I used Sherwin William's semi gloss "Seattle Red" on some really ugly dark brown woodgrain laminated cabinets with oak trimmings. I did use Ralph Lauren's red primer.

It's a townhome we using as rental unit, the cabinets were really tired and the place looked old.

The result was quite amazing, the Seattle red on dark brown yielded a rich dark cherry red, all for hundred $ or so. The cabinets gotten a new lease of life. $$ saved was spent on new stainless steel appliances and laminated floor.

We invested around $3.5k, for the past few years, we have gotten $200-$300/month more in monthly rental then similar units in the complex.

I did one set of kitchen cabinets in satin, and I didn't care for it in the end. It was too flat of a finish. IMHO satin paint is not the same sheen as a satin poly. I would recommend the semi-gloss. Can he show you samples so your own eyes can see it?

You could always pop into Sherwin Williams and look at the sheen. They usually have samples in the store, at least mine did when I was there last Friday.

Personally, I like a bit of sheen, I'd go semi gloss if it were mine.

HTH

agree agree, agree. Although the trend in cabinet sheen is less glossly than it was 10 -15 yeats ago, I'd go semi-gloss because it's paint, not cabinet finish.