What about a lovely blue instead, or other accent colour. Particularly along back wall.

Thanks Kate for your quick response. I think blue would be too cold as the kitchen is dark despite the skylight. I wanted to lighten it up but agree some colour will be needed. Maybe a new backsplash? A couple of years ago we removed the wall where the sink is as it used to be the back wall of our house before an extension. That has added light but still not enough for my liking.

I would definitely remove the splash back as it is very dated . Paint your cupboards white and your new door to match . Perhaps a coloured Infinity tile , but there are so many tiles around to suit your taste .

Thanks amonymousanne, the new tiles would certainly look better. I’m wondering whether to leave the open shelves unpainted or at least have some wood showing somewhere.

Hi Linda,
We are so quick to replace everything with the new bright white that is so popular these days, the quality of your cupboards are beautiful, if you really are tired of them I would replace the doors instead of painting them, but before you do that you could replace your splash back with white glass or same material as bench top, or even white tiles,you could replace doors on overhead cupboards if you wanted but I would do splash back, paint walls white so pantry blends in , add black pendant lights above counter maybe a couple of new bar stools, then stand back and have a look then, love the warmth and quality of timber.

Some good ideas there Julie. I agree about the stools. Not my choice. Also not painting the wood. I’m torn. Even if painted it still has the cathedral arches which would be a put off for resale and expensive to have done. We may stay in this house another ten years or we may sell next year. I love your lights. I wanted to put them in when the wall came down but haven’t got around to it. As for backsplash I suppose the feature tile dates it but if I keep the cupboards wood coloured it goes with the era. Hubby loves the wall colour and I hate the white pantry so I might look at replacing that first. Thanks for all the ideas.

Hi Linda

You'll have to weigh up the cost of painting the doors or completely new fronts as with existing you are stuck with design feature. (Unsure whether you can turns cupboards inside out.. after painting and patching?).
Love the idea of white door with frosted glass - slider would be better but that's getting structural.
I would get rid of the cream so replace splashback with new fresh tiles, glass etc
If go with a paint spruce up, paint all the cabinetry white EXCEPT the built in unit with the fridge, oven and shelves in it, paint that dark like your beams in the living space. Some nice pops of colour accessories on the shelves would look funky. It will be a feature.
Lighting pendant as mentioned would be white with dark feature.
If you decide everything white, then black pendants. If you paint the back wall cabinetry white you could also put some wallpaper at the back of the shelving for fun.
Paint existing walls in kitchen area white as well (the living area looks white?).
Best of luck. Please post end result.

Hi Linda,
You could maybe paint your pantry door same colour as walls, there are kitchen companies that will replace your doors only if you decide to change them, you can get great tile paint these days to paint your splash back for a fresh new look, best of luck with what you decide, hope you post a few photos.