Maybe post some pictures of adjacent space?

if you are going to keep this kitchen configuration for long term I think Id put in a two tier counter at the island. I think I would prefer it in your particular space...not on every peninsula or island certainly. Id consider painting only the upper cabs. the space is big enough for the two finishes.

the deeper / two tier counter like this is easy to achieve with your space available... and I think it would suit your setting. You also have a windowless kitchen so white uppers would interest me as shown below ..... and maybe get some glass prepped doors for a couple of the upper cabs. I guess decisions will be relative to your budget.

White and walnut kitchen · More Info

Doheny Penthouse Renovation · More Info

IMO painting cabinets is huge DIY job and rarely looks good for any lenght of time and to have them painted will cost close to new. The cabinets are dated but look to be in good shape A new wall color some LED 4000K light bulbs and wait to save for a real redo and for right now get something for storage how can you work on those cluttered counters. BTW 2 tier islands are not a good look and honestly hide nothing unless all your friends are less than 42" tall. A cook top in an island always bad design . So no painting for the cabinets , better lighting and some good storge for now .

This a tough one, because the cabinets look nice enough, but they have things that would make me wait and save my money for a full remodel.

The things that would bother me:

- lack of drawers

- uneven upper cabinet heights that don't go to the ceiling.

- cooktop in the island

- wasted space in the middle. Was the table supposed to go where kid table is?

- pantry door not in the best location

- fridge against a corner/wall

I had a similar issue in my previous kitchen, although most of the layout was decent. I waited seven years before I gutted the kitchen and we worked first on the 5 bathroom that we hated even more than the kitchen!

Have you narrowed down the color that you’d like to do for the downstairs walls?

Is there a dining room to the left (when entering your home) off the foyer? What color is on the walls in there? It appears to be a different color than the rest of the downstairs.

I think that the kitchen has some separation due to the way the ceiling is dropped + enclosed posts between it and the living room - so, it could be a different color than the living room + hallway + foyer (you’d have to figure out how you wanted to handle the side of the stairway + stairway wall that opens to the kitchen/living room - maybe some type of wall paneling so it could be painted the same color as your trim).

If you definitely want all of the downstairs to be painted the same color, you’ll have to find a color that works with your granite/backsplash if you’re keeping both of them.

Will you add a closer photo that shows your backsplash + granite? Maybe focus in closer on the area by your sink/window (clear off counters first) so we can see how they look with natural light. On my screen, it looks like your backsplash and countertop don’t work together - but maybe it’s just my screen.

Personally, I would rather spend the money on new countertops right now vs. painting your existing cabinets.

HOWEVER - I would also want to get the cooktop off the island. Your island would be much more useful if the cooktop wasn’t there + I’d want real venting for when using it. So, new countertops wouldn’t make sense if you also want to relocate your cooktop - but don’t want to spend the money to do so right now.

I’m in agreement with chispa - I would rather save the money that it would cost to have your cabinets professionally painted (fairly expensive if done correctly) and put it towards a bigger kitchen renovation. If your cooktop wasn’t on the island, I might have a differen’t opinion. Persoanlly, I would rather have more drawers on bottom + upper cabinets to the ceiling + pantry moved so it doesn’t break up the cabinet/countertop run - but if your kitchen functions fine for you, maybe those changes aren’t important to you. However, I think it’s importwnt to have correct venting for your cooktop - and you aren’t going to be able to achieve that with it being located on your island.

Just a thought - if you paint the cabinets, consider removing the fanned out molding strip on the top of the cabinets and replacing it with something simpler. That current top trim molding dates the kitchen.