Get them professionally painted.

Maple is a great wood for painting as it is a smooth grain and very hard. Your cabinets will look great painted white.

I would paint the walls first. The cabinets are beautiful and it is a lot easier to touch up a nick on a wood cabinet than painted. Read through this thread about Fantasty Brown.

https://www.gardenweb.com/discussions/2607689/calling-all-fantasy-brown-owners?n=517

I understand your issue. The thing is that DIY paint won't last long, and professionally painted cabinets are expensive, and that's a cost you'll never see a return on.

I think there are a ton of other upgrades you can make that will have a greater impact than white cabinets. New flooring, better lighting, a new paint color, and a backsplash would be great.

7-9K. Pay the professional to do it in conversion varnish like you would have gotten from the factory.

Do it right or don’t do it.

Exactly what Patricia said -- have them painted by a cabinet painter. Why not love the space you're in?!

What Sophie said. We looked into this and there are professionals that can give you a factory quality finish which is what you want to do if you have new cabinets. They'll take the doors and drawer fronts off site and spray the bases onsite. It's going to be expensive $7,500-10K that's where the quotes we got were. If you are quoted less you're dealing with a painter. Painters ranged from $1k-$3,500 when we researched this. If you hire someone to just paint them you're wasting your $$ and jeopardizing the quality of your cabinets.

I don't think you are crazy at all! It's what we would have done had we loved everything else about our kitchen and if it was in as great shape as yours is. We opted for the cheap painter to brighten the space and tide us (well just me really ;) over and as expected they're chipping a year + later and are not smooth or evenly finished.

Even though I’ve always ( still do ) had white cabinets, I like yours as is. Mine were done by my cabinet maker’s painter, it’s a long, expensive process to do right. As Patricia stated, mine were done in a spray booth, three different coats with sanding , etc. between. Don’t even think about painting your nice cabinets unless you have it done professionally by someone competent. Don’t go for “cheap “.

Pay to have them painted. There may be someone who has a paint booth and could do the doors in there. Love your space, especially if you're going to be there for a while.

And the 9-10k? Price it in your area; Sophie's figures probably don't apply where you are.

Yes. That is a beautiful kitchen. The cabinets are lovely and the granite is stunning.

There are lots of kitchens in the world. I've seen some I love in white, blue, yellow, dark and light wood. But I could only pick one. I went back and forth between blue, white and maple. Finally settled on maple because wood is timeless, strong, classic and always beautiful.

Hope you learn to love it.

Remove the 4" splash before adding a backsplash - that should not be a problem. Because the countertop is the star (it is really pretty), the backsplash should be simple. Take a light color from the countertop and do a simple tile in that color. I have wood cabinets, but everything else in my kitchen is light, except my hardwood flooring which is natural. Keeping everything else light will help you get the light feel even with wood cabinets. If you do not have under cabinet lighting, get some, at least between the sink and range. That too will lighten up the kitchen.

You could have the back of the L island painted to match the trim.

I could not reach your microwave. If you are fine with it, that is all that matters, but I would put up a stainless hood and get a small micro for the counter.

If the color is still bothering you a 5 years, have the cabinets painted - it can always be done later. You can save up and then they will not be new cabinets:)

When you do pick your backsplash, first remove the 4 inch granite backsplash that's there now. Your kitchen is very nice, and I think with a new backsplash, paint on the walls, and perhaps a different light fixture, you will love your kitchen.

I love your cabinets and counter. A simple, light colored backsplash will be so pretty. I would consider redoing the floor, as the warm tones are not really working with the counters.

Go with a simple subway tile. Look up Fantasy Brown Owners on here & you will get lots of options.

Raven did a beautiful kitchen. It was flooded 8 months after it was finished, but the blue was beautiful with the granite. She had a short backsplash like you, even though her cabinets were darker.

ravencajun Zone 8b TX

I just did blue gray in my house . My color is Sherwin Williams Krypton and I absolutely love it . I have had several people who saw it ask for the color so they could use it . It changes color in different light .

I painted my own and they look great. But mine are 24 years old. If I were you, with those brand new cabs, I’d hire a professional.

If you hire a painter, just make sure you get him from a referral so you can see the job that was done. It's not imperative that you hire a company that only paints cabinets. You just need to hire a company that knows how to paint cabinets. A lot of these cabinet painting specialists are popping up everywhere now and some of them are just ripping people off. A kitchen your size should cost around 3K.

We only hand finish cabinets and Fix all those sprayed cabinets after they have installed. Paint guy learn to fix the sprayed ones it is a very lucrative business. The touch kits these companies send are an usable joke

Finding this post 4 years later and I absolutely love the maple kitchen . Wonder how you are feeling about it now ? Did you ever paint or no ?

I hope you painted them! Everyone is suggesting a pro, at the low, low price of $7k. And if I hired a pro interior designer, I'd expect them to suggest a pro - which I'm sure would do a great job. But, if you want your cabinets white, paint them! If you're anything like me, you'll never be satisfied until they're white :) I've painted our kitchen cabinets at both our houses and they turned out great. If you sand, do the prep work, and buy quality paint they will be fine. We just redid our kitchen and the brand new cabinets looked blue instead of charcoal, so I tried to get used to them for a year and hated them everyday, until I repainted them black. Never regretted it once. That's the best part of owning your house, you can make it however you want it with the budget you're working with.