Ellie, your new home is lovely. I looked into painting my current kitchen and pretty much what Live_oak_writes is what I found to be true in terms of prep, cost and quality. The guy I found here in Michigan ONLY paints cabinets and that is the kind of painter I would suggest or a cabinet shop. I am not trying to criticize house painters, but I would only want someone who specializes in cabinets (not a painter of rooms, exteriors, etc). He told me he would remove all the doors and spray in his shop (after sanding, filling in holes, etc.). The boxes would have to be sprayed on-site of course and you need to verify their prep for that. He was willing to paint a sample door for me (find an old maple door at Habitat, etc. and have them use that as a test). I liked what I saw. His Facebook page was impressive. My kitchen is not as nice as yours and I determined it just was not worth it. I recall a thread here recently in which someone painted professionally and it was absolutely wonderful. I am not as good as others at finding pictures/threads, but I will look.

you don't want white, and the darker colors, you say, will make it too dark, so that leaves you with light gray or one of those tones. what in the world are those cab made from? and who picked that granite to go w/those cabs? you say you're renting. they're letting you paint those? if they're made of a laminate type of material, the prep work for those will be necessary. quite frankly, I don't think it will look great painted. Do you really want to go through all of the work to paint those? have you ever painted cabinets? It's not something you can do in a weekend. Besides, that wood strip on the cabinets is kind of cool looking. changing out the country style cup pull to more of a bar pull will look better w/that style cabinet I'd leave the cabs and look into gettin a pre-fab, plain white or soft gray, quartz countertop. a 9' piece will cost about $450. fabricator can cut it to fit for another 600-900. maybe less depending on the layout of your kitchen. here's an example of pre-fab quartz, you only posted a small picture. post a pic showing the entire space

these are photos from the listing Theresa, first, let me say-I'm in love with all the cacti! Incredibly cool. many great things about the house. I'll try to answer the question about white cabinets. There will be many who'll say white kitchens are classic, and they'll be right, in a sense that there'll always be houses where white kitchens would look great and appropriate. Whether it's white glossy contemporary kitchens in some urban apartments, or white beaded doors in a cottage, or many others. Then there'll be many who'll say a white kitchen is at the end of its cycle, and they ill be right too, because too many people install same kitchen everywhere, and in 7-10 years another trend comes, and the other new trend is already here, and it's stained wood again. (especially certain woods in certain stains) There are also painted (or colorful) kitchens that are not white, and they can be also very nice, and fit a house like a glove. There's not one color that will make a place modern, or traditional, or whatever, all by ttself, because every color is a part of the bigger context. And our associations with it will depend on our own traditions, our own likes and dislikes, and how it correlates with the rest of the place. So I'd take the "whether white is here to stay" out of equation, and my questions to myself would be: -how white will work in my house, its style, where it stands, etc? how it will work with all the other elements, and what these elements are/will be? and -do I love white enough to look at it every morning and evening for years to come? Second question, only you can answer. In terms of the first question. Your house is transitional (whatever it means because it's not a very exact term) already. The legs on the island are the most traditional thing about our kitchen from what I can see. White itself wouldn't make it more contemporary kitchen. It might make you personally happier, but it won't be significant change in the feel of the kitchen. It will stay a transitional kitchen, pretty nice at that, just in different color. Now, I can't see the backsplash-but changing backsplash can give it more modern feel. Or changing legs on the island and refacing, say, to slab doors will give it more modern feel. But I need to understand whether that's what you want-or you just want departure from dark wood because you don't like darker wood. which is totally fine. For example you want just the departure from stain because your preference is painted. And your preferred color is white (which it doesn't have to be. My kitchen is taupe for example, and another colors I seriously considered were purple and, to the less extent, green) Then you need to decide-you keep your counter which is softer taupe..you take very clean bright white out of equation. But look for a softer "muddier" version of white. The one that'll work the best with your countertop..and the backsplash if backsplash stays. Maybe it's an off white, and you'll have to try several(ask for samples done on wood if you enlisting a pro) and look at them in your kitchen with your countertops etc, to make a decision. For us to give the best advice it'll be best to see the countertop and the backsplash up close. When you say "taupe" I guarantee you, well almost, that my brain pictures one color, and you mean slightly another one. There are hundreds of neutrals that we call white, gray, taupe, off white, etc, etc-and while it gives general description, it's not enough to then say "in your kitchen, with its light and all the unique things it has, color X by brand Y will work". All these colors change with light. and also in presence of other colors, and you need to narrow onto several and try them there. And it might be that while looking for that white you'll see another color you'll like more. Or you'll decide to go not for paint but for a different stain. That you like more. Or melamine (which means refacing. But maybe that what you actually want when you say "contemporary") Now don't forget that you'll decorate differently than previous owners did. It seems like too much dark wood because there are many elements in same stain. Most of them seem built in, but maybe not all of them are? You can also go with different materials when you pick tables, and chairs, and whatnot. You can introduce different lighting. (Layers of it too-very important) You can layer textures and add colors. You'll bring in your own art. Plants. Etcetera. In short, you won't see just the kitchen. The kitchen will be a part of a whole. Look at many pictures if you haven't yet. and see how they make you feel, to choose the general pallette for the house first. A start. Can be interiors but many images can be inspiration for colors, from fashion to cinematography. And also nature. Especially landscape surrounding your house(they did a great job with it)-whatever you see from your window is still your space)) Part of it. So let it inform you too and inspire you, when you choose. Most choices that look great throuout years and never bore us are these that go with the house and its surroundings. I quite like the bathroom, and it doesn't feel dragged down to me. It's just largely empty because they staged for resale. As they did with other places. Add but a flowerpot-and it'll feel differently. I really tried to make this post short, but didn't quite succeed))) Bottom line: I can see why you like the house. The previous owners didn't do anything majorly irritating. They neutralized for resale and had quite a lot of one-note things, certain stain, stacked stone that adds a bit of heaviness etc. But it's a nice house. I know that feeling of being in a hurry-but try not to be, give yourself sometime to figure out the pallette that works for both you and the house, maybe start with furnishings even as fabrics give us inspiration and ideas too..don't worry, you'll get to that paint thing, but you'll be happier with whatever choice you make when you make it not in a hurry. I personally would be inclined to yes, use sage green..or some other soft grayed green, yes..but would it be kitchen itself, or walls, or fabrics, or accents? Or maybe tonal shades in several of these? I don't know. I'd need to be in the house and think. Same goes for every other choice. It's a puzzle that you put together. And as with puzzles-there's fun in it. Enjoy the process. Enjoy your new house.

Green sounds like a fun choice. I have no pictures, but I'm about to get a new kitchen island with blueish stain. I chose the stained look over blue paint because I like seeing a bit of the wood grain showing through. If your cabinets will get hit with a lot of sunlight, it would worth knowing whether paint or stain is more forgiving about showing little dings and blemishes.