I‘d consider if i could do without the upper cabinets on the exterior wall altogether and just feature s cool exhaust hood and the window on that most visible-from-upstairs wall.

To maximize the other cabinets you might invest in replacing the base cabinet shelves with pullouts, adding organizers, etc etc.

The cabinets aren't really great--I hope you don't spend too much painting them!

I would put wood on top and paint it to match, but your cabinets aren't level so it's not going to be easy. I'd paint the walls only and think about a future remodel. At least live there long enough to be sure you like the layout. (If you haven't yet gotten a quote from a good cabinet painter, you'll know why I say "wait" once you do...)

So yes the cabinets are AWFUL, and our plan is to get new taller cabinets down the road. I was thinking of painting them ourselves (only bc we will only be keeping them for another 5 years or so). I want to save so that when we do the remodel we do it right. Just trying to make it so that I don't wince every time I look over the banister. Not sure if down the road the we will keep the layout. It's a very narrow and long kitchen.

I think the wood tone of the cabinets is nice and relates to the wood railing. painting the walls will make a huge difference. if you simply add wood to the top of the cabinets i would think that painting it the wall color will help it disappear.

That's a great idea! Eventually all trim in the house is getting painted white, including the banister. But it will be while until we get upstairs.

@Jennifer Cohen From everything I’ve read on the subject of painting cabinets it’s not a DIY to be taken lightly & it’s a huge investment of time & energy to do it right. As @Fori says, or warns, it’s $$$ to have professionally done. That cupboard top view is a challenge & will likely be a challenge still when you remodel with taller cabs as they’ll still have tops that can be seen from stair top. Nicer tops but still tops. My thought is do the best you can to create a level top across all the cabinets with plywood or something like that & then paint the entire top the same color as the walls. You won’t see the white standing in the kitchen but viewed from the stair landing the tops won’t catch the eye but would ’blend’ with wall. I think that’s what Fiori meant with her ’paint it to match”. That’s all the time & $$ I’d spend for now. That should keep you from wincing every time you look over the bannister! 😊

This is what the kitchen looks like on main level. It's long and narrow. With the wall behind having a large pantry and the half bathroom. We took a bunch of walls down when we bought the home in the main living room/dining room/formal living room, to make it very open. But the kitchen is not as easy as the walls are needed for the storage/bathroom.

As an inexpensive short-term fix, I'd probably line the tops of the cabinets with some sort of decorative (but not too decorative) paper or cardboard cut to fit each cabinet. Then see if you can relocate some of the stuff stored on the counters and call it good.

KW thank you! That is a great idea. I think I will just put tops on and paint it the light color and then get a shade for the window and a nice rug. Should hold me over for awhile!

trim out the tops and have a carpenter fit in a piece of mdf or particle board to from a ledge ...as below things resting nicely on the tops of wall cabs.....

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. rest baskets or "things" to your liking. the top of the cabinets need a trim out anyway and give yourself a ledge . I think it's cider maple or that very common stain on maple you should be able to get trim pieces to match quite easily.

You have the right mentality of looking for an inexpensive fix. I'd get some inexpensive boards to cut to fit the top of the cabinets and then paint them the color of the new wall color so they blend in. If you are getting new cabinets in 5 years, I wouldn't even bother painting these. Paint the rest of the room and swap out the cabinet hardware and it will make a world of difference.

The cost to paint the cabinets and yess ITS NOT A DIY TASK!!! its not worth it if you are going to remo the kitchen in 5 or less years id say live with it as is and start okanning the remo

The lake place we rented last summer had this issue. Their designer placed antiques on them in vignettes that made sense near the lake, but we could still see the unfinished tops. With your vaults you will never have 'to the ceiling' uppers so it's not an issue that's going away. Maybe you should wall paper the kitchen and put the same paper on cardboard that fits the tops.

Don't waste time and money painting the cabinets. Cut pieces of a thin wood/plywood to place above cabinets and stain in a similar color to the cabinets.

When you design the new kitchen, see if they can make matching finished pieces to place on top of the cabinets, just like some kitchen designers can order/make matching panels to place under the upper cabinets for a more finished look.

Do you have kids? If you paint the tops only of the cabinets to blend in with walls, you could also have kid-drawn pictures up there, laid flat. You'd only see from above, and maybe it would make you smile instead of wince. It's bound to get dusty, so just swap out whenever there's a new project. The kids might also get a kick out of seeing their work there.

I can also picture fun messages up there on occasion, like "happy birthday [kid name]!" or "eat your broccoli". Something to make the kids - if you have them - look forward to seeing what you left them up there. When we celebrated Easter when the kids were little, I'd leave footprints from the Easter Bunny on the tile floor (before they woke up.) I totally would have done that on pieces of paper above the cabinets if I had an overlook like that. You own it... might as well make it fun!

If you feel like practicing your woodworking skills, perhaps you could install crown molding and use painted drywall in the resulting hole. It'll still get grubby, though.

The blue paint in the kitchen...I assume you are planning to change it? Because I think the wall paint is only adding to the issue of the tops of the cupboards by providing so much contrast.

I'd choose a neutral wall colour that blends well with the cabinets and then paint the tops of the cabinets to match.

You can do as others above have suggested and have some wood cut to fit and paint that....pieces of MDF would do the trick as well. I'm not sure it is necessary. I'd just clean and paint the tops so that the part that shows from upstairs matches the wall colour.

Of course you could put some items up there, like plants or keepsakes etc - but then everything up there is going to need regular cleaning/dusting. That would drive me crazy but YMMV.

It wouldn't take me long to paint out the trim on the windows, and baseboards and the handrail on the upper floor to a nice white or creamy white colour. Here are a couple of suggestions for what might work for wall colour. There are a lot of neutrals that would play nicely with the cabinets - have a look on Houzz for ideas for wall colour with oak cabinets. You can look at some greens as well.

974 Muskoka Trail

HC170 Stonington Grey

Take out the track lighting currently highlighting your cabinet tops. Get some molding to finish off the top of the cabinets and fit sheets of wood stained to match current cabinets between the molding and wall. I wouldn’t decorate up there since it isn’t a feature. Get rid of the fake plant, switch the blue paint out to match existing walls. Pick a color and bring in some accessories. Start your planning for a kitchen space you love.

Looks like you have a nice skylight. You will notice it more without the track lighting. Not sure what kind of lighting would look good but someone will.

Definitely planning on painting the kitchen a light greigish color and all the trim will be white. Decor wise everything's just a mess as I've been focusing on the main living space. We took a bunch of walls down and just painted the walls and working our way through all of the trim. But planning on heading to the kitchen next! Addressing the cabinet tops asap though as I literally can't stand it. Nothing like standing at the top of the banister and staring at unfinished wood 🤣

I mentioned it at the top of the thread and I still think that if you can maximize your large pantry and the remaining cabinets, simply removing the uppers on the exterior wall will help update the look of your kitchen.

Unfortunately since the kitchen is narrow and long I need every last cabinet. I don't have enough cabinet storage right now as it is. 😢 Hoping to eventually get a piece of furniture to use temporarily until we get the kitchen redone in the area by the table for stuff I want to store that's not used as often.

It seems like you're planning to paint out the good stuff (and I don't mean the cabinets). 😁