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ct design studio Replacing the doors and drawer fronts would take care of the routed design, they could be painted along with the cabinets. White is always classic unless you had your heart set on wood tone, and white would look nice with your wood floors. Is the wood soffet for appearance or functional, if you could take that down it would really open it up for you. How about using your rug for inspiration and painting the walls a soft yellow or sage? And a flush mount light fixture of your choice:

olldbobbi Wow! I have that same awesome light fixture in my kitchen! Lucky us.

The groove in your cabinet doors can be filled with putty if you're going to paint them. You will need to sand them absolutely perfectly smooth after, and during the sanding process you may find little holes that didn't quite get filled so you will want to re-putty and re-sand. But if you don't sand them smooth you will see it after you paint.

It might be better to get a quote on having new doors made, it will save you lots of time, I promise!

Do you plan to replace your countertops also?

I would say for the color, it's a combination of personal choice, and what colors you have going on in adjacent rooms. I painted all of mine ultra pure white because I wanted a seamless flow with my appliances. I also removed a few cabinet doors because I like the look of open shelving. One of the doors opened up right to the kitchen window, and I am a rather clumsy person so I knew it was only a matter of time before I opened it up right through the kitchen window!

Deborah Butler, Brickwood Builders If you are going with white appliances, then I would paint them white. I have never tried to paint over cabinets with the router design. I don't know if that can be filled and if the filler will stay in. A better option may be to purchase unfinished doors that you like (they can be ordered to size by a cabinet shop) and paint them to match the boxes.

hushlush I have been looking at white for the cabinets... would I need to replace the fronts, or could I putty up the design and paint over that? Other than the glorious router design, the cabinets are in great shape... I would like to save as much money as I can so that I can go a bit crazy on a new counter top... The soffet is for appearance... I can open up the cabinet and see up to the ceiling... So, that can be cut out? What you can not see if the other half (eat in kitchen) and it's already painted sage. great minds think alike!
Thank you for your feedback!

olldbobbi I love sage green! Great, soothing color choice.

Have you tried painting the doors as they are now, with the routed design? You may find it not so bad with paint and probably not as noticeable because it will all be one color instead of the two-tone you see now.

hushlush Good question, Bobbi... My mother-in-law painted over top of the design in hers and I do not like it... Just reminds me of my g-maws house! I was thinking of two ideas:
1. covering it with beadboard (not sure how that would work)
or
2. doing something like this...

ct design studio It appears the soffit is a separate piece that can be removed and you can finish the top with a piece of crown molding to give the cabinets a finished look. I understand wanting to reuse the doors, however in order to get the putty to stick, you will spend an enormous amount of time sanding and prepping just to get that filled in and there will be a lot of time sanding and getting the putty even. Once you coat it with paint any flaw would show. To me it would be worth it to have new doors made. You could possibly route out the design in the top cabinets, remove the center panel and replace it with glass. Then just have new bottom doors made. You will need to paint the interiors of any cabinets you use glass on.

olldbobbi hushhush, if you like that look, then I say go for it! What is it, exactly?

hushlush Thank you CT Design Studio. I like the idea of routing out the top doors and replacing it with glass.
I will look online for replacement doors to see what the cost can range... Would MDF be acceptable?

patriciarhall an alternative to trying to fill the router groves is to cover with moulding which would give your cabinets some dimension and modernize them as well. It is not hard to measure and cut moulding pieces, nail in place with small finishing nails and lightly caulk around the seams, then paint everything white (BM White Dove). Whole lot cheaper than new cabinet doors. You can simply cut the scallops off the piece of wood over the sink. White cabinets and appliances, butcher block countertops and wood flooring will look great with sage green paint. As for the light fixture, a larger flush mount fixture will do the trick. If $ no object, replace light with can lights around circumfrance of kitchen. Neat project!

mpoulsom Like the idea of getting rid of some of the solid doors and make them glass front doors. You can just cut out the centers and put either clear or frosted glass. I would go for the white cabinets and do a sage & beige & white & tan glass mosaic tile backsplash. It IS a pain in the you no what to fill all those crevices with putty, but you will have to take all the doors off anyway and prep them, so if you don't mind the elbow grease and time, you CAN do it. I highly recommend that you get european hidden hinges as well. You can buy them in contractor bulk packages at home depot at a reasonable price. And if you do leave off any of the doors, painting the inside of them sage or tan would be nice. Depending on what you paint the walls and backsplash colors you use. Do a bamboo or wooden or natural blind/shade in the sink window. I would go for a neutral colored countertop personally. Staying in the color realm of the butcher block laminate (tanish), you have now. It IS a neutral color and will go with almost any color scheme in the future.

olldbobbi mpoulsom, I love the idea of the European hidden hinges. They have to be one of the greatest cabinet inventions of all time. And I love your idea of the colors for the backsplash, I think hushhush would be wise to go with this choice.

mpoulsom aww bobbi, you are too sweet! how are your countertops doing? :)

olldbobbi Pretty good! No complaints so far. Two clear coats and a 48 hour wait and good to go. I painted the other section today so I'm feeling a little high on the fumes right now!!! Thanks so much for asking!

mpoulsom Try not to kill too many brain cells with this project of yours bobbi! Hopefully you can open the windows right now since fall is upon us!

olldbobbi mpoulsom, seriously! I don't have that many brain cells left! And it's 100 degrees in my backyard right now. Fall is somewhere, just not here!!!

PoshHaus Nice window, layout and floor space. Can't wait to see the after picture =)