Here's a listing photo.

Oh, wicked cool to be able to do something fun with your paint! I have seen some awesome navy cabinets, but usually the island is navy and the perimeters are lighter. I love magsnj's powder-blue kitchen, and have seen some gorgeous minty ones.

Find a cool fabric you love, pick something out of it color-wise, and paint away! DH will get over it. Or go half-formula on the color if it is too much.

I was going to say navy too!

When I was asking, someone sent me this blog entry. I absolutely love the blue bottoms, wood counter, and white uppers. Haven't had the guts to go this route, as the cabinets are a little too nice to paint, and it doesn't really go with the rest of the house....

Here is a link that might be useful: Domestic Imperfection Kitchen Reveal

When I saw the "butcher block" counters, I thought blues. I'd like royal to navy on the bases and white or even yellow on the wall cabinets. You could do grey, light blue, green -- everything is so neutral that you can really so as much or as little as you like.

What's your favorite color? That will make you feel good in the kitchen, so it is probably a good choice. But if you are thinking pink or purple, it's all about how you use them. Anything's possible: soft petal pink above and charcoal grey below -- still thinking about purple. LOL

If lime was your first choice, then maybe a more toned down version of green would work for you both. Like SW Sawdust. And then use lime and burnt orange accessories with it.

Funny... I was thinking navy too for the lowers...but that medium blue..that might just work...and well doesn't blue just beg for yellow? ....lol...and hmm..I could still get in some lime/turquoise with linens and accents.

He already thought I lost my mind on the blueberry purple front door....but it is sooooo awesome...I added turquoise and violet ribbon to my wreath on the front door today...and it's so cute!

Or maybe gray?

Here is a link that might be useful: more blue kitchens

I'm painting the interior of our lemony cream cabinets a navy blue and it looks lovely. Maybe I'm a little ahead of your plans, but Old Navy in Advance from Benjamin Moore is worth considering as a paint. It's a popular navy color per the paint store which means it will often work in a lot of spaces.

I looove that shade that julieboulangerie posted! Delicious! But that last photo that nosoccermom posyed is pretty sharp, too.

Yes, for whatever reason those wood look counters do cry for a blue of some sort.

Love magsnj's kitchen:

Here is a link that might be useful: magsnj's kitchen reveal

Perhaps your husband is having a negative reaction to the lighter "pastel" type colors. Mine does also. Even before seeing the other pictures people posted I was thinking cobalt or navy blue. A darker green would look amazing, too! I would leave the uppers white.

I've painted kitchen cabinets in the past and it is a whole lot of work. To do it right you need to remove the doors and hardware, sand the cabinets thoroughly enough to assure proper paint adhesion and prime then them before the painting begins.

So many people are opting for white kitchens these days. Have you thought about changing out your hardware and painting the back splash and walls lime green (or other fun color) then adding colorful accents? I think your results could be just as nice and it would take a whole lot less work.

You know, I tend to agree with Ivmadison. It is a ton of work to paint cabinets, so I've heard. White kitchens are very popular today, why not try painting the walls a color you like and see if that works for you? Change out the knobs for sure. You can find inexpensive knobs on ebay or in multiple packs at HD. Paint is cheap too. It never fails to amaze me at the transformation a new paint color can make in a room. Of course, if you really don't mind the work in painting them, then go for it. You could always leave the uppers white and paint the lowers in a color you like, that saves some work too. Prep work for any remodel project is a lot of work, usually takes a lot more time and effort than you realize. If it were me, I'd start by painting the walls, all that white seems like it could use some color. Then, if you want more color, paint the lowers.

lvmadison makes a good point. You also have your white appliances to consider.

Being in the midst of painting our cabinets, I can confirm lvmadison's statements. So far, I've spent about 60 hours on this job including heavy duty sanding, priming, lighter sanding, painting, and light sanding. That doesn't include a 2nd coat of paint or the kitchen itself - it's just the cabinet doors. The kitchen itself is up next. I think the job in total will probably take about 90-100 hours.

And personally I think a 'quick job' where you don't do all the steps would look worse than what you have. Of course we have found that we live with things longer than expected because of cost, time, etc, so maybe figure that into the equation too before making a decision. You could try colorful accents before you committed to painting.

If you do, Stix primer (at BM) and BM Advance paints are great. It's not hard, it just takes time and some attention to detail.

I'd do the lowers in a deep blue or grey, uppers in a very pale yellow, and the backsplash with a painted mural of something.

Thanks guys for the suggestions.

I do not look forward to painting them...but they are mismatched. Semi gloss here and not there..stained in spots.. Oh yeah the hardware for sure..even the hinges have been painted here and there..

I will keep you posted.

If even the white would need to be repainted, you may as well go for a color!

My kitchen is not colorful (at the moment, my whole living room/dining room/kitchen seems to be "taupe") and it's very modern, but if I were doing a more traditional kitchen, I would die for a kitchen like the first one in nosoccermom's post of 0:59.

I just finished repainting my cabinets and doors, and island, too. Is it work? Yes. Was it hard? No. A little tedious at times, but using spray primer and paint makes the job go much faster.

I looked into options for spraying my custom color and was going to go with an option where you fill the canister yourself with your own paint but never got around to tracking one down and I was already in the middle of the project.

Sanding is messy but you really only need to scratch up the surface for adhesion purposes, with exceptions for rough spots, damage or mung build up.

Not a day goes by I am not sorry I painted my kitchen, I love it!

My tall way is near the first and last photos posted by nosoccermom and it really works as a neutral. If you already have a blue on your front door, working one of those shades into your kitchen would make sense. I'd paint the bases first and see how you feel when that is done -- white uppers would be clean and simple, but you can always add more color. You might also see how you like the look with a couple of doors down -- consider leaving open shelves (paint the backs inside a lime green for fun). It might carry you for a few more years beyond the planned few. Have fun!

I painted the cabinets in our last kitchen twice. Is it tedious yes and it is time consuming. But if you follow the instructions and the requirements for the paint job it is so worth it. We were on a tight budget for years and with some sweat equity we were able to spruce up the kitchen. I did all the painting and sanding and I am no DIY'er that's for sure.

Step 1 - Wash everything with TSP first. Actually I think I did that step twice and then make sure they are well dried. I brush painted mine lying flat.

greenhave and blfenton - that you love your painted kitchens is great to hear! We are painting the cabinets and frames the same color. The motivation was to make them look nicer (uneven wood filler, peeling paint, not evenly painted, paint on hardware) so I hope even if the color isn't different it will still be worth it! We are painting the interiors navy which will definitely be an improvement over the faded red from 1967!

terri_pacnw: I do like the white uppers and blue bottom photos. It would also theoretically be half the work! So maybe only 50 hours!?! I am painting my cabinet doors lying flat also. I roll on the paint then back brush it. Given our house is from 1939 I figure hand painting would work with the overall vintage feel of the kitchen. If you paint them with latex look into using an extender (XIM or floetrol) which gives you more time to lay on the paint and back brush. We are using BM Advance for the interior cabinets which is thin and does not need an extender.

I was just scrubbing with a dish cloth this morning..and the "gloss" came right off..these cabs have been painted several times..I don't think much could make them worse. :)