Aura is good paint, and your painters are obviously familiar with it to have quoted you a job in it. I'd be very hesitant to use a paint that's twice as expensive that your painters haven't used before. While professionals are "professional", new products do have a learning curve, and having your kitchen be their lab experiment wouldn't be a good idea. It'd also be quite a bit more costly because of the added materials expense, as well as the added labor to be working with more expensive materials. It might almost double your quote. The only way to know the answer to that question would be to ask your painters. If they've already purchased the paint, I'm sure they'd expect reimbursement for that as well as the additional cost of the paint and additional labor markup, so if you do want to change, hurry up and ask them about it so they can maybe do some testing with the paint you want before they get to your house.

..just to say that I really like your kitchen and its colors. The cabintets seem so alive..the color and texture remind me some animal's fur. And the counter is not non-descriptive to me, at all. I look at your kitchen-and I see something I'd like to pet. It's warm and has character. It's like forest in the fall. I didn't want to write all these silly things, but I've been looking at your kitchen all day. And today when I woke up-I started looking at it again. So here goes. It's pleasant to look at.. Of course it's not about me liking your kitchen, but you' liking your kitchen. But you said you liked it, or at least do not dislike it, you just want it to feel newer. So change of hardware is a a good thing then, and of course you can decide to change counters, add backsplash, etc. If so you wish. Appliances, in some foreseaable future.. But the easiest thing would be to change your perception of it, and since it's a kitchen open to other space(living? family?), even if you change something there, your perception of your kitchen will be diffrent. Say you decide you want to put curtains on windows (have no idea whether you want to-just an example). As you'll see them from the kitchen-the overall perception of space will change. And will feel newer, (it can be light fixture, new art added, many things). You can also put some crock you really like, in the kitchen, or any accessory like that that will be both functional but will uplift your mood. I agree you don't need anything on the top of your cabinets. Unless you are, say, an avid collector of teapots, and ran out of space, and ..along these lines:) But no, they look good empty. They don't really need anything, these cabinets. Sorry for the typos..my laptop is misbehaving more than usual today.

SW 7028 incredible white. It’s a soothing white - I didn’t want stark. I went against designer idea to match the crown molding / trim to cabinet color. I wanted variance-cabinets to be their own thing- glad I listened to my gut because it’s a ton of cabinets to not like-it’s really a great color- looks great with the satin bronze hardware.

@Beth You did a commendable job explaining all the design aspects. Thank you so much! Just curious if I choose to change the granite completely, what color will go with oak wood floors and simply white or another white upper cabinets and darker island cabinets? I love the way island without cooktop looks. If I change then I won't be cooking any more :) Can you please give me advice on the kitchen blinds also? I am curious about the name of countertop and backsplash you have in your home?