Thanks, mjsee! Unfortunately the nearest Ikea is over a hundred miles away from us so I'm not exactly sure we'll go that route cabinet-wise. As for the walls, I tend to agree even if my first reaction when I saw this room was "Oh, eff my life, we need to paint this ASAP." It's grown on me and I definitely don't like the idea that once I paint it we can't really go back. I could see one day taking it down and drywalling it (the insulation is non-existent as we're in a warm part of California so I'd put some in at that point), but we're not there yet. Nicole--I love that look, I just don't think it'll work in my space. :\ Stacey--thanks! WRT the living space, it's set up fairly similarly to the scene shown: two green microfiber couches instead of a sectional, a black/glass coffee table, and from Overstock. We have a black/dark brown TV table, a desk hidden behind the TV, and generally dark-colored wood or pine bookshelves dotted around the room. Oh, and a massive cat tree. :) I took the shelves down from the windows. The fans we brought in are amazing--dark wood blades with these Steampunk-like brushed nickel bodies. The rug:

I think if you did a fairly dark gel-stain approach on the frames, you might get away with new dark-stained wood doors. But maybe not - it would be a risk. I agree with suzannesl and marcolo. I understand feeling hesitant to rip out cabinets in decent shape structurally, but it sounds like these are not functioning well for you and were not exactly heirloom pieces anyway. I have a similar situation with my cabinets and decided, with input from some of the posters here, that it was worth it to just replace them entirely. Putting in the time, effort, and $$ to "put lipstick on a pig" would not have made me happy in the end.

It would be helpful to see pics of the opposite wall with painted white brick and more of the room. Your mirrors & light gray furniture give impression you are craving light. Suggestion: First, clean the paneling well & paint out or replace the fireplace insert black to match other accessories & make it less prominent. Then, decide if the paneling is too dark or wrong color to work with furniture + rest of the house & same with brick. It seems like remaining decisions, e.g. paint paneling or replace with drywall, paint brick or reface, add mantle, add bookshelves, etc. will depend on your budget.

I think your ideas are spot on. <---written by a person who hasn't had a scrap of natural wood trim or walls in decades. I'm a white paint person that prefers to have my color in cabinetry, floors, furnishings and art. I'm also a person who lived in northern Wisconsin for 10 years and "selling and rebuilding" isn't as easy there as it is in other places. Little cabins sell but it's a tougher row to hoe with a large home. Large homes of any style. There are only so many buyers. It's too painful to talk about how I know this, lol. Since you have your own painters, maybe consider whitewashing the ceiling and painting the rest? If you don't like it, you can always paint over the white wash. I like the cable railing ideas.