I think it is regional. On Gardenweb, white is very popular. In the suburbs here, distinct off-white and glazes are popular. In the city, dark stains, very dark brown, maroonish, black. Talk to a realtor, and also look at a lot of real estate online, particularly at new construction, houses that say "recently renovated", and houses that look heavily staged.

We bought a house recently and our kitchen cabinets are not old (~10 yrs) and great quality and we like the configuration so we decided the only thing we wanted to change is the color. They are currently stained with a glaze. We want a clean white or off\-white look (no glaze). We have a lot of cabinets and are not skilled in DIY so we agreed to hire a pro. The problem I am having is determining what kind of pro/process we really need. I have received at least five (5!) quotes which is a lot for me. We got two from painters and three from cabinet specialists. The cabinet guys' quotes were 10-12k. The painters quoted 3-5k. We got samples from one painter and two cabinet guys and I do think the cabinet guys' samples were superior - they basically look like factory cabinets but I am reluctant to spend that much money for changing the color and the painter sample seems good enough to me. I would go with the cabinet specialist, however if painting is going to be significantly less durable. The painter said he would use oil-based paint, no poly with a high volume, low pressure sprayer. One cabinet guy said he would use poly (I was less confident in him); one described a multi-step curing process (a franchise called n-hance https://www.nhance.com/blog/service/cabinet-color-change/)) that uses all water based products. Now I'm getting a bit daunted by the differing approaches and posts I've read and not really knowing the right path. Any advice? I've seen lots of posts about Cabinet Coat which I hadn't heard of. I'm including a couple of pics of our kitchen. http://ths.gardenweb.com/discussions/3425364/hire-a-painter-or-a-cabin These are pictures from before we bought the house so we have changed wall colors and furniture and such but hopefully you can see why we want to change the cabinet colors \- they are beautiful but they blend right in with the floors, giving a sort over-all "blah" effect. Any advice is very much appreciated!

you don't want white, and the darker colors, you say, will make it too dark, so that leaves you with light gray or one of those tones. what in the world are those cab made from? and who picked that granite to go w/those cabs? you say you're renting. they're letting you paint those? if they're made of a laminate type of material, the prep work for those will be necessary. quite frankly, I don't think it will look great painted. Do you really want to go through all of the work to paint those? have you ever painted cabinets? It's not something you can do in a weekend. Besides, that wood strip on the cabinets is kind of cool looking. changing out the country style cup pull to more of a bar pull will look better w/that style cabinet I'd leave the cabs and look into gettin a pre-fab, plain white or soft gray, quartz countertop. a 9' piece will cost about $450. fabricator can cut it to fit for another 600-900. maybe less depending on the layout of your kitchen. here's an example of pre-fab quartz, you only posted a small picture. post a pic showing the entire space

I would be inclined to use brass (but not the bright polished brass of 20 years ago); I think it would be very pretty with the red. But, black will work. I love brushed nickel (have it in my own kitchen) but I think it is better to repeat elements - esp. if you are going to have metal legs on the table. I love the idea of repurposing your table! If you want a slightly industrial look, you could make the new legs and shelf support out of galvanized pipe with brass fittings (combining black and brass). Or, just paint those table legs, unless you really want the metal element. I would go for recessed light, but I think you need more than 4 (from what I can see). They need to be positioned over the edges of your counters as well as the island. I am having trouble visualizing pendants for the island with the skylight there. Repositioning/installing recessed lights is not hard, but you might have to factor in repairing the holes from the track lights unless they are in the right spots for the new recessed lights. Can you get the new LED disc lights? Very easy to install, I understand. You also might need to do some wall repair from removing the upper cabinets, so don't forget to include that in your budget. Do you need the DR space as part of your kitchen? Would you want that separate room in the future for any purpose? I would wait on demolishing the archway until you see. how everything else works -- unless of course, the space is needed for the table/island. Oh, and when you get the rug to cover the floor gap, make sure it is one that can be cleaned well - colorfast, and can tolerate water. I take my large kitchen rug outside spring and fall and wash it with rug cleaner and the hose to rinse, letting it dry in the sun.