Thanks annetta, especially for the pictures! Jeannie -- thanks for weighing in! Of course when you add to the dilemma the classic knobs or pulls questions too, it is so hard to decide...Especially the color, since we have black and stainless it's hard to know which direction to go!

Thanks for the input everyone! This is really helpful. Katsmah, what did you use to strip your cabinets? We'd like to do this as well. No ventilation means all kinds of sticky grease build-up on the wood, plus if we build new ones to match, we might as well start with a clean slate for them all! Jejvtr, yes, that's what we thought too, it has good bones. And it does, but the plumbing and electrical problems we've had since buying the place have used up all the money we thought we'd be able to spend on the cosmetic stuff, so the house looks much the same now as in the pictures! We did get rid of that gross carpet in the bathroom though :) We had a kitchen planner come in earlier this week, she is helping us figure things out. We DO plan on moving the cabinets over the peninsula to a different wall, so we can open up the space. Right now both the working and eating areas feel very cramped and closed off, and I think it will help a TON just moving those out of the way. We are going to replace the flooring and put in some Armstrong Excelon Imperial Texture VCT tiles, in a medium gray color. The "speckly" pattern will give some interest (but in a neutral color) and also help hide the dirt and pet hair between sweepings and moppings. Those high-gloss blue walls and ceilings are so awful, we are going to repaint with a nice warm white. The lights will all be replaced as well. I'd like a nice single or 3-light pendant over the dining table, and more and brighter lighting in the working area. The counter is going to be plain white Formica. We can't afford much, and most of this work will have to be done ourselves, hence the inexpensive materials like VCT and Formica, and the re-use of the original cabinets. We've got a white elliptical-shaped dining table, and some wood chairs with a curved elliptical back (teak or walnut, similar in color to the cabinets) that are from the late 50's or early 60's. We're trying really hard to keep a mid-century feel to the space. Florantha, I don't know a lot, but I can tell you that beginning at the back of the cabinets over the peninsula, where you see that long run of wood veneer, everything behind there (ie the eating area) is an addition that was put on the house about 2 yrs after it was built, so around 1954. I don't know if the U-shape was already there but was backed by a wall, or if they just added more cabinets in 1954, or if it was a different layout to begin with... although it would seem odd to do all new cabinets just two years after the house was built. Anyway, thanks again everyone!

These look very similar to my cabinet handles. I'm in Canada and the company that makes the handle is Richelieu. We purchase ours at Rona, but can be purchased directly from the company's website. We bought the longer size ( I am pretty sure they are longer than the size shown in the link I've provided, but I'm not at home so I cannot measure) for our cabinets and love them. There's lots of room for your hand to fit in without rubbing on the cabinet face, and it feels really nice when you grip it. https://www.richelieu.com/ca/en/category/decorative-hardware/cabinet-hardware-pulls-knobs/pulls/transitional-metal-pull-3753/1178581?nf_1010278=%281208305%29&q=1

Not Omega. They brand their drawers. Which are solid wood, and rounded over. They are not plywood like that. Most lines don't do plywood drawers with Blum hardware. Thats pretty odd as a detail. But it could be a Blum knockoff fake, with plywood drawers. That would make more sense. Might be a local custom type guy.