Photos:

What this kitchen has going for it is that it's in good condition and whoever chose the colors did a good job coordinating everything.

The granite... it's everywhere and is not beautiful to me...too much rust and salmon. I love green, blue, white (not into the white/gray marble look either).

DH replaced the broken/leaky hot water dispenser with just a filtered water dispenser, now the kitchen is 100% functional.

Also thinking about taking down the uppers around the sink, or at least removing the doors and going for more of open shelving look. Really hate the corner uppers but I'm not sure we can give up the storage.

The walls that you can't see are also covered in cathedral arch uppers and matching full height slab backsplash.

Thank you for this detailed stepwise list! I do believe I could follow it with the exception of a dust-free booth. I don't mind multi-step process, the new house has the space to accommodate this work.

Have you considered removing the wood valance above the window for a more modern look?

Another option to explore before committing to painting the existing doors is buying new doors that compliment the lowers. A company like Barker Cab. will paint for you, and you would just have to use that color on the face-frames. A DIY paint job on the frames should be more durable than on doors. Barker has a fairly easy to use pricing tool to see if the cost is something you can manage to get a door style that you like with less work.

If we remove some of the cabinets from that wall I would remove the valance... but I don't think this kitchen has the potential to look modern without a major overhaul.

I will have to see what Barker doors cost and also whether or not the cabinets are functional for us. This kitchen has many separate, narrow cabinets so I'm not sure I would want to buy new doors. I'd rather save that kind of money for an overhaul. There are between 20-25 upper doors. We may remove the over-fridge cabinet in order to install a taller fridge, and we may take down some uppers so the space feels less imposing, and maybe go for open shelf storage, so still not totally committed. I'll take a look at the pricing tool once we're moved in, thanks for the info!

I thought painting the uppers and the walls, along with maybe removing some stuff and adding open storage for things we use often or for a couple plants (lots of plants in my current kitchen, would feel so cold without a single plant) would be a decent tide-me-over project to make the kitchen more cheerful for the next 5-10 years.

We do plan a big remodel in the future, hoping to move the fridge and install much bigger sink, possibly additional layout changes, so I'm really looking for low-budget cosmetic changes to make the kitchen a prettier place for me to work.

I'll try to add some inspiration pics!

I'm thinking TEAL for color, seems like it would work with the cream tiled floor, the salmon granite, and the cinnamon cabs:

I really like the serenity of this kitchen, not sure I could capture that feel via a low-budget cosmetic update but the countertops remind me of ours. I like there isn't the full size slab backsplash:

If you plan a full remodel, then I would save my money, time and sanity and do nothing for now. It looks perfectly functional and clean enough to live with for a few years. There must be other projects you can concentrate on for now ...

I did nothing to my kitchen for 7 years until I was ready to gut it down to the studs. During those 7 years we built a guest house, did major exterior hard scape and remodeled 5 bathrooms. The kitchen worked, so we left it for last.

Chispa you may be right but the house is actually pretty livable except for minor stuff. We had the asbestos acoustic ceiling removed and redone, and are having all the oak flooring refinished (plus installing in the two rooms that are carpeted). we may do some tile work but otherwise our thinking was to not have too much major remodeling until the kids are older and we have saved up.

It's just such an unattractive kitchen to me. I sound like a whiner but it's everything I would never choose--black and stainless, cathedral doors, light colored flooring, salmon/rust granite--I just want to know what would be required were I to try and freshen it up with painted cabinets.

Maybe I'll start by just getting some great photos and editing things to see what might still work without painting cabs. Maybe with the walls and ceiling changed from pinky beige to something else, and removing the cabinets on the sink wall, that would be enough (i don't like prepping under uppers).

Edit-- I'm sure it's not helping that we'll be leaving a great kitchen we designed and love working in! The new house is a step up for us but the kitchen feels like at least one step back, possibly more.

Your last inspiration picture is lovely....perhaps instead of painting first, you could remove that overwhelming stone backsplash of “goldness” and use a light tile that matches the lightest color in the granite. This would not cost a whole lot, and could be DIY if you are somewhat skilled or adventurous. I think that would go a long way to lighten the visual look of the kitchen.....and take out the wood valance☺️

Don't be scared off painting it yourself.

You won't get a fancy factory-applied multi-layered holographic epoxy finish, but DIY painting kitchen cabinets is straight forward. It took me one weekend and a week of evenings, and around $100 in paint and prep. I laid out the doors and drawers in my living room. And I sold my house at a profit two years later.

20 Surprising Tips on How to Paint Kitchen Cabinets
https://www.familyhandyman.com/kitchen/diy-kitchen-cabinets/surprising-tips-for-painting-kitchen-cabinets/view-all/

I definitely don't expect factory finish paint job. we painted out kids' secondhand oak captains beds with something--Ben Moore alkyd paint I think--they've been great. I'm imagining we will need to do some touch ups on the beds after the move but otherwise I love the way the painted beds turned out!

Thanks for those handyman tips! I'm feeling optimistic, I'm not a sloppy painter at all. Also I would only paint the uppers, try to match or tone on tone with wall color. Maybe cream not the amazing TEAL. I would like the cathedral arched doors to disappear rather than dominate. Try to neutralize.