I must say that they look very cute to me-but being not from here, I completely missed this "kitchen period" so to say, so I probably look at it through different lenses. It works with the house, and I like wood and white.

Are the cabinets in the good condition? They look like they are, but you know better.

The thing is refacing is not cheap at all, and I'm not sure I'd go for it if I can't get out of it more functional stuff like more drawers etc. Also I might give myself more time to see whether the layout works for me/family and whether I might want to do other changes that are more important, later.

If you do go for a change-I think both slab and shaker would work. I might prefer slab. They did such a nice job with colors it's hard to detach oneself from wood and white/cream (you can do two-toned too, btw, but I can't see the opposite side of the kitchen?)-but other colors will work too. Light sage for example.

Is it a new house? If yes, congratulations! It has such a nice vibe, I really like it. What I would do for sure-I'd change lighting over the window. It looks a bit like it doesn't belong. There are so many great choices out there that would work much better.

Thank you so much for your nice suggestion. Actually I really like our kitchen. But the countertop is just Formica and smelling. So if I change the countertop now , in future I don’t like to change the cabinets as it would double the cost right? And I am worrying these kitchen door design is outdated. Then one more thing, the oak trim is looking very bad now. So I like your idea of painting in light sage. So bottom doors , I could do light sage and top , I could do white/ cream.I like to choose whatever is cost effective.

Yes we bought house last year. It feels very warm. If I could save kitchen cost , I could change carpets all over the house.

This is the opposite side. We are planning to remove that microwave shelf and put and wooden shelf there, if we didn’t go for big remodel

Hi, to answer to megs1030 question, we have the same cabinet in all restroom.they followed this same theme in the entire house.the boxes are in good shape.it don’t have the new design drawers.But it looks small.But it has so much storage as I have a big pantry . Then they have pull out like this.Then the lower cupboard door handle looks like this.some whitish discoloration.I really need to change the countertop.But once after few years if I decide to change something in cabinet, it’s extra expense to change the countertop again right.So that’s why want to decide now. We are ok with refacing .Boxes are in good shape.No change in layout.if I like to change something, then it would be adding lazy Susan in corner instead of blind spot.

I'm sure they might seem outdated to many, who lived through eighties here-but wouldn't bug me, personally))

I'm a bit confused. So, are you changing the countertops too?

Also, if you're going to paint the existing ones(did I understand you correctly?)-are they wood, or wood and melamine, or..? I'm not a DIY type, I really hope somebody weighs on whether can be painted and what's the process and how hard it is. Maybe it's better to wait already until one can do a full reno. Then you are also in control of door styles, colors, additional features, many other things. You do your research, plan, do everything at once.

It's a question of how much things you want to change in your kitchen, and what really waits, and what doesn't.

Judging from the pictures, and imo-it all waits, but you're there and can see things I can't.

I know some people paint only oak trim, too, as a temporary fix, if this door design something that gets on their nerves.

again, nothing gets on MY nerves in your kitchen, besides the light, but you live there(or about to live there), so it's something one can probably do faster while considering bigger future picture.

I hope you get many more comments from people better acquainted with these cabinets.

You answered some of the questions while I was writing my comment. Thank you for posting additional pictures, very helpful.

Do all of the cabinets have pull-outs?

Yes all lower cabinets has pull outs.even I couldn’t paint , I can change just cabinet doors.But I want to change all at once.

All cabinet are partical board

Slab doors and natural wood are very popular. Even that combo are coming back in style. Refinish or paint the wood portions yourself, get new counters, and get new lighting.

Are you sure it's the Formica countertops that smell? My husband, daughter, and son each had older condos or houses with dishwashers that were older, the seals had broken, and the water had gone under the flooring and smelled in all 3 cases, so they had to replace the flooring. Or does it look like there's been water in the cabinet under the sink that might smell? I'd be sure exactly where the smell is coming from first, and that may help you decide how extensive a kitchen remodel to do, and when, or whether to start with the new carpeting.

Yes, those cabinets are from an older time (I hate the word "dated" because it seems to always be used in a negative sense indicating that you should get rid of something), but they seem to go well with the rest of your house, it's a pleasant style, and if you're going to live there for a while, you might better save for a complete kitchen remodel. Do you need new appliances now, or can you get by for a while with the old ones? Is there any separation between the oak trim on the cabinets and drawers and the creamy part of the cabinets?

It looks like each base cabinet has one rollout. I'm one of the minority who didn't want all drawers in base cabinets and I have 3 rollouts (plus the top drawer) in each base cabinet that doesn't have all drawers, which I like very much since we have adjusted them to suit our needs. You could buy at least one more rollout to put in the bottom of each cabinet (prices vary according to type and size), which would make life easier for you in the kitchen, and depending on the width of the new cabinets that you might buy in the future, the rollouts could be transferred to them.

Anne

Thank you for your suggestion. Yes , it’s the countertop when you go near to it and try to smell,it smell very bad.then some board underneath it chips too.

Hi Celadon, what color I need to paint the wood portion?

I really liked suggestion to refinish the wood part so it stays stain

But if you'd rather paint...what countertops you were thinking to install?

I have planned to install granite. My option is black galaxy or fantasy brown

I looked at the pictures of both, whatever I could find online, and in both cases, in first, due to dark color, and in second, due to movement in stone, the easiest would be to match the current creamy color of the cabinets in wood portions.

But I think you'll loose some of that lovely vibe you have now, so I'm still thinking.

Are these only two choices of countertop you're considering?

When I was in search of pictures and photos, I found two articles, where I read with surprize that Fantasy Brown is not a granite, There are pros here who understand very well in stones, and I'm not one of them, so I hope they weigh in on whether it's an accurate info (htat also differs somewhat from article to article)

Also wouldn't play a role in my decision. Still sharing, just in case

https://nssmillworks.com/is-fantasy-brown-a-good-choice-for-your-kitchen-countertop/

https://academy-marble.com/fantasy-brown-marble-vs-fantasy-brown-quartzite/

The ivory of the laminate doors could be matched for the wood handles. Or go darker with a bronze look. Or, just sand and refinish them. Because you have the wood accent sides, etc. That would be the preferred route. Celebrate the wood! It’s very back in style.

Don’t do anything for a minimum of 180 days after moving in.

I'd do what Celadon suggests, I love wood accents so much.

as for the counters..I thought some more how I'd like to keep the same vibe, if it was my kitchen..and above granites seem a bit harsh with the rest....so I'd choose soapstone if going for the darker counter, which has softer appearance (although there are granites that look more like soapstone without its cons)..

..or White Corian or light solid Quartz if going for the lighter look.

all of these should be very versatile in case you decide to switch to other cabinets one day/do a different color/etc

Having said that, I fully realize that it's not my kitchen))

Thank you Celadon and aprilneverends. We bought the house one and half years back.in my previous replies , I have attached the picture , where I could see white spots near the pulls like molds or something .so that’s why I am trying to do something for the kitchen. I like Celestine idea .so is it good if I replace with doors with ivory color slabs or shaker style doors and bronze handles?
Aprilneverends, I like the natural stones.that’s why I prefer granite.We went to granite whole sale store. Fantasy brown and riverblue was level 3 granite.I love black galaxy too.because black galaxy too , don’t need sealing as it’s naturally don’t absorb liquid.As I am Indian, we use lots of turmeric and spices in the kitchen.All our gravies are colored one .That’s why I am worrying about white.because I don’t want to replace the granite after 3 or 4 years when I sell. But I don’t know black color go well with our kitchen .But in family room , all the vertical lines in wood panel is black.Then all the power outlet is black.So I have a question like if I choose black galaxy will it match?

One more question. I am new in posting in Houzz.How to increase visibility to the posts?is it because I posted in side ‘Kitchen’ .Can I move the post to other topics?

Refinishing the wood portions could easily be done on a door by door basis, as an ongoing project. Strip one, restain, and recoat with clear.

I would not do Fantasy Brown with those color doors on the cabinets. One of the Bordeaux type granites, sure. Take off a door to travel with you to the slab yards.

The big expense that I’d suggest is better ventilation, and better lighting. Both are really important to a kitchen. Especially a well used kitchen. A more powerful vent, potentially with a bigger vent pipe, to the exterior. Adding more light onto the work surface is needed too.

Thank you for your suggestion. The kitchen has so much light.in pictures we have closed all the sunlights .if we opened the sunlight , our kitchen is very bright and airy.Then it has under cabinet lightings too.Then microwave vents outside.so what do you think about black one? Can u explain about Bordeaux type granites.

gayagopi, you can choose up to three subforums when posting a thread, and it will appear in all of them, but there is a time window on editing, I'm not sure how big. Try to hit "edit" button and see whether more options appear.

I hear you on natural stones,

Some granites are indeed (almost) bulletproof while others aren't..also stone yards are not always accurate in labeling slabs, I circled many of them to know that.

I myself have albeit very beautiful, but somewhat mysterious stone in our master bath)) I know it etches=not a granite. It doesn't stain, not to jinx it.

I shared with you articles on Fantasy Brown because they do point out it might etch more easily, whether it is so or not-I don't know.

But in any case I think a granite can be found that would work better with your kitchen. Less movement, and a lot of softer white in it. And/or gold tones, I think.

If indeed a granite-it shouldn't stain, theoretically, whether it's white/light, or not. Again, I hope others weigh in and comment on that.

Also, There are several great threads here dedicated to qualities of stones and how to test which one is which, they are named "Countertop Geology". They're full of very useful information

https://www.houzz.com/discussions/query/Countertop-Geology. 

(Quartz doesn't stain or etch either, but as it's not a natural stone, taking it off the list. )

Soapstone is a natural stone-it doesn't etch or stain and is heat proof, but it's a much softer stone. So it has its cons, but for your concerns-it might be not a bad choice.

It's not only a question of color, it is a question of overall appearance..the black you posted seems a bit too cold and harsh with your space.

Your kitchen is indeed light and bright and ties currently very well to the house, and has this soft , appearance to it, so trying to think how to preserve this great vibe, given the cabinets are staying.

Thank you so much for all ur valuable points , aprilneverminds

Hi all, talked with few contractors. Just for refacing the cabinet doors and painting that box(as it’s not real wood) , they gave an estimate of 6000$ without a countertop. A level 3 countertop with installation asked 4900$.
One contractor gave us 18000 to remove and put new semi custom cabinets with countertop.
So what do you think?
If going with replacing cabinets altogether, still couldn’t decide of which shade of white to go to have a warm feel .

Are you in the USA or Canada? If so, do you have an IKEA nearby (within an hour or two)? Do you have do-it-yourself (DIY) skills? If yes, then consider IKEA cabinets. They are less expensive and have quite a few standard options that are upgrades in other cabinet lines (e.g., soft-close drawers). However, they are "ready to assemble" (RTA), so you have to have decent DIY skills to assemble and install them. (You can hire someone to assemble and install, but you reduce some of the savings then.)

Honestly? I wouldn't get an expensive counter if you're not replacing the cabinets.

What cabinet brand are the semi-custom cabinets you got a quote for?

I personally don’t like Mdf and particle board. So I don’t prefer ikea cabinets.this is from J and K cabinetry.

Did they give you a comprehensive quote? Such and such cabinets, inner boxes made of X, doors Y hardware Z, amount of drawers, mouldings if will be mouldings(will the cabs reach the ceiling or will be like now?), etc, etc? Anybody did a drawing of a proposed kitchen for you? Does GC have a drafstman, or J and K have a kitchen designer that came up with a proposed plan, and they went by that?

18 K can be too cheap too. Or not. Hard to say until we know what actually they propose to install.

This is just a ball park estimate for a painted shaker cabinet. J and K have a dealer at our place and quoted 8000$ for all the semi custom cabinets. I saw the j and k cabinetry and they are all wooden door and plywood box. As of now it’s just a ball park estimate, that 17k includes quartz countertop and chicago tile backsplash. They came and measured at our house a gave a 3D design. Need to do small small changes.one more person and gave 17k too , but he s not very communicative and no 3D design. One more construction person came , he quoted 37k for same thing. His quote is double the amount of everything.

Cabinets reach the ceiling

Aprilneverends, Thank you so much for your last suggestion. After that i researched about the cabinetry brand they offer and found it’s not a good brand.Then I went through all the brands our nearest kitchen designers offers and found everything got very bad reviews.Then found a post in Houzz about Amish custom made cabinets.we have many Amish cabinet makers near us and after discuss with many people, we finalized with one cabinet maker.It’s 4000$ more of the budget and cabinet price , other designers offer.But it’s all wood.No laminate / MDF at all. Very high quality.So working with cabinet maker without middleman.Thank you so much.Without your suggestion, I wouldn’t have done this much research.

As you all suggested, I am going with shaker style.But he showed many door styles and said it’s all same price.even crown molding is same price.But I am thinking of choosing a simple one.let me know if you all have more suggestions. Going for white cabinets. I couldn’t decide of the which white I can go. Thinking about quartzite or granite countertop. suggestions are welcome.