Rip it out and start over.

I was allowed to decorate with posters, and as a kid and young teen hung animal posters on my walls I'd get from Troll Book orders. I always wanted to paint my walls and longed for more color and patterns in my bedroom, but our house (walls, floors, ceilings, doors, etc.) was stained fir paneling. My parents painted the ceilings white and the rest remained natural wood. I remembering begging my mom to let me paint the walls, and as a compromise she let me wall-paper one wall when I was in high school. I chose a tree print sort of like this, only with navy blue and brown trees to tie in with all the brown wood of the walls, floor, and trim. It wouldn't have been my first choice, but it was a compromise and I was happy with it. My bedroom furniture was white-painted stuff my parents got second hand. I knew a "bedroom set" wasn't an option, though I would have loved one at the time. Though I still wouldn't choose the darkness of natural wood walls for a bedroom, I came to love a healthy dose of wood and eclectic furniture. The bed that was in my childhood bedroom is now in my daughter's room, with a wood dresser that used to be in my brother's childhood bedroom. My kids aren't teenagers yet and haven't expressed a lot of interest in decorating their rooms, but it will be interesting to see how their rooms evolve over the years.

Refacing is a great value if the cabinetry is structurally sound and you're not wanting to make major changes to the layout. Painting can be a great choice if you find a pro that specializes in repainting cabinetry and uses cabinet grade finishes. Check out our refacing guide here.

In my 40's experience, refacing can easily be same cost as putting all new cabinets! Unless you can do the labor yourself, you're not saving anything. 65% of the cost of a cabinet is in the front...then you have the labor to resurface the frames and sides. The only times I have refaced for my clients is when the cabinets were fairly new, had good drawers and interiors....but they just hated the door/color. OR if they had granite or quartz tops and didn't want to remove them to get a new look on the cabinets. Your kitchen looks great....why would you want to reface it?