Would it be crazy to paint these cabinets?

[teeah22]

This isn't the greatest picture but you can get an idea of what I'm working with.  They are nice cabinets and in good shape, only 6 or 7 years old, but I hate the color.  They're very orangey.  I'm also not into the mismatched island look and the island is already painted black.  There are no windows directly in the kitchen but there's an ajoining breakfast nook with windows and light coming from the hallway that you can see in the picture.  The natural light situation isn't perfect but there definitely is some, plus we are planning on adding some pendant lights at some point.  I would paint the walls a light gray to keep it brighter, maybe something like Silver Drop or Dolphin Fin from Behr:




This is our "forever" house so I hate to live with something I'm not happy with, but I'm also nervous about messing with something that really doesn't have anything wrong with it.  Plus it would be a huge project (we would DIY). WDYT?

ETA:  I would paint them black to match the island

[Blueper]

This might be a bit too trendy, but if you go with black I would paint the upper cabs white.

[thewop]

I have a hard time getting on board with painting perfectly good cabinets. I'd experiment with wall paint to see if it changes the look of the kitchen first. I'd be more on board with the cabs restained over painted.

[boiler717]

I don't think you are crazy for doing so, but I would probably see how the room would look once you painted the wall color. I think they will look a lot less orangey if you repaint the walls.

ETA: and add some runners

[Deleted]

I wouldn't paint perfectly good cabinets either. Staining them darker would be okay though. First I would try changing the wall color to Dolphin Fin to tie in the black island and countertops. There's a lot of orangey brown with the paint, floors and cabinets. I think a cooler color would offset that.

[emisi]

I don't have any issue painting cabinets - did it myself - but agree with PPs that they may look less orangey if you paint the walls. The walls look pretty orange, so that could be influencing how the cabinets look.

[teeah22]

The walls are more of a terra cotta/cinnamon color IRL. I also wouldn't mind having them stained darker but that doesn't solve the problem of the mismatched island - can you stain something that's already been painted? I'm guessing you probably can but that it would be a ton of work. I still can't figure out what made them choose this cabinet color in 2006, I wouldn't say it was what was in style then.

If I paint the walls a cooler gray (greige?), will that just make the warm cabinets look weirder? I guess there's only one way to find out, the walls have to get painted at some point...

[beanieweanie]

I'd do the walls first and see, but if I was going to paint the cabinets, I'd probably do white - I think white with a black island will coordinate much better than the orangey wood with black. But I do think that if you hate them, you should definitely paint them, regardless of how nice the wood is or how new they are. It's your house, you have to live with them, so you should love them.

[sierramist03]

Wow that's a beautiful kitchen. I'd hate to see you paint them and then not like it. I'd try a new wall color first

[kaylie]

I'm painting perfectly good maple cabinets white without hesitation because I hate the color. If it were my kitchen, I would leave the island black but paint the other cabs white. I'm actually considering doing the same thing in my own kitchen. If you look up "black island" on Houzz you can see a bunch of examples there. I think our kitchen is too dark to go with all black, but if it had more natural light it's something I would consider.

[tarheels]

I bet those cabinets are hardly orange at all once you take away that burnt sienna color. Paint the walls and then wait 2 months to see how you like the cabinets.

[tarheels]

And you didn't ask, but look into getting rid of one of the textures in there: you have brick, tile, and granite, and it's too much visually. Paint over the brick or ditch the backsplash.

[mrs.jacinthe]

I'd definitely paint the walls first. Honestly, painting cabinets is a big of a PITA and if it CAN be avoided, I'd try to. It's possible they'll be a better color when the walls are painted.

As regards painting them black - I think even if you lighten up the walls, black may be too much with your countertop. What about painting the cabinets a medium-gray?

[lavender444]

We have hickory cabinets with a honey stain on them. Thye look similar to yours. I didn't love them, and considered painting them. We added in a new backsplash and painted the walls instead, we used Behr's Ocean Pearl, a light greige. Now I'm happy that I didn't touch the cabinets.

[grey56]

I can't see your kitchen picture, but I wanted to say that we just painted our living room Silver Drop and it's very light.  If I could do it over, I would do Dolphin Fin.  My DH painted the room while I was away for the weekend, and he said he'd kill me if I made him redo it.  Haha.  Our LR doesn't get too much light, either.  Silver Drop is just so light....it's like a non color.

[teeah22]

Jan 21, 2013 11:10:13 GMT -5 tarheels said:

And you didn't ask, but look into getting rid of one of the textures in there: you have brick, tile, and granite, and it's too much visually. Paint over the brick or ditch the backsplash.

Ha the seller made sure I knew that she paid extra for that brick, I think she wanted me to know what a deal we were getting (it was a short sale).  I really don't think it reads as too much texture IRL though.

[adhdfashion]

Ditto to what everyone else is saying about the wall color. It's making the whole room read orange. What about painting the island cabinet white first see how that changes the room?
BTW I have the exact same cabinets, handles and pulls as you. So I'm super excited to see how it turns out. LOL Test Kitchen.

[adhdfashion]

I really want to gel stain my cabinets a darker shade. The project is so huge its hard to just jump in. I should have done it before we had kids!

[jolita]

I'd start by painting the walls and then see how you feel about the cabinets.  If you still don't tlike them, then paint them.  I also like the idea of painting the lower cabinets black and uppers white, or just going a medium gray with all of them and leaving the black island, just to break it up a bit.  But I also don't think it would look bad if you did do all black.  Your space is open enough that I don't think it would seem too dark.

[thatgirl2478]

Jan 21, 2013 9:55:46 GMT -5 emisi said:

I don't have any issue painting cabinets - did it myself - but agree with PPs that they may look less orangey if you paint the walls. The walls look pretty orange, so that could be influencing how the cabinets look.

This is exactly what I was going to say.

[aweilba]

Jan 21, 2013 11:08:07 GMT -5 tarheels said:

I bet those cabinets are hardly orange at all once you take away that burnt sienna color. Paint the walls and then wait 2 months to see how you like the cabinets.

My thoughts exactly.  I think the current wall color only helps to pull the orange tint out of the cabinets.  If you painted the walls a different color, I think that the cabinets wouldn't look nearly as orange.  I think they're took beautiful to paint over.

[lys]

Your problem is the wall color combined with the floor and cabinets = overload
Paint your walls and see how you feel.
I would not paint those cabinets at this point.
Since you seem to like the grays - try a lighter shade that works with the tile archway and your granite. Do a sample of the Dolfin Fin and Silver Drop ( a good 3' x 3' area of each) and see how you like them at different times of the day.  Either will totally change the look of your kitchen!
You will need to prime over that wall color before paining.

[SusanBAnthony]

I like the cabinets and no way would I paint them. I would paint the walls and get rid of the brick and the backsplash in a hot second, though!

I don't know about stripping the island, I think it would be pretty tough. I think an all black kitchen would be way too dark in that space, with all the upper cabinets.

[OG Jo]

I vote paint the walls first and see how the cabinets are after that. I have my hall bath painted Silver Drop and my master painted Dolphin Fin. I will say the Dolphin Fin does not read a very true gray in our bedroom and I'm planning to repaint it at some point. My husband actually think it's green... The Silver Drop I like but it is very light and oddly enough looks like it has blue hues to me.

[simpsongal]

Jan 21, 2013 9:26:40 GMT -5 thewop said:

I have a hard time getting on board with painting perfectly good cabinets. I'd experiment with wall paint to see if it changes the look of the kitchen first. I'd be more on board with the cabs restained over painted.

This exactly.  The pumpkin color on the wall is probably making the cabinets looks more orange.  It's a lot of wood too - maybe a couple long rugs would help too?  The black island is a little severe for me, so maybe try painting it a different color?

I think the silvery colors you posted would just clash with the undertone in the cabinets.  Maybe a sage?

[sawyerthedestroyer]

We have silver drop in our living room and it's a very cool gray. Like PP said, slight blue undertones. That should help with the cabinets' orangey-ness.

[sunny]

I wouldn't paint the wood. I would change the wall color, and then get rid of either the brick or the tile to make it more cohesive.

[kellikans]

like the others, I would paint the walls first to see if the cabinets look better. also, I don't think that the backsplash really goes with your granite. can you look into maybe redoing that? it might help things look more cohesive. and adding rugs goes a long way in helping a kitchen feel more put together.

if you still want to paint, I would paint them white and keep the black island. it doesn't seem like you have a lot of natural light in there (at least from that picture). I would be afraid that an all black kitchen (black cabinets, black countertops) would feel like a cave.

[teeah22]

Jan 21, 2013 20:32:03 GMT -5 @crackhabit said:

They look good.
Can you post a pic where they look crappy?

It's not that they look crappy, I just really don't like the color.  And it's not one of those mismatched island situations where the island looks good being a different color, it looks out of place.  But here's the pics from the listing photos, they're the only other ones I have right now.

[mrs.jacinthe]

OK, that top picture, where the walls are tan, really changes the color of the cabinets. However, honestly, I'm not sure I love them that color either.

That said, I rescind my recommendation to paint the walls first and then see if you like them better. It is a very honey-ish color. If you don't like them, just paint them. I *do* think it would be too dark in there if you painted the whole set of cabinets black. But I think they'd look fantastic in a lighter color or white.