Hi there, Here's your post with pictures: Because of water damage to our kitchen floor our kitchen/dinning room/living room floor is getting replaced. Right now everything in our house is the same wood tone.. the kitchen cabinets, the doors, the trim, the table and the floors. It's time for a change. We also plan to replace the counter tops, skin, faucet, range hood, and put in a back splash. We are most like also going to replace the white range, dishwasher and fridge with a stainless set. This is our kitchen/dinning room now. We plan to replace the light colored laminate floor with Engineered Hardwood Maple in a darker shade.... Flooring link But that would look awful with our oak trim. So I have started with painting all our trim white. I'm still not sure if I should paint all our bedroom doors white too (they are a solid oak, as is our trim.. I would like your thoughts on that. I like what these folks did.. white trim and closet doors but dark doors. Posts like these make me want to paint my kitchen cabinets white because they are so beautiful. Or should we stain them dark, like these? Or should we keep the cabinets as they are and just change the trim and floors like this? If we go white cabinets this is what I�m thinking of doing: off white cabinets, dark brown counter top, and dark brown subway tile back splash. I would love the idea of having a butcher block counter on the island though. I would also love your thoughts on the floor in the kitchen/dinning area. Right now the laminate floor is in the kitchen, dinning room and living room (since we have a very open floor plan). The dilemma is what to do in the kitchen. Should we continue the hardwood into the kitchen up to the cabinets or should we put tile there? If we paint the cabinets white I was thinking we would go with the hardwood. But if we stained dark it would get too dark. Right? And please tell me: Paint? Stain? Or keep the cabinets as they are? Thanks.

Raee - I'm a little concerned about it being too dark and blahh with the overall tonal look, but I'm hoping I end up with a cozy feeling. Nosoccermom - That second photo is one of the many I have saved. :) The cabinet/door side of the island that isn't showing matches the cabinets. The island originally had flat paneling on the outside so I added bb paneling, corbels, and baseboard to make it more interesting for the time being. I figured I'd start with the island to practice technique and see the color. I also thought once everything were almost finished (stained cabinets, bb backplash, new wall color, etc.) I'd get a better response for island paint color suggestions. I'd remove the paneling and add the same bb backsplash if I went with paint so it coordinates better. I originally thought white would be too start, black too harsh, so that got me thinking maybe BM Kendall Charcoal. I thought it would help pull the gray color, but it might not look right with the counter. I don't have a sample yet. Here are two pics of BM Kendall Charcoal. I just want to run and hug these cabinets. Notice the counters are light. :( I'd also like to sample Revere Pewter - maybe I could use that on the island and keep the walls with the Muslin or Shaker Beige idea. I'm just spouting off stuff that comes to me now. I wasn't sure if I should really do something different to the island, making it stand out, since it doesn't have a stellar furniture look. I'd love to add legs or something, but I'm not sure how. The corbels wouldn't have to stay. Barstools stay for now, but could change color or stain until I figured out what I wanted for replacements. Another close up shot of Tntw's cabinets with the GF Brown Mahogany gel stain. I'm really amazed at the transformation.

I agree, I think there was a little misunderstanding. You never said you wanted stained cabinets. I believe you mentioned refacing only to say that you'd gotten a quote and decided against doing that either. So it's just a matter of new doors over the existing painted cabinets, and you are wondering how it would look to have stained wood doors on painted boxes. Most of the photos I can find online are the other way around: white doors on wood boxes. I'll link one below that is the same concept you are talking about, but that kitchen is a very different style than yours so (obviously) they won't end up looking the same. I am going to go out on a limb and guess that a fellow who painted his cabinets purple is not afraid of marching to the beat of a different drummer. :) (I say that in the most complimentary way.) So if a particular idea is something most people wouldn't do, that doesn't mean it isn't right for you. I think for the two-tone thing to work, it needs to look like a deliberate design element; otherwise it might look like you just happened to find a set of doors at the Habitat Restore. I wish I had the design chops to advise you how to do this. One thing I have noticed in other two-tone kitchens is that both of the colors are tied into the kitchen in other places. If you painted your cabinet boxes white, used a white backsplash, and put in a nice-looking white countertop, that could all tie together while your wood doors could echo your floor. Most of the kitchen photos with doors and cabinets different (the other way round) have a very modern sleek vibe. This might not really fit your kitchen, but if you kept all your elements simple and plain I think it would have a better chance of working than if you used (for example) doors with fancy applied molding. Before you do this, it's only fair to agree with the cabinet-replacment posters and suggest that you have a hard think about your layout and the function of your kitchen (especially think about drawers in the lowers). Replacing them entirely isn't a fun thought -- I was once in the same place you are -- but it doesn't have to be enormously expensive. Our kitchen works much better with a layout change and new Ikea cabinets than it did before, and it cost much MUCH less than what you will read is average for new kitchens. But of course that's still more than just doing doors/backsplash/countertops, so it's for you to decide. The tipping point for me was when I sat down and thought about the things I liked about my old kitchen (not spending a ton of money was on that list) vs the things that were really annoying that I'd gotten used to, but that could be changed for the better with a new layout and new cabinets. And then of course you have to work out the budget and see if it's possible. Good luck with whatever you decide! Here is a link that might be useful: Wood and white kitchen

You can do either, but if you're already worried about it being dark maybe go for a painted option. If you paint it, I suggest painting it the same color as the wall. If you do the stain, have him do a sample before so you can compare it to the trim before committing. You may find it doesn't match well enough and you don't like it. But instead of shelves maybe move the TV off of the fireplace. It seems like it's small enough to fit int he nook. It's placement is really ruining the Victorian look more than anything else. If you're looking to brighten things up maybe go for a warm white rather than yellow, which can be tricky to work with.