitchen :)

Looks great. can't wait to see those cabinets painted white. I think it will look so tasteful.

I love what you have done so far...and looking forward to the finished project. I happen to love low-budget make-overs or DIY kitchens. These are the type of projects that I love to see on the kitchen forum. It takes a lot of imagination to pull off a great looking kitchen, but yet stay within a lower budget. GREAT JOB!

Thanks for the nice comments, everyone! We are so happy with it so far.

I love stained cabinets but these are cheapy builder-grade cabinets...not really stain worthy plus the grain is really not that pretty. Also, I'm relying on the white to brighten up the kitchen since it gets so little natural light.

I am pretty sure we're going with Chantilly Lace, a cool white that is almost barely grey (but still white). The classics like Simply White, Cloud White, etc., just took on a yellow cast when placed up next to the backsplash.

We are very, very lucky because we've been able to keep costs down due to my dad. We have not gone with the cheapest anything (used a great granite supplier and installer, the tile guys my dad always uses, etc.) We knew that if we didn't do any structural changes or move things around, we could do something nice without spending too much. Our goal the whole time is to not have to pull any money out of savings and we've been able to do that, so we're pleased with that aspect.

I think it's beautiful. Don't you love your pull down faucet?
I like the idea of painted cabinets, but then those are always the pics I pull from magazines.
Are you sure you want to change the light over the sink - that style (as well as track lighting) is all over Restoration Hardware, Pottery Barn and Rejuv? I like it!

LOVE LOVE LOVE the faucet. One of my favorite things about the new kitchen :) It wasn't even a major concern on "the list" but we got one because we were replacing the sink (shallow drop-in, blech) and our old set-up had 6 holes (center, 2 handles, air gap, sprayer, and cold drinking water dispenser that we never used).

I do like the light itself; however, the scale is just too small. It's hard to get a perspective in the pictures but when you look to the kitchen from the LR it is very noticeable that it's just too small.