I say wait and spring for new cabinets.

I agree in that you have dark curtains, dark appliances, dark countertops, and clutter. I always prefer a warmer look so I would get light color hardwood floors, white or stainless appliances, creamy colored countertops, etc. Then choose a good paint color.

How long do you plan to live here?

If you plan to sell within a few years...consider J&K cabinetry. Here is a kitchen that I sold a few months ago. The homeowners were DIY but you could hire your contractor to do the labor. The cabinets on this job were about $5000. The granite was $2500 installed. Hardware was $200. Materials, tax totaled about $8100 plus their own sweat equity.

If you plan to live here for a long time to forever, then wait and get cabinets that you love!

Here are the AFTER and BEFORE pics:

J&K Do-It-Yourself White Shaker Kitchen · More Info

J&K Do-It-Yourself White Shaker Kitchen · More Info

@grapefruit1_ar Um, they have stainless appliances already...

Skip painting the cabinets. ANY paint finish (factory or in-house) will develop cracks due to changes in humidity. You have a "builder's grade" kitchen, save up until you can afford a major remodel with more storage.

If lightening the kitchen is your goal, you can do that without painting the cabinets. Since you have a contractor, what other changes are you planning?

I have stained wood cabinets - older than yours I would guess, but a light kitchen. One of my favorite changes was a small area of under cabinet lighting between sink and stove - so helpful:

https://www.houzz.com/photos/my-pics-work-in-progress-phvw-vp~93784356

https://www.houzz.com/photos/my-pics-work-in-progress-phvw-vp~93784291

I have a vintage style kitchen. Here are some more modern that are also light.

Trout Run Farmhouse Residence · More Info

Kieth Ave · More Info

If you are contemplating new cabinets, do not spend money on lighter countertops and backsplash. But, you can paint walls a lighter color and lighten the window treatments.

If it were me, I would leave the cabinets and instead spend a lot less money on the following updates. New hardware, lighter window treatments, paint the walls white, white subway tiles, a new stove. I would add a stainless storage rack on the long wall, so you can store the items on counter there instead. Paint your table and stools black and add a great set of prints on the wall above the table. I would also have an electrician move sockets and center a new fixture over the island.

I wouldn't paint them. I agree with everyone else. Declutter, simplify and edit what's in the space. In terms of lightness/darkness, the wood tone is more on the lighter end. So while it's not a bright white, you're not going from a dramatically darker cabinet to white.

The avocado on the walls is a darker paint color than I'd recommend for the level of light; I'd switch that out for something like Simply White. Do a new back splash which is right around $1k. New window treatments and decor. Good luck with everything. It's a crap load of work but so nice when it's all done.

Yes, we plan to live there for the long term. In the kitchen we are considering new countertops (possible Quartz), a new/larger island, new paint, new window treatments, backsplash and updating the 2 appliances that are not stainless steel. Could I do anything to make the cabinets look a bit more new?

Better lighting would help. Note the canisters in some of the above pics. Some LED lighting above those soffet-less upper cabinets would flood the ceiling with a soft glow and use very little electricity. Under cabinet LED's would be great too.

Cabinets are SOLID maple? Paint them.

I just finished a job where cabinets could not be replaced. My painter extraordinaire, painted inside and out of the boxes, but took off the doors/hardware and brought them home so he could spray paint them.. Sounds dramatic, but it was like a miracle. I believe he used Muralo paint.

It was not inexpensive, but replacing them would have cost thousands and thousands.

Have you priced out the quartz yet?

If you are looking for a new, larger island, which I don't see how is possible, unless you are knocking out a wall or something (maybe post more pictures and some measurements). But now, you're looking at spending some $$$. At that point, just go for new cabinets, which don't have to cost what you think they might. I always assume folks are on a real budget (like I am), but also want the most bang for the buck. Please do what so many others have done, and get on the IKEA kitchen planner, to get an idea of what some budget, yet really nice cabinets will cost. That will help you make your decisions, even if you don't ultimately do with IKEA. Don't put quartz on cabinets you are not 100% happy with, because you can't really change out the cabinets after that. Also, I'm betting that your lower cabinets don't have drawers and soft-close full extension fancy internal hardware and hinges... that you get from IKEA...and have to specify from other cabinet makers, but once you look at that, you likely won't be thinking about painting yours unless you want to diy that painting project as a temporary fix.

I agree with some here as yes you could paint them, but if the painter you talked to is hesitant, you need to find a painter that has refinished cabinets! Yes it could be re stained but it is the same as painting them. Your new counter top will help, lighting does wonders as your kitchen looks dark.

Ken

One reason your room is dark is because of the lighting (or lack of it). That tiny light over the sink and the light over the island simply are not adequate to brighten that room. Even with white cabinets and a lighter color on the walls, you'll soon discover it still doesn't seem light even, especially at night.

Get a lighting consultant. Not a general contractor - a lighting consultant. Based on the size of the room, what you do where, and the incoming natural light, he/she will be able to not only tell you how much lighting, but what kind, where it should go, what kind of switches, etc.

If your cabinets are in great shape, they're not that old and you like the layout, I would paint them. I say that because I'm a decorative painter, but I also paint cabinets. I have painted lots of maple cabinets and because the wood is smooth, they come out especially beautiful. Your cabinets doors are a classic style, too, not dated looking. As for the finish lasting 5 years, if they are prepped properly and the paint used is a professional product meant for cabinet refinishing, the finish should last longer than that. I use a waterborne lacquer in a satin finish that is very durable and easy to clean.

I've also seen painted factory cabinets from a reputable, very well-known cabinet company that chipped after several years. The homeowner wasn't happy with them from the start and you could see the various shades of the wood underneath through the finish. She had me paint them and she was amazed at how beautiful they looked.

You have a small simple kitchen with hardly any cabinets. Is it 8x8? Go to IKEA and those cabinets will be under $3k.

Also look on Craigslist depending on your area a lot of kitchen cabinet mfg's sell direct at huge savings.

One indication your contractor is lost is him saying that maple is dense and that would be an adhesion problem. That could be the case if they were bare but your cabinets are already coated so the adhesion to the wood is already established. You now need to bond your new coating to the existing clear on them.

Buy new cabinets they will be less then $5k

If you are considering replacing your cabinets, I would also consider reworking your layout so it works better.

The least expensive way to make your cabinets feel newer is to turn off HGTV:) It is a marketing tool designed to make people feel bad about their stuff so people will buy new stuff. Fine if the old is worn out and the budget can take the hit.

That's a good question. Why do you want to paint the cabinets. Do they look like crap and something needs to be done with them or do you think you simply want them to be white.

If it's a matter of want and not need, then I think there are a lot of great inspiration ideas for your space in this thread and the images jhmarie posted of not-white cabinets.

And I have to say, I often wonder if white kitchens are going to hit a saturation point. Everything can be overexposed and it's a legit question to ask when or if people are going to get to the point that they're 'over it'. It being white kitchens.

white kitchens used to be organic, they started out with wood cabinets and eventually got painted white when the wood looked awful.

both of my grandmothers had white kitchens, but i know that they began as wood and when they got horrific (probably after 30+ years of use) they painted them a color. at one point my paternal grandmother's cabinets had been painted blue, as the back of some drawers had been painted that color, others skipped.

what's new: people painting wood that is still in good condition. people buying white painted cabinets to start with. people caring about how good of a paint job it is. people redoing kitchens that are less than 50 years old. and yes, HGTV making us feel bad about our stuff.

Maple is, in itself, beautiful.

I think your kitchen feels dark because you have dark curtains in the windows. Remove the valence and open the curtain on the sliders.

Take everything off the refrigerator. Start a photo album for all that stuff.

I can't see what color the walls are painted because the pictures are dark. But I bet, if you paint the walls white or an almost white green or blue, you'd see a big difference in the darkness factor.

Lighting plan by a pro. Shadowy can seem depressing....

your floor tile, and much looks good. Might try stools in bright color.

Lighter paint color, new hardware on the cabinets, window treatments that don't block so much light would be where I would start. After that I think you will be much happier with the look. I'm not a fan of painting cabinets, especially when they are maple or cherry. Wood that looks as good as those should never be hidden under paint.

I would start with the lighting, especially in this day of LED lighting where they use so much less electricity and dramatically less heat than incandescent or halogen bulbs. I have replaced virtually all the bulbs in my house with LED's and would never go back, especially now that the cost of the LED's have fallen dramatically.

In the last kitchen we had, the wood was maple. It did not look nice any longer. We had the boxes painted by a painter who sprayed them. Did a great job. Sent our fronts to a local wood paint shop and had them prepared and painted. All a creamy white. It looked good for the 6 years we lived there. cost us around $1500.00 total. I was really happy with the choice. That said....I do agree that your wood is not real dark, and with some good changes in the room, you would totally lighten things up!

We had a similarly dark kitchen when we moved into our current house. We had our maple cabinets painted when we moved in, which was five years ago. The painters sprayed the cabinets with a cabinet specific oil-based Ben Moore paint (can't remember the name) and five years later they look great, some marking on the pull-out garbage and a few other places, but that's about it. We also replaced the dark tile floor with white oak wide plank flooring, replaced the black appliances with stainless, the dark brown backsplash with subway tiles, and the red paint with off-white. It has helped a lot. However, it can't change the awkward layout. We are now in the process of replacing the cabinets and countertop and improving the layout (as much as we can since the space is awkward). As a stop-gap measure until we figured out what we wanted and had the budget to do so, painting the cabinets was great. It was also very affordable -- $600 bucks for 12x14 uppers and lowers and 8 feet of lowers on a peninsula.

If it costs $5K to paint those cabinets, you should first, get more quotes. Anything over $2K is a ripoff. It seem to me the hot trend these days is to gauge people that want their cabinets painted.

Hi Sue, I came across your question here since I have the same question. So much great advice given. I need to decide about painting maple or new too. What did you end up doing? Are you happy with your decision? Can you post pics?

Would love to see pics on how this turned out!

What did you decide to do