Thank you, prairiemom.

I initially thought of using the SW Antique White trim color for the cabinets, although after getting feedback here in a prior post I wondered if it had too much yellow in it to work with the granite (which I didn't consider when choosing the trim color for the whole house).

Another great white is SW Snowbound. It is warmer without being a cream. I think it would be lovely with your granite.

Thanks - I will try a sample of Snowbound!

Some popular ones to try are: BM Dove White, Simply White and Cloud White

Thank you, eld. I tried those samples and White Dove might work. It's what we just used for all of the trim in the bedrooms and bathrooms.

Love Simply White and Cloud White but I think they're a little too bright for this kitchen. I'm considering Simply White for the trim and cabinets in my next house though.

Another vote for Simply White. Used it on my cabs in a kitchen with no natural light.

I'm confused. 90% of the walls (and ceilings) in my house are SW Antique White. It doesn't look anything like the trim in your house. In my house, depending on the time of day and direction the rooms face, it ranges from french vanilla to pure sunshine, to light tan.

Linelle, maybe it's a combination of the lighting in my house and the monitor.

All of the trim in my common areas is SW Antique White. I wouldn't describe it as ever looking tan, but it does look like a soft white, vanilla color. It looks brighter in the lighter rooms and against the darker wall colors and walnut stained wood floors.

I have White Dove in the bedrooms and bathrooms, except my powder room that also has Antique White trim.

Your kitchen is really pretty and the rest of your home is beautiful too. The white will really brighten up the kitchen ever more. Best wishes on your choice.

Take a look at BM white zinfadel. We used it on our kitchen cabs as FunColors recommended it and we LOVE it. Goes beautifully with your floors.

Beautiful home!

As for the color-I'd be inclined to look into light gray/taupe, or tan, or beige, or the otherwise lightest color you can find in your hard finishes. I feel the color of the cabinets should be pulled from hard finishes, like floor and countertop, rather than the walls. Will look more natural and coordinated together. White is not an absolute neutral that works with everything. White is a color, and a rather capricious one at that. What you can mix with paint, fabric, furnishings and decor-will be much harder to pull off in hard finishes. Technically whatever you decide to use can be called white of course, there are hundreds of them-but the more it doesn't look like a white, the better.

(I know you didn't ask opinion on that-but the house is pretty gorgeous without painting the cabinets too:)

My bedroom is SW Creamy, the trim is SW Alabaster. My house was at one point SW Believable Buff w/ Alabaster trim. I think it will work well for you.

Thanks so much, april! I did try a few samples of non-white/off white colors like Sailcloth, Eider White, Edgecomb Gray, and Revere Pewter. None of them seemed to work well with both the granite and the more yellow undertones in the trim and walls.

It's hard picking cabinet paint color! They all look good on their own but I find it difficult to find a color that works with everything else.

Yeah, Eider White is definitely a cool white...not surprised that didn't work.

I think painting the cabs will look great...your floor will really pop.

I think painting your cabinets will make your kitchen feel grounded and more a part of your home. I am a fan of oak but as you say with your other work the kitchen doesn't really work here anymore. Glad to hear you are having them professionally done. I do hope it holds up for you. I just do not think WHITE is the direction you should go. The design of that kitchen doesn't say WHITE to me. I agree with aprilneverends you need to look for color other than white. It sounds like you already have a variety of whites in your home. If one of them doesn't work...thinkin you need a different color choice taken from the remaining hard finishes vs a rainbow of whites.

That brings me to something that I had on my mind..not about color:) I'm not a fan of oak, at all..I'm even less fan of slate..I would never choose neither oak nor slate..yet I see your kitchen, and while I wouldn't choose any element separately for myself-I still look at it and I see that it is a gorgeous kitchen.

I'm just thinking about mysterious ways of putting the house for sale, since I'm in the same boat..

PS For our new place, I had to choose the cabinet color for non-existent yet kitchen..by that moment I knew the color I was going for, and the shade of it..I took 12 samples or so of different cabinet doors in this color and presumably-of this shade:) and I think it took me minimum a week or maybe more to choose that one color X that would be right..just putting these doors in this light, in that light, next to that wall, next to this wall..looking at them morning day and night lol.

I'm very happy with how they turned out, and everybody loves the end result..but when I was choosing, they thought I was plain crazy..

By the way it happened to be -by pure chance-some custom color that some designer, unknown to me, mixed for the kitchen she was doing for some clients of hers. It didn't even exist as a color that I'd know about. I just robbed our cabinetmaker of all the relevant samples he had in his shop..four, he mixed especially for me, all the others were from the other clients' previous jobs. Luckily he let me do that:)

It is hard, no doubt. Picking the paint for cabinets.

April what color did you choose?

Since this the house you are staging for sale, I would not go to the expense or trouble to paint the kitchen. As to maximizing resale, the difference in your profit most likely won't be all that much to make it worth it, but you will have spent a lot of time and effort on these cabinets.

nancy, not saying-I'm an incredibly, stupidly, totally irrationally superstitious person..when we eventually will be in this freaking house we can't get into for 2 years already lol-then I'll try to take a pic.

I can share this current home which I do sometimes-but things go so slowly and painfully with a new one, my own Mom got just one pic of the facade..))

Luckily we should be done soon. The GC said in a week -we already know we have to multiply by five..))

Thanks all for the great advice and compliments on my kitchen. I'll take a look at the colors and tones suggested to see if I can find one that works. I kind of agree about going with a color other than white, but I've been having trouble finding the right color so not sure that will work out. I'm definitely open to an off white.

I don't think we have to paint the cabinets to sell the house, but what I've been hearing from more than a few agents here is that it should help us maximize our profit, at least in this area.

I won't tackle it myself at this point, so the inconvenience will really just be a week or so without my kitchen. Although the cost to have it done professionally is not inconsiderable for us, it is about less than a quarter of one percent of the lower range for the comps in our area. So, relatively speaking, not a huge investment given everything else we've done.

I'll talk to DH about it a bit more but I'm leaning towards painting them, just as I've always wanted to suit my own preference and style. At the very least, I'll get to enjoy them a bit while we're waiting to move. And if worse comes to pass and the house doesn't sell (hope I didn't jinx it), I can guarantee I won't regret painting them :)

aprilneverends - good luck finishing your home. Multiplying by 5 isn't too bad. With my perfectionist DH I usually have to multiply by 10 or more :)

Somehow I missed this was for resale. I would not go to the trouble, stress, being w/o a kitchen..let the buyer make the choice when they care to--they are the ones who will live with it. I think you realtor is WACKED..that is WAY TO HUGE a change to suggest to a seller.

If you do decide to paint, consider going with the wall color in the kitchen or a shade lighter or darker. My favorite kitchen did the same thing.

Repurposing a salvaged sink · More Info

You can not decorate for future owners no matter what the realators or stagers say. Some people LOVE wood others want painted cabinets and then it all comes down to color. If your kitchen was so outdated or dingy....maybe. But yours is beautiful and should sell as is. IF i was to go to the cost and hassle of repainting those cabinets I would paint the boxes and reface with new doors. All that being said I think clean sells better than staged.

JMO, but if I were looking to buy a home I would balk at painted cabinets - unless I knew they were factory finished.

The kitchen is dated compared to the rest of the house. As you look around it's oooh's and ahhh's until the kitchen.

If it is in your budget to refresh with new doors and painted to match frames, then I say go for it. This will then become a truly move in ready home.

But, if you don't, then you could do a price adjustment so the new owners can "make that space their own."

I might consider using general finishes gel stain in grey. It is far easier than painting and I think the grey will play well with your other finishes.

http://www.woodcraft.com/Product/161195/(H)-General-Finishes-Gray-Gel-Stain-Pint.aspx?gclid=CMr-5YXCm88CFYtahgod8p8B9w

grey gel stain over honey oak no sanding needed...

I just photo shopped your kitchen and I think you might veto grey gel stain it does look great with the island but seems off by the backsplash and counter by stove. Which color is more true of you counters, the island color or by the stove? The stove area has mor tan in your pic and the island is whiter with grey.

Thanks, roarah! I like the gray stain but think it might be a bit darker for my kitchen.

The darker granite color near the stove is closer to the true color. Sorry the quality is so bad. Its hard to get good pictures with my cell phone. It's more like the color shown in this photo:

Although I'm sure there's a perfect non-white color out there that would work best I think I'm going to go with a soft off-white.

Right now I'm still leaning towards SW Creamy, which is on the ceiling and seems to be a creamy white with perhaps a touch of red, or BM White Dove, which has a touch of gray.

I may also try a sample of the SW Antique White, perhaps lightened by 50%. It's on the same color card as the Believable Buff walls.

I know all 3 of these colors will work with the walls, and hopefully they'll work well enough with the granite.

eld - exactly. I actually really like my kitchen but it doesn't go very well with the rest of the house that we've remodeled in our style. I like the updates we've done in there, as far as lighting, paint, and appliances, but think painting the cabinets and adding orb hardware would be a great way to tie this room into the others :)

Thanks all!

aktillery - I missed that kitchen. Love, love everything about it. It's definitely going on my kitchen inspiration board for the next house!

It's your place, you obviously see all the details and colors better than we do. And it is something you wanted to do along the way in any case. Good luck with the painting, I hope it will turn out fabulous..and if you decide to share the results later-that would be so cool to see it.

As for the move in ready though-there is no end to perfection and updates. As in almost everything in this life. Lots of people would consider the arch design on the cabinet doors dated the most..regardless the color. Does it mean you need to reface the cabinets in order to make it "truly move in ready"? Of course not. It's truly move in ready as it is.

I'm sorry for commenting on that because everybody could do really well without my opinion. It's just hard for me to grasp this need for instant gratification that people seem to have nowadays. Or maybe we're led to believe that people have it, I don't know. That also can be the case.

Like the house? Buy it, move in, save money(or don't- if you have it already), and make it your own. Babies don't know how to wait; grown ups are supposed to. And they usually do.

I bought 4 homes by now; and it didn't even occur to me to pass on the property that speaks to me and that is right for my family's needs, because of some element that's not exactly to my liking.

Anyway. Sorry for the rant, again-I realize it was the perfect moment to stop commenting:)

Gorgeous home. People will love it. As we all do right now.

Thank you, april. I totally agree. I think it's the HGTV effect :)

I've only bought homes that need to be completely gutted so I don't get it either, but do believe some buyers can't see past even paint colors that aren't to their taste. Either way, I've wanted to do it for such a long time and if there's even a slight chance that it will help us get top dollar for our house then it's worth it to me.

I actually like arches and used them in other parts of the house so I'm not going to be replacing any of the solid wood doors. The buyer can do that if so inclined :) At least they'll have a nice kitchen that they can leave as is or use while deciding how to make it their own. Which is a lot more than I can say about the kitchen waiting for us in our Tennessee house!

Home buyers have a LOT of trouble seeing past paint or no-paint. When the house my daughter bought was first going to be put up for sale, the realtor told her that her Wedgwood Blue cabinets had to go and that she must paint them white. My daughter would never have bought that house with blue cabinets and would have been afraid it would be costly to paint them or that her husband would never get it done (she was right on both counts!). A few years later, she painted them a sort of sand color and they look great. But she could live with the white and could not have lived with the Wedgwood blue.

Yes, the arches are dated, but those cabinets will still look better painted and someone will live with them that way until they decide to gut the kitchen.

How does the SW Creamy (your ceiling) look beside the SW Dove White?

I would be concerned it would make the ceiling look like it is yellow. I had Dove White and lots of light in my last kitchen, loved it but I think the ceiling was more bright white.

I passed over a house several years ago, it had great granite counters however it had honey oak cabinets that I really disliked. I had no idea at the time that you could gel stain them and all I could think of was there was no way DH was going to agree to rip out a nice kitchen with granite because I did not like the oak. It was not my lack of patience, it was my lack of knowledge.

We all know that monitors (and cameras) lie, and I am very sure that mine does -- but that being said, to my eye your granite looks like it has a bit of pinkish undertone. (I know that when I did my reveal, my cabinets looked strongly pink in the photos but aren't at all that I can see in real life.)

If it truly does have that undertone then that requires that whatever shade of white for the cabinets has to be compatible with that -- so a subtly pink undertone, or a shade that neutralizes it. But the paint needs to harmonize with the counter more than the wall.

All that said, the Antique White in the pictures looks pretty good and I would be more inclined to use that than the ceiling color.

If it were being painted for me, I would absolutely use the darker blue from the floor slates!

Anglo, I could see having a hard time selling a house with Wedgewood Blue cabinets. Even if they were lovely, when you start using actual colors on your cabinets you risk isolating more buyers.

Sunny and raee - we ended up going with the Creamy. It's a softer white than White Dove and has a touch of yellow and a touch of red, so I thought it would work well enough with the granite and really well with the existing Believable Buff walls and Antique White trim.

Here it is with the "taupiest" part of the granite and the orb hardware. I think it works :)

The painters started Wednesday and should finish up early next week. They've done a really good job prepping. 2 painters spent 3 full days taping off, sanding, and priming before spraying lacquer on the frame on the 4th day. They just started sanding the drawer fronts and doors. All doors, drawers, and hinges are properly marked.

And here is my kitchen in progress!

Before and During (the during pictures were taken at night without flash - I can't sleep!):

I had our carpenter put some trim pieces on the ends of the base cabinets for a more finished look. I didn't have time to have matching panels made but I like the end result compared to before, when there was just one odd trim piece covering the seam between peninsula cabinets.

(The red paper on the floor is reflected in the new paint color - it's not really pink!)

You know, I thought your kitchen was really nice just as it was. Everyone wants to get rid of Honey Oak today, but there are some honey oak kitchens that are still beautiful, your is one of them. Having said that, I think the creamy paint looks amazing so far, beautiful with the granite.

Be careful with that rosin paper if there's nothing covering underneath. It tears VERY easily! Not to mention if someone spills a can of paint.

This is going to be absolutely gorgeous!!

In my previous house I had brand new cherry colored cabs sprayed professionally. They wore like iron & lightened the kitchen up so much! I know it helped my house to sale quickly. But, everyone thought I was crazy when I started & loved it after!!

Thank you, lam and peppy doodle! I have to admit I was a little bit in shock when they first took down the tape because it looked so different, but now I'm loving the change! I'm glad I'm not regretting it.

I keep sneaking back into the kitchen to look at it. Seems so much brighter and lighter than before, but still warm enough with the creamy white.

I can't wait to see it with the doors back on and new hardware installed.

Snookums - thanks for the tip. I'm trying to keep everyone out of the kitchen and the painters are very careful, but good to know. I'd hate to have a can of paint spill all over my slate floor!

Meanwhile, we have our coffee and dishwashing station set up in the foyer, and a breakfast bar, drink station, and refrigerator set up in the eat-in kitchen.

At least it's only for 1 week, and not for a lengthy kitchen remodel like I was planning to do last year before we decided to move!

All the "meanwhile" looks good to me:)

When I wanted to paint our honey oak bathroom cabinets, my husband thought it was a bad idea. I painted them Navajo White, which is cream and they brightened up the bathroom so much, my husband admits it looks great. Nothing wrong with honey oak, I think someday in the not too distant future, you will see it return as a popular choice.

Great choice! Your kitchen looks already so much nicer! I have SW Creamy in a north-facing bedroom, and it looks bright and warm.

I am wondering if there's any way to add some glass fronts in some of the cabinets or leave some shelves open. Perhaps also on the fridge wall.

Thanks, nosoccermom! I had always planned to put some glass fronts on a few cabinets. Probably the ones above the plate rack.

Didn't get around to it before the painters started though. Is it too late now? I wouldn't want to ruin the finish by cutting into it.

Lam - I agree nothing wrong with honey oak :) I actually really liked the warmth of our wood kitchen, although as the cabinets aged and got more "orangeish" I think they worked less with the granite and the antique pine and oak wood in the rest of our house.

I think you've made a great decision on the colour. The kitchen will look so up to date, while enhancing your other rooms and style. looking forward to seeing the finished product.

Leave some doors off? Please post when it's finished!

Thanks, Laurie and nosoccermom!