might be ash. I don't think this is cherry or birch

Cherry, the light strip is the cherry sapwood. Some cabinet makers try to exclude the sapwood to maintain a more even color.

I was going to say ash, or cherry with sapwood. I have some furniture that is made of of both species, maybe the topcoat affects it but the only reason I was thinking maybe not cherry was because I would expect cherry to be darker if these are older cabinets.

These were installed by previous owners around 2006 if the age helps in figuring out :)

I feel like if the inside is that much lighter than the outside in real life I am going to say character cherry.

They seems to be in pretty good shape so we are trying to figure out whats the cost effective way to change the look of the kitchen. Should we keep them and paint/restain?or replace them with new cabinets. Which would be cheaper?

Why not show the entire kitchen so people can give you some ideas how to update the kitchen?

Here are the pictures of the kitchen + breakfast nook. The table in the nook will go away and we will replace it with banquette seating. We also like to lighten up the floor color.

Your kitchen is beautiful! What don’t you like about it? The floors already look like on my screen, and I love the wallpaper!

I think the cabinets look great. The lack of contrast between the floor and cabinets would bother me a little, but if you lightened the floor as you mention it would address that issue.

I don't know if these pics are yours or are from the listing when you bought (sounded like a new purchase), but the valances really don't work with the kitchen wallpaper. I think I could be won over to one or the other of the valances or the wallpaper, just not both together.

These pictures are from the listing. We don’t like the lack of contrast between floors and cabinets. A minor thing would be the reddish color of the cabinets. We like lighter floors so maybe that will fix it as @cawaps mentioned in her post above. I guess we could do the floors first and see how it looks before deciding on cabinets.

@cawaps we will replace the valances :)

Beautiful kitchen, I think adding a runner might break up the floor/cabinet color. Remove wallpaper and paint. The cabinets look new and I love the wood. Good luck.

Live there a while and then decide what you like and don’t like. I’m guessing the backsplash and wallpaper are the actual issue - not the cabs or floors.

I do like the wallpaper, but, not so much in your kitchen. The valances definitely have to go. I love the cabinets. The wood is gorgeous. I think the best idea is to live with it 6 months to a year and see how you feel about it then (after removing the wallpaper and valance.).

Those are beautiful cabinets

I would start by removing the valances and wallpaper, and replacing the light fixtures. Where will the banquette seating go? I don’t see a wall in your photos.