Update Oak kitchen cabinets

I would definitely go with paint. A white is timeless and will contrast nicely with your countertops.

Personally I would stain them darker and then add new hardware. Do the counter tops light to go with the flooring. Silver accents would go nice.

My friend had them painted white to make the kitchen brighter. They are gorgeous! Only make them darker if you have lots of sunlight.

Just my opinion but you may want to pick your counter top first, then that would help you decide the cabinets. If you do the cabinet's first then find a countertop that you love you may want to have different color cabinets. it would be easier than redoing them again.

Myself, I would never cover up real oak with paint. I love the grains of oak.

Lighting, lighting, lighting. Always remember that no matter how little or how much $ you spend, if the lighting's not right, it's still just a ho-hum look. Install under-the-counter lighting and make sure your overhead lighting is the best it can be. Did you know that brass and oak are "coming back"? I'd install my lighting, new counter top and then evaluate what the cabinets should be. You may be surprised that updating the hardware may be all that it needs.

Stain them a darker color and do a light countertop and backsplash. Painting is all the rage now, but that trend will do away soon once everyone figures out how hard it is to keep white cabinets clean. Wood cabinets will never go out of style, especially with a marble or other solid surface countertop.

Do your counter tops first, a nice light color like melon, beige, sand or cream. You appliances are just like mine, make the cabinets white a high-gloss. Make sure you paint the cabinets laying flat, and buy new hardware, but it can get pricey. You can also spray the hardware some color that would give contrast to. the cabinets. Good Luck!

If You like the oak cabinets and would like to stay light, may I suggest you strip the cabinets. This will lighten up the oak color and perhaps you will like the color better. I did this with my cabinets many, many years ago that had darkened even darker and did no go well in the small kitchen. After they were stripped the grain was finally visible and it was a gorgeous color! All I did was clean then up and polyurethaned them for a top coat, no staining needed. It brightened and opened up the kitchen so much that I didn't have to change anything else other than put a backsplash behind the stove.

As a lover of wood my choice is always to stain in order to keep the beautiful grain of the wood. Of course that means that if they are varnished (I am assuming yours are not) you cannot stain them.

Just adding door knobs or pulls, if there are none, changes the entire look of the cabinets and that could be an option as well.

If your doors already have a varnish finish then staining them won't work unless you remove the varnish first. But you might be able to apply a darker shade of colored varnish to the cabinets to give them a new look. Colored varnish comes in quite a few colors, and by applying thin coats of varnish (on properly prepared doors) you could change the entire look of your kitchen.

Something to keep in mind: Once you apply paint to unvarnished wood you can't go back to wood without a huge amount of effort.