if cabinets are real wood you can sand and refinish. The new wilson art formica countertops are great....tons of styles...more than granite

I recognize those laminate cabinets--we have them in one of our bathrooms! We painted our laminate cabinets in another house many years ago. I have no idea how long they held up because we sold a couple of years later. We etched surface by sanding, then applied a primer and paint with a paint sprayer. You may want to look into that.

I also wonder if there is anything you could do to replace just the doors on the cabinets, such as have a local cabinetmaker make some simple, paint-grade wood doors.

As for the countertop, I'd go for some contrast. How about something in a deep gray, brown or black (depending upon what you do with the cabinets)?

What is the material that makes up your backsplash? From the photo it looks too "flat" to be tile.

I just saw an HGTV Designed to Sell episode that featured a kitchen makeover with your same cabinets! The end result was a lovely Shaker style and it was so cheap and easy to do.

I think Lisa LaPorter comes up with the best ideas on that show!

Here's a link to the how-to video: the kitchen is in Part 2 of the episode called Desperate Times.

Here is a link that might be useful: HGTV Kitchen Makeover

Another idea, but it's a longshot:

Your cabinets are frameless. If they are standard sizes, you may be able to replace them Ikea doors, which would save you a bundle.

Wow, what a great fix on those 80's cabinets! kturner, I highly reccomend you and anyone with those cabinet watch that clip! I'm almost wishing my old cabinets were like those! Good find busybme!

I think I have exactly those cabinets, or pretty close: laminate with an oak strip?

My sympathies. I painted them, inside and out, and it's held up perfectly for more than 4 years.

I wasn't even very careful, since I didn't plan/expect it to last long. I didn't even wash the filth off. So if you do it properly, you should expect very good results that should last as long as you need it to.

There is a lot of advice here and on the paint forum. Pick an approach that matches your energy level and dive in.

I can't even remember if I primed, but I used 2 coats of regular Benjamin Moore on some, then (serial painter that I am) didn't like the color and repainted 2 coats of a Farrow & Ball color over that on some, and painted just the F&B on some others, and on the interiors. There's some scratching where I drag rough mugs over the shelves daily, but it has held up everywhere else, even at cabinet edges and in front of the sink, where rubs and drips are an issue.

In several places I removed the doors entirely, which also gives a different look, if that's something that intrigues you.

I say pick a color you love and give it a try.

Busybme - that was the first thing that popped into my head too.
One of the best updates I've seen on D2S.

growlery, I'd love to see how your cabs turned out.

kturner, I would suggest getting paint grade doors, so you can actually change the style of the cabs, and then painting the whole shebang.

I had very similar cabs to you for 14 years...they were such great quality and custom, so I couldn't see getting rid of them. I chose new doors and staining and refacing which was done by a local cab maker, because I was also having him build me a new section of cabs. It was more expensive for sure and if I hadn't needed the extra section, new doors and paint would have been my plan. i can tell you i agonized over it for months.

That designed to sell episode was great....they did a great job....but it would be WAY harder to do than it looked. Especially if your carved oak pulls are not totally flush with the cab surface, as mine were NOT flush.

Also, I don't know about you, but I was so totally over plain white doors by then, I needed color!!! So I have a dark dark cherry now and love it although my kitchen isn't done.

My cabs are not frameless, just nearly full overlay so most people think they are frameless.

I'm going to suggest pricing doors too. You can probably get them pre-drilled for your hinges. You can get some glass-prepped ones and buy the glass locally or use chickenwire or curtains.

You can also get some drawer boxes and slides to convert some into all drawer bases if you want to...

Another idea is to add moulding around the edge of the doors before you paint them thereby giving the original doors a recessed/shaker style look. (Perhaps that's what the HGTV clip showed. Didn't watch it.)

Great ideas in the HGTV show...one of the few that I didn't groan about how they were taking shortcuts that I would not like to find later if I bought the house!

Kturner...definitely watch the video...it has a lot of great ideas that would work great in your kitchen (you have more to work with, I think) And, they did it for
Good luck!

I was going to mention the same Designed to Sell episode (Desperate Times). They were the same cabinets and they looked great afterwards!

I watched the clip...that was an amazing transformation for not much money. VERY cool!!