It sounds like you like your current kitchen, it's your friends who do not, and they don't have to live with it. Do what YOU want. I think the wood is great, goes with your floors, and seems in keeping with the style of the rest of your home as far as I can see from slight glimpses into the other rooms. Replace the backsplash and light. Then rejoice in the fact that you will have saved yourself from a major headache!

Good ideas and thanks for the feedback. I'm considering a bunch of combinations and options. Ask me in an hour and I'll give you a different answer as to what I'm going to do

I really think new appliances, getting rid of the lighting fixture and adding that BIG stainless refrigerator will change things in a big way. Adding a lighter color countertop material and backsplash will go even further to lighten things up.

The worst thing that happens is I come back and paint the cabinets or paint the island.

I had a neighbor that had her painter clean and polish her cabinets rather than replace and they looked great. I'll talk to my painter about that possibility, too.

The first thing you ask before any kitchen "refresh" ? Do I LOVE the layout? Do I love cooking in it? Is it convenient when friends gather with me in the kitchen?

Only you can decide that, as above.

I notice your screen name, "homechef". Just sayin.....: )

Does a 48 inch fridge suit the cook and locale? Maybe not.

Absolutely agree with Jan on the dangers of piecemeal - that being said if it were me, I would want to knock back the wood a bit - would get some gorgeous rugs and change out the counter stools to something non-wood (or slipcover them in a simple cotton duck or white denim) - i would likely tackle the backsplash as well just bc i think it’s a straight forward project to get done and would make a big difference - a few small changes would help me be patient as I got ready for an overhaul

Here's the challenge as you spend on a 48 inch fridge to fill a HOLE: ) and suffer no great venting for a cook on an island

Draw and measure the existing space, every wall , window foot and inch. Include the butler, where all passages lead.

What's to lose? You're a year from that new fridge. Worth noting that in ten years? That will be a thirty year old cabinet set up, with those new appliances and whatever else is "new"

I've looked at the gutting the entire thing and starting over. I don't want to do that. I know that the three deficiencies of this kitchen are the cooktop on the island, the lack of a second prep sink and the flooring material. Everything else works well. It's a good space for entertaining. It's open without being too open. I like it. I'm going to leave a full gut to the next owners. Thus, the refresh.

I'm really leaning toward the change of countertops to a much lighter color material and new backsplash with some new appliances. I can always come back and paint the island or paint the entire thing.

Only thing I'd do is replace the counters with something like Taj Mahal quartzite and a backsplash to match.

Oh and since you're not redoing the layout, I'd replace the gas cooktop with an induction cooktop. Cleaner, and more efficient.

I would not paint the cabinets. I went with painted perimeter cabinets and two of my cabinets after 5 years are showing wear. (Garbage pail cabinet and cabinet under the drawer microwave.) My island which is quarter sawn oak and has the cleanup sink and paneled dw in it looks as good as the day it was installed.

I think your cabinets are beautiful. I would just change the top and backsplash - not white - they would need to be a little warmer.

Good luck and post after pictures!

My vote for Taj counter and matching slab backsplash. For your downdraft look at Best Cattura.

Just want to add…there’s no way the existing fridge is a KitchenAid. Even ”when KitchenAid was an independent company and made real products that lasted”, the company never made built-in fridges. The condenser on top is a dead giveaway. That fridge is an old Sub Zero. Sub Zero was the first company to manufacture built-in fridges, and the first to put the condenser on top of the unit. To this day, Kitchen Aid doesn’t make built-in fridges. Nor do they make fridges with condensers atop.

I hadn’t thought of induction when I commented earlier. It’s of course, the answer to no hood. So much cleaner. I don’t want to highjack your post to induction vs gas! I’ve had both & love my induction slide in.

OP is getting a Bosch induction cooktop.

Another vote for not painting the cabinets.  They appear to be a nice natural wood tone that isn't too red or orange.  The natural wood tones are coming back in style while the all white kitchen is on its way out.  

I think a good cleaning/polishing and new counter and backsplash would do wonders.  As an added bonus you could easily add the undermount sink you want if you update the counter.

Both quartz choices you mentioned are great.  I'm going with the calacatta miraggio gold myself and pairing with Portmore white backsplash.  It's similar to Chloe in style but is a bit warmer whereas I think Chloe runs more cool with more grey tones.

darbuka,

Strange, the manufacturers plate inside the unit says KitchenAid.

I've had a number of SubZeros in various homes through the years. I'm a retired real property appraiser. I know the difference. This unit in the picture is a 22 year-old KitchenAid.

I moved into a home with a 22 year old Kitchen Aid fridge that was in fantastic shape. They used to make a good product.

It sounds like your plan is taking shape. I suggest doing it in stages so you can see if once the fridge and lighting is in you really want new counters or not.

@darbuka , yes we have a 48” Kitchenaid built in that is 21 years old.

Before

and after we had stainless panels made to replace the wood.

Replaced counter, backsplash, etc. and had cabinets painted.

@darbuka, yes, that fridge is a built in Kitchenaid. My parents had the same one.

Maybe go to a tile store and see what they have for backsplash tile that may mimic the patterns on the plates you have on the walls? Bring in a bit of color so it’s not all brown wood and neutrals.

clt3, Thank you for the pictures. That's a beautiful result. Your countertops are one of the options I was considering. You make me feel bad about replacing a working 22 year-old refrigerator. I could have gotten stainless panels. They look great.

A picture is worth a thousand words. My DH really likes the white cabinets and painted island combination.

We have decided to try this in stages. Remove the lighting fixture. Replace the countertops, backsplash and appliances. Clean and polish the cabinets. Stop and assess. Potentially paint the island. Stop and assess. Potentially paint the entire kitchen.

Cpartist, You make a really good point about areas of heavy usage. I've experienced the wear and tear around a trash pullout in another kitchen. If we only paint the island, we would avoid this. Thanks.

Shelia Kelly, I like your suggestions of the Portmore and the Cloe. The choice will wait until the counters and appliances are done. Thanks.

I would come up with a plan for the whole kitchen that you love. Countertops and backsplash choices for wood may not work well with paint. Look around online for inspiration pictures, and also come up with a budget. Would it be better to sink an additional $50k into your kitchen rather than a retirement account or college fund? And I assume that you spend a lot of time in the kitchen, home chef, so it’s important to have that space be functional and pleasing to you.🙂

One thing you may consider is the trade off between the cost of painting cabinets and new - if the cabinets are several decades old (which they may be, looking at the partial overlay, raised panel style), they likely lack modern conveniences like soft close doors, full extension pull out drawers. Cabinet production has made leaps and bounds in the last decade or so, even lower priced products will often have more features than custom units from the 80s, 90s. To put a professional (durable) factory finish on the cabinets using water based poly products will be expensive; not doing so will make a painted finish that will chip and reduce the value of the cabinets. I do think the cooktop on the small island is not ideal and would be better somewhere on the perimeter.

@clt3 do you mind sharing the color of the paint you used on your island?

@emma1420, the color is Sherwin-Williams Aquaverde.

A word of advise from someone who also started a reno in "stages" and is ending up redoing everything, and backtracking on choices of items already installed..

It is fine to do things in stages, sometimes it actually makes it easier. BUT, have your design plans finalized for each options, to ensure that it will all work. It can get very confusing once you start. Changing a light is all good, but anything involving paint, make all your decisions first. Once you have part that is updated and part that is not, it is that much harder to make decisions.

No to painting them. Frankly I am not sure why you are embarking on this 'refresh'? You sound like you still love your kitchen AS IS. Why not wait until you dream of something else? Easy enough to swap out appliances that don't work for you. Just because someone told you kitchen's need a second prep sink doesn't make it fact or a 'deficit'!!! Most people get their dream kitchen once in their life. Sounds like you already did---so ENJOY!! Anything you do for 'future owners' is a GUESS as to what they might like and a huge waste if it's not to please YOU.

Make a plan and DO it, or leave it alone until you can commit. Your pause and assess will simply lead to continual frustration. By the time you finish, it will be a 25 year old kitchen.........

and you won't feel the progress or effect of your decisions. It will delay the "bang"!

As they say? "Love it or leave it......."

Ok, I maybe disagreeing with everyone here but I would START with painting the cabinets! I love the kitchen cabinets and they do look good quality, however the timber is now a dated and dark look. I had a similar kitchen but all painted in a dark cream with granite tops I hated. I painted the island and lower cabinets in black, which looked fabulous with the antique brass handles and the countertops, and the upper cabinets where all painted a creamy white. The splash backs we then changed from the dark cream subways to a small handmade subway tile in a similar colour to the upper cabinets. As we painted the cupboards ourselves it cost almost nothing and was easy to touch up if we did get a chip anywhere. We also painted the walls ( which again where in the heavy cream colour) to a lovely soft grey green colour. The whole effect was amazing, and all for next to no cost. The countertops,while still not a colour I loved, actually looked really good with the whole kitchen. The comments from everyone who saw it was’WOW’

I would be thinking out of the box...like how I could remove the built in oven stack, shuffle some cabinets, possibly using some of the matching cabinets from the butlers pantry and get the cooker on the exterior wall with proper overhead ventilation. Either a range or a cooktop and place an oven in the island. And possibly extending that run of cabinets on the exterior wall.

Even leaving everything as is, I would check to see if the glass doors in the pantry could be swapped with doors in the kitchen.

I would replace the chandelier with another recessed light rather than 'capping off' the J box.

inspo based on your photo:

Generate interior design AI renders at RoomDesignerAI.com

RoomDesigner AI, That was really nice of you to do the inspiration picture. Thank you.

Ouch. I just got the Taj Mahal quote from the fabricator, $17K. DH says to go ahead, which really surprised me. He went with me and that's what he liked. I've got to come to terms with it. Apparently I have expensive tastes and he's been hanging around too long with me and it has rubbed off.

Exploring the quartz options further. Waiting on quotes.

Consolidating decisions in one post.

We have decided on refreshing the cabinets with SW Creamy paint to match the trim and walls. We have hired a professional cabinet refresher who can remove the rope trim on the crown molding on the upper cabinets. He will also be removing the readed trim and the embellishments on the island. This will simply the look of the cabinets.

Unfortunately, he will not be able to remove the corbels underneath the island countertops. They are needed for support. It was too involved to remove them and install new support for the countertops. They will be painted the same as the cabinets. Hopefully they will fade into the background and you won't be able to see much of them with the chairs in place.

We balked at the Taj Mahal for countertops. While I could afford it, it would have meant not getting new countertops in the laundry room. This is what we decided on, the Istanbul granite. Here is a picture.

While my designer doesn't seem to be thrilled, the house and the kitchen are traditional. The granite really is the superior material. It's been purchased and I've okayed both the template and it's placements on the slabs. Just waiting on an installation date to get my other subs set up.

The next decision point is the lighting and hardware choices. The kitchen is open to the breakfast room. The current fixtures are black wrought iron. I like the one over the breakfast table, but the one over the island is awful. I can't wait to trash it. It was a grease and dust collector.

Here are pictures of the current situation. The island.

The breakfast room.

The sink, faucet and soap dispenser will be stainless. The large refrigerator will be stainless. The cooktop will be replaced by an induction unit which is black trimmed with a stainless band. A new stainless downdraft ventilation hood will be installed.

Note, and this is important to remember, over the island the house construction is such that it is cost prohibitive to try to add additional service to the ceiling. This means only one fixture, not two or three as is usually done.

I don't have a problem with mixing metals. I've lived in too many old houses to think that everything has to match. I have a gold Bunny Williams chandelier in the dining room and a gold light in the foyer. The house door hardware is brushed nickel. The kitchen cabinet hardware is antique bronze.

I do think that the two lighting fixtures in this area should be the same or very similar finish. I'm leaning towards a brass or gold finish. The brass seems a little softer. I think the current lighting is properly sized. The replacements will need to be fairly large 36" to 48" or so.

This first one has a single electrical source with about a 36" spread. Different companies. I thought the glass globes could be cleaned if necessary.

Bellevue ZP12591 Frieda 3 Light 10"W Linear Pendant - Olde Brass · More Info

Mykonos Medium Chandelier in Antique-Burnished Brass · More Info

A second possibility from the same company. My problem with this one is which one to I put over the island and which one do I put over the table? I am afraid the long one is too long.

Ali 10 Light Chandelier, Brushed Natural Brass · More Info

Ali 8 Light Chandelier, Brushed Natural Brass · More Info

Or should I go in a brushed nickel direction? Thoughts on finishes?

One of the things that dates your space is the Hi/Low upper cabinet heights. There are several good strategies for evening those out, and if youre going to be painting anyway, you might consider addressing that too. Good luck!

We took the huge TV mount off the wall cabinet. The cabinet will be painted. Here is the damage some yahoo inflicted on the cabinet. I did consult with one of the other forums about wood repair. They gave me advice about an epoxy product to use to fill the holes. I've got it. Home project to follow.

Made the final lighting selections and ordered them yesterday.

Over the island will be

Visual Comfort Vendome in Hand Rubbed Antique Brass

Alpine · More Info

Over the breakfast table will be Visual Comfort Linear Branched Chandelier in Hand Rubbed Antique Brass

Alpine · More Info

I got the Vendome as an open box item from Visual Comfort at a pretty good discount. Fingers crossed that it's just a return and not a damaged item. The Linear Branched Chandelier is on backorder and won't arrive until September.

It's coming together. Theoretically, I've got everything lined up for next week. Lets see if it really comes out as planned.

The tearout and disconnection is scheduled for Tuesday.

The countertop installation is Wednesday. They just called to reconfirm.

The hookups for the sinks, faucets and disposal are Thursday as well as the electrician for the 50w electrical installation.

/the next Monday, the appliance people are sending out their senior installation person to figure out what to do about the downdraft motor that doesn't look like it will fit in the outside space.

The refrigerator people are telling me that my unit might arrive as quickly as the end of the month. That would be great and sooner than I was expecting. I still have to schedule the backsplash installation and the cabinet painter. I bought the backsplash tile this week and it's sitting in the garage along with the grout and they caulk. I got lucky, the tile I selected had a bullnose version. Both the tile guy and the painter are on standby.

Wow I absolutely LOVE your selections. I have been looking at lighting (for a dining room) for about 2 years now, you know, like a part time job assignment. I love the new lighting you've slected and the countertop. ( fwiw, the lighting you chose is too large for my space and above my price point but they are gorgeous).

Please post pix when it's done. I think it's gonna be stupendous.

Salonva, They were above my price point, too. I'm a little horrified to spend that much. Still, I had a master budget. I saved enough from the change in countertops to afford to splurge on the lighting. Depending on how the rubbed brass finish reads, I may not be changing the cabinet hardware. That will save me something, too.

FYI, I have discovered that you can watch the Visual Comfort website. They have open box items on a pretty regular basis. That's how I got the Vendome light. It's going to be another month before I see the Linear Branched light. I'll post pictures when they are hung.

Here are the final pictures. This was a kitchen update. We had the cabinets professionally painted, new countertops and backsplash, most of the 2000's Tuscan type geegaws removed, some new appliances, new lighting, new sink and faucet, switched from gas to induction cooktop, and new refrigerator freezer.

Alpine · More Info

Alpine · More Info

Alpine · More Info

Alpine · More Info

Alpine · More Info

Alpine · More Info

Nice countertops!

Great transformation

Wow. Looks like a brand new kitchen. You must be thrilled with your new space.

Your update turned out so light and pretty, you must be thrilled. I'm almost done with my kitchen and new to induction too, hope you like it. You did a great job navigating all the advice and getting what you wanted...enjoy!

Beautiful!!

Look terrific -- nice transformation!

Looks terrific - fresh and bright, enjoy!!

One other item. I kept the original cabinet and drawer pulls. They were lovely, the knobs are in a rose bud shape. They were in an oil rubbed bronze finish. I was having trouble finding something to coordinate with the new rubbed brass lighting fixtures. I tried the oil rubbed bronze ones that I salvaged. I think they work well with the countertops which have some pretty large dark brown flecks in them.

Well after all the naysaying we all did (myself included), it looks terrific!

Enjoy your beautiful renovated kitchen--hope it is everything you dreamed of!