Well Norm. Pictures would help.

There is nothing wrong with the cabinets. If you dislike cherry, that is another matter. I certainly would not plop white tops in there.....with that cherry. I would do a soapstone, a deeper quartz, ANYTHING but white.

If you want a white kitchen, look into a VERY professional paint job. That means a taken off site process, the use of a conversion varnish in a spray booth, with all prep considered, It means an on site spray of the remaining boxes, in your home, with the same product. Expect to spend six to eight k .

Expect to be beaten senseless on this thread for even considering this, too.

Before you do anything, you consider the entire kitchen the layout, the appliances, all of it. You aren't showing the entire thing, we can't even see the floor. Stand back.......more shots, more angles etc.

All said.......cherry may be the least of it. Who knows?

Those cabinets are gorgeous. I had cherry cabinets in my condo and did Typhoon Bordeaux granite which was lighter but picked up the color from the cabinets. Paired it with a tan backsplash tile from Jeffrey Court.

A white countertop with those cherry cabinets and tile floor would not look harmonious, imo. It's going to look jarring. The white will be too stark against the red tones of the cabinets and the orange tones of the floor.

How long have you lived in this new house? Are you certain the kitchen layout works for you? What type of budget do you have to update the kitchen? Do you have pictures of kitchens that you like?

ETA: Just saw your post about being in escrow. My advice is to consider updating a kitchen after working in it for a few months.

I'd remove the uppers above the peninsula and replace some of the doors with glass doors.

Increase lighting and plop down a brighter/lighter rug.

What's the current paint color? I can't really tell, white, beige, sage?

Of course, cherry cabinets work with white/light counters, but those pink/red/yellow floor might be a different matter. What floors do you have in the rest of the house? For now, I'd wait with new counters.

https://duckduckgo.com/?q=cherry+cabinets+with+white+counters&atb=v86-3__&iar=images&iax=images&ia=images

Changing tops will not brighten the kitchen. The FLOOR is the first consideration, as NO white top will look good with it.

The cabinets w/ glass, even WITH that glass are also darkening the space. You probably don't have enough electricity in there either.

Either way, you need a consideration of adjacent spaces a unification of flooring, the considering of do you love the layout of this kitchen, we can tell nothing.

Your buggy is ahead of your horse on all of it. Way ahead.

Listen to Jan - white counters will not brighten your kitchen. Once you get your horse and cart in the proper order, here are some pictures for inspiration . . .

Another vote for no white tops on cherry cabinets. I wish I had a photo of it, but a few years back I spec'd Cambria's Bradford for the counter tops with cherry cabinets and we picked up some of the blue in that colorway to put in cobalt subway tiles for the backsplash. Looked awesome. The speckles of sandy tones kept it from looking too dark, and I would highly recommend putting in LED undercabinet lighting to enhance the color.

Alternatively, you could embrace the black but update it. Here's a colorway from Silestone that's essentially a reverse marble look. I've seen this slab in person and it's really striking.

I think the counters you have now look very nice with the beautiful cherry cabinets. I do notice though, that you do not have enough lighting in your kitchen, and probably need a bulb change in the lighting you do have. No white counters with cherry, and they wont help brighten the room anyway, they will just spoil the look you already have.

The uppers over the peninsula are negatively impacting a feeling of openness so I would remove them, remove the curtains, continue the wood(?) flooring into the kitchen or retile, and update the lighting. Paint the walls an updated color and then assess the impact of those changes.

Lighter counters will work once the floor is dealt with, but you may find that the suggested changes are adequate for lightening and brightening.....money saved! If you keep the floor, your color scheme and counter options become more limited.

If you do a tiled backsplash, no 4” stone backsplash...run the tile to the counter.

Start with an electrician to add more light to the room. Especially under cabinet lighting. It needs that no matter which direction you choose to go. But it will make a big enough difference that you may fall in love with the black granite. It is a classic look, and not at all dated. If you can’t love it, you still needed the lighting add anyway.

Wow, looks like a brand new kitchen! So glad you kept the cherry cabinets!

Just paint them.

The cabinet style is good. The glass doors will not make upper cabinets feel too closed in.

But I would probably remove the upper cabinet from that "pony wall" area.

And when changing the counter don't put the 4 inch back-splash around the edge. They look awful and people need to stop doing it. :-)

So much brighter without that upper over the pony wall! Did you do wood for the floor? What have you picked for the backsplash and paint?

The counters are in. and most of the cabinets are still there. See Norm's update picture just above.

That backslash (simple and classic...good choice) with the counters and the few cabinets removed made all the difference. Good job!

One inexpensive update would be to replace those blind with a roman shade.

More expensive would be to replace a few upper doors with those with glass insets. That would open up the upper cabinets and give some contrast.

Wow, the renovation looks awesome! Love the cherry cabinets with the light backsplash and counter tops. The room definitely looks brighter!

Post photos when we can see the floor too!

Great job!

Not sure why people were saying not to do white/light tops. I disagree. And the Clarino looks perfect...it has a bit of that natural cherry tone streaks through it. You did a really nice makeover!

OP is a pro. It’s like Jan posting a remodel of her home. Of course it’s gonna turn out nice...

So, Molly D. you're saying that pros really know what they're doing?

Well, pro or not, you did a great job, which included keeping those gorgeous cherry cabinets.

I was saying it seems more like it would be in the “before/after” posting section vs a “Design Dilemma” looking for help.

I disagree--she was asking for help as to what to pair with the cherry cabinets. And then she took the advice of the respondents! And if you read her post above, it's her husband who is a professional builder, neither of them an interior designer.

following ... to see pics of finished kitchen:)

Which quartz did you select? It's very pretty and so natural looking.

Don’t paint Cherry cabinets! Sell them and buy new white ones, you will probably have $$$$$ left over.

Could you please share photos with your floor shown too?