Everything you want can be done; but, there's costs involved. What's your idea of affordable? Get professional quotes and then review what you can do.

Painting your kitchen - even by a professional - does nothing to add value and actually negatively impacts it because however good an aftermarket painted finish is, it is not as resilient as a factory finish - especially a wood stained one.

You have just moved into a new home and you don't have anything more urgent to buy for the home than to renovate what is objectively a gorgeous desirable kitchen? My experience is that I had a lot of expenses each time I moved and personally would have spent it elsewhere or just saved the money :-).

everybody defines "affordable" a bit differently. pro painting is expensive..I can see 10K cost for pro painting your kitchen, I'm sure others will weigh on that too. Of course the best is to get a quote from pros in your area

doable of course. many things are. the question is how much you want/can/prefer to invest

(and several others..time, energy, possible disruption all the blahblah)

what wood do you have? is it stained maple, or..?

I might also prefer painted finish next to your pretty flooring. Question of how important is it to you..your kitchen is nice

if going "tuxedo"..you'll have to decide several things. for example, what that pantry will be? how will look next to other cabinets? etc

I'm less sure about chunky shelves. where you envision them to be? I can see the space to the right of the windows..but you're either giving up 3 cabinets(which might be important, or not), or have a very small spot to incorporate them.

in any case, sounds like you want something less streamlined..am I right?

when putting together a plan-consider your lighting. It can be very important factor in how you percieve your kitchen's character. If you want it to be more relaxed-that's one of the routes you might want to check. Your inspiration pics look more relaxed and, for the lack of the best word, vintage-y? So yes, lighting, hardware, finishes-they can go long way in how the general picture would look like. Maybe you want more feeling of thoughtful mismatch, more warmth-and can be achieved not only by paint

also keep in mind..it won't be empty. You can bring lots of "you" in things like accessories(useful ones) etc.

Maybe glass inserts in cabinets instead of shelves? Another route you can take

Your countertop is very forgiving, so yes, backsplash will be easy part in a sense you can do quite a lot with it.

Congrats on your new home!

It definitely can be done, but you probably will have to change everything in the room but the floor. Once you go with the black/white/gray palette, the counter tops don't look like they'll fit in, so you'll need to change them too. And it will be wildly expensive, in the tens of thousands of dollars.

You need to make sure you find someone who is experienced in painting kitchen cabinets, as they get so much use, that the finish needs to be very durable. Removing and replacing the counter top and backsplash will be very disruptive, and you could do some damage.

My advice is to live with it for a while, and save up for a total renovation. Figure out whether you love the layout before you start changing the finishes. Donate those stained wood cabinets to Habitat for Humanity or a friend, and do it right, from the beginning.

Thanks guys! I appreciate the insight. I’m not sure about the wood. I will find out. I’ve seen nicely repainted cabinets so I guess I supposed it would still be high qualit? I really don’t care about adding value to the house with this update. I am just very obsesses with kitchens and wanted to be very happy with it for my personal taste.

It it is a big kitchen and therefore I wouldn’t mind losing those three cabinets. thats where I was thinking of adding the open shelving.

I also forgot to mention, the flooring is actually very light. This was the model home pictures. Everything is literally exactly the same except for the floors. They are very light. I’ll show a pic

Very close to these floor colors.

Also, I would consider $5,000 for painting cabinets? I will get some quotes :)

Just me, but the black and white kitchens are beautiful but seem sort of trendy and the wood kitchen is so beautiful and fresh! I understand wanting to make it yours, I do, but it's so pretty!

can you try to attach the pic again? of the flooring. it's probably some glitch but no pic is showing

Do get some quotes)) I know mine would be around 7 K to refresh ..and it's much much smaller than yours. No island either.

Layout is very important as Diana Bier said..so recommendation to live in the house first is always valid. You might find you're bothered by things you weren't..or that you're not bothered by other things you currently are..

Given the number of cabinets you have, I would suspect that $5000 is way too low for a quality job.

I understand not worrying about resale because you shouldn't anticipate what a potential buyer might want unless you are literally flipping. I just finished a gut remodel and opted for stuff that is completely outside of what the "trend" is but was completely to my taste.

What I meant is that once you have painted cabinets in the aftermarket, they will have to be repainted in a shorter period of time than a good wood factory finish.

Before investing money in painting cabinets, I would do what needs to be done for the rest of the house - surely you need window treatments or rugs or whatever to really finish off the home. I don't have that many windows since I live in a high rise condo and my window treatments are winding up costing me in excess of $10,000.

A new backsplash would be a relatively easy and inexpensive way to change the look so that it is more to your taste.

Your kitchen is 3X bigger than mine and I had 3 quotes for paintig, all close to $6000. Even a good painted finish is not as resilient as a factory finish. Why not just painted island and different backsplash ? Something like this( not this backsplash)

Dark cabinets with white island in Laguna Niguel, CA · More Info

I'm much like mimimomy..but much lazier I suppose..))

Like, take half of this nice list off..no beams etc

I do like suggestions of new backsplash but I really want to see the flooring first, to form the whole pic in my head..and I suspect maybe my monitor is playing tricks on me, maybe it's only me who doesn't see that pic

If the kitchen is new, then "parts" are easily available, and it might be better to order new white doors from the same manufacturer and just paint the boxes and face frames. I would also want more drawers and would retrofit and order new drawer fronts for those cabinets.

I would have those cabinets painted or order new doors. You found a house that works in all the other areas, including price. So, to make the kitchen "you" it might take a little bit more $$. I personally don't like a busy wood floor next to wood cabinets, just too woodsy for me. Painting the cabinets would give this kitchen a completely new look. Weigh out your options on painting vs fronts, and don't rush.

Wow I am really glad I posted here! You guys have really put some thins into perspective. You are all right I think the job would be pretty pricey. Yikes! I think possibly redoing the backsplash is a good start. And yes! There are plenty of other things I think the money would be better spent on. Like window treatments. The floors look like these. Sorry the picture didn't add before.

And I like what you said about living in the house first before I go making all sorts of changes. And I still would like to repaint, but I will wait a little bit :D

Thank you!!!!!!!

Mimimomy,

You are very smart! Thanks for your words of wisdom :)

When I said, dark... I don't like dark wood. Hehehe

Suzy, you're welcome. I love that lighter floor color that you will have. Would love to see pics of your home. I'm sure it's lovely and I hope you enjoy it for many years in good health :)

I suggest looking for wood kitchen inspiration, find something you like with wood cabs and go from there.

Since this sounds like your very first kitchen then you might want to change your style. Much easier than redoing a brand new kitchen. Or if it's not too late look for another home with a kitchen closer to your "dream".

I was going to link to the same post, iamtiramisu. Very informative, indeed.

Glad you decided to wait, Suzy. Congrats on your new home and I hope its list of "must change" won't be too long before you can tackle redoing the kitchen to your liking. I can certainly empathize with being "obsessed" with kitchens and wanting one to better reflect my taste.

Try this link. And yes, please show pics once you're done or progress ones if you have any dilemmas. :)

" ! Would that be something people are interested in seeing on this? "

oh yes

we thrive on progress pics here))

I'm serious. That's the best feedback one can get. You sharing your journey..

Painting cabinets costs a bundle. Try this before you take the big plunge. Paint one section of the wall black ( around the stainless hood, two coats)…not any black. I suggest B.M. Black Panther. It is a winner with your counters/cabinets/ stainless. Second paint color I have chosen is what looks, (on my monitor) similar to your counters.

Somewhat like this photo:

I dislike open shelving. Your kitchen is great now. I would change easier things first (paint the room? Countertops, backsplash?) to see if you can learn to love it. If you must, have it professionally painted. But I would not ditch real cabinets for those trendy open shelves (that scream "dust me" to me). Just my two cents.

You just bought the home, I recommend living in it for a few months.

Feel the layout, enjoy your new home for awhile

The kitchen you are wanting is really nice, but I think it is very trendy and soon not so trendy.

Judy's idea of the dark walls looks awesome!

Yes, use your budget towards beautiful furnishings and art work that are in your style. Work with your "givens" -- the light flooring, the existing kitchen. If you thought you had a budget that allowed for some expensive kitchen changes, use some of that budget to hire a one-time interior decorator or designer to help you choose pieces, window treatment, and other purchases that will work with the lighting, floors, and spaces you have. Avoid doing or choosing things piecemeal--I love that rug!--so that everything harmonizes and gives your home a feeling of flow and style. Good luck!