I would use a liquid stripper to remove the polly on the kitchen cabinets and then paint them. If you do a light color, the knots may show through, but a darker color would be nice. Or you could restain them a darker color as well-similar to the wood you picture in the "the house is trending this way".

I don't see any reason you can't put on new doors and new hinges - no need to keep the hinges you have if they wouldn't fit new doors well. There are many hinge options out there. Given that the current doors are not well-made to begin with, I would not expend the effort trying to pretty them up.

How do you feel about white? In "Sarah's Summer House" she sort of white washed the pine walls and you can definitely see the knots.

I'm pretty sure if you do a more serious coat of paint, you could cover the knots and give the cabinets a more opaque cover color.

After you strip the poly off - you can cover the knots with white shellac or a commercial product like Kilz - primer/sealer especially for - knots and stains - and then paint over them. The whitewash suzanne posted looks soft and attractive and would be less work. If not look into replacing the doors and hardware if you do not want to keep the pine.

I did just find Blum compact hardware for installing euro hinges on frame boxes, so new doors are an option- YAY. What do I do with the knotty pine boxes? I could paint the boxes and get pre-painted doors- that would be less work than painting those cruddy doors, but I was hoping for a way to get natural wood doors.

I don't suppose wood doors and painted boxes would look that great.

Another possibility is to take those cabinets out, sell or donate them, and install something else. I suggest this because it seems like you really dislike them and it would be a shame to put a good chunk of money and work into them when you'll still dislike them in the end. If your budget would stand it, I'd give it some serious thought.

I agree with suzannesl. Either go real cheap, or go all-out. The whitewashed effect is nice, or hit them with Kilz and shellac or paint. Trying to mix and match old painted boxes with factory-painted doors, or new painted doors, may not turn out so well. You could try a refacing company but some are as expensive as new cabs.

I have a pine armoire that was in a finish similar to your cabs. I gelstained it dark, it was easy enough to do and the results were dramatic. I do not know if you like dark cabs in a kitchen but this is my pine piece before and after to give you an idea of how the knots look in a darker stained piece.
before:

After two coats, would like darker but dh likes it this way?

I think if you did a fairly dark gel-stain approach on the frames, you might get away with new dark-stained wood doors. But maybe not - it would be a risk.

I agree with suzannesl and marcolo. I understand feeling hesitant to rip out cabinets in decent shape structurally, but it sounds like these are not functioning well for you and were not exactly heirloom pieces anyway. I have a similar situation with my cabinets and decided, with input from some of the posters here, that it was worth it to just replace them entirely. Putting in the time, effort, and $$ to "put lipstick on a pig" would not have made me happy in the end.

You can paint them as long as you use a primer first. I think you can also replace those door fronts. I would have a cabinet maker take a look and see what could be done, and what cost. If you think that the benefits are worth it to youiin the long run.

There are a lot of posts out there about chalk paint. The "real" stuff that this woman has developed is expensive but every single review is very very positive. It also goes a LONG way. The best thing about it seems to be that no matter what you have as a surface you do not have to prep it in any way other than it be clean. That is it...no primer or sanding or anything. You might want to look at her web site. I think it sounds perfect for the old doors you show that you painted yellow and perhaps solves your problem for the kitchen...here is a link: c

Here is a link that might be useful: Annie Sloan chalk paint