re: What would you do with these cabinets?

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 if you are going to do it right, you will still need to sand off the clear coat if you are going to restain

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That will be the biggest PIA, they look like they have a glaze on them which will make it worst.

If you are painting the walls dark, then paint the cabinets a light color. If the walls are light, then you can stain/paint the cabinets a darker color.

You want the kitchen to be too dark, or too bright.

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I know stain will be a little less work

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I don't see how this is possible, cabinets will have several coats of poly on them, will have to completely disassemble, strip, sand, then re-stain, and then poly back. If you want to stick with stain I would strongly look at getting new doors made that way you only have to sand down the cabinet face which will be 10000x easier than trying to sand those doors down that you can have replaced for $30-$40 a piece.

I had nearly identical oak stain on my new house I bought and we went with an off white and a glaze and came out great! we did as someone else posted and did lite cabinets on perimeter with dark granite then dark cabinet with light granite on island which came out great. Will try to post some pics when I get home.

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Darker stained cabinets / white glazed island or vice versa...

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I have natural cherry full overlay slab perimeter cabinets and an antiqued black island. It makes the island seem more like a table and less like yet another fitted cabinet piece. Things can definitely be "too" matchy, especially in a large kitchen...it becomes cabinetry overload.

If you paint the ceiling white, it's going to push the existing color of the cabinets to a seemingly darker shade in comparison.

I would paint the ceiling white, the walls a light grey, and paint the cabinets a sharp white. That will make the counter tops stand out more and the floors won't get as lost. Right now it's a mess of beige and muted colors.

I'd steer clear of the distressed looking cabinets. My parents did that in their kitchen when they last built in 2011 and it already looked dated / played out IMO. Always best to steer clear of trends.

I like the white cabinet, black island look, but would settle for dark stained island given your granite color. White cabinets just look so clean. I'm currently working on a color scheme as well.

I suggest also doing something about that hood ventilation cover while you're making a mess.

Finally dug up some before and after pictures of mine. Couldn't be happier.

Before





After





Good luck with whatever you decide to do

Great transformation. The before was just awful IMO.

I've been house hunting. Not in a rush, but looking. It's mind boggling how many terrible kitchens are out there and it's a quick deal breaker for me.