Also, I got a better photo of the granite last night. I promise to post before and after pics after the cabinets are painted. :)

Instead of chrome, what do you think of a bit less shiny look?

Maybe an antiqued pewter.

Here is a link that might be useful: pulls

Go for brushed nickel, they're soft and warm looking and you have that tone right in your counter top. It will really improve the look of the cabinets.

I love these type of makeovers! Can't wait to see the "after".

You may want to wait until you have the cabinets painted to choose the hardware. I also can't wait to see the transfomation!

terriks - Good point. DH is antsy for me to have it all in hand but I think we'll want to let the cabinets cure for a while before we re-install them anyway so that should buy me some time.

That island looks like it's made from fir ply wood....if it is you will have to do some special prep to keep that wild grain from showing through the paint

Lindac - I know, it sure is ugly! I planned on having beadboard or something nicer added to the island but the painter and DH both thought it would make the kitchen look too busy to have even MORE beadboard, and I had to agree. Our painter was confident that he'll be able to cover the wood grain so very little should show through, if any. He said he's been painting a ton of cabinetry lately and didn't seem concerned about it so I'm putting my trust in him to at least give it a try. If it doesn't look good then we'll move on to plan B. :)

I was going to suggest brushed nickel.

But you better shop the hinges first as if the cabs are older, you may have trouble finding hinges the same size. Are the existing hinges reusable? When we were staging our old home, we couldn't find hardware upgrades that would work, so we had to make the old stuff work.

You'll want the hinges and pulls to match...