A medium grey would be a nice compromise. It would look nice with the blue and would be dark enough to cover the cabinets without darkening the kitchen too much. Anything would be better than the hunter green!

You'll need to sand and prime anyway because anything in a kitchen will have accumulated a lot of gunk. A couple extra coats isn't going to be the hard part of the work, so I'd say go for the colour you really want. I painted a dresser and used an oil primer plus two coats of paint and it still only took a weekend to do with drying time in between.

I agree with @bethaneebee. I was going to say some shade of grey as well.

PLEASE post after photos, my rental cabinets are also dark green. I want to paint them white... yikes.

How about painting the upper cabinets the white you like, and the lower ones the off black? Then you'll only have the extra work on half the cabinets. It would also make the kitchen feel more open.

I am stuck on the horns of the same dilemma. @allisongryski, with all due respect, painting even a large dresser just isn't the same amount of work & time as that required to paint a kitchenful of cabinets. In my case, they're seventies wood (not great) so I used 0000 steel wool to knock down the shine and then gave it the Howard's treatment. Much improved.
You might try doing a light sanding and then wiping on a stain or paint finish over the green. Try this on the inside of a cabinet door until you find something you like. Black could look good with a little of that green showing through.

What's your problem @ yul ? I also think a medium gray will look marvelous with the aqua walls. This should not take more than a weekend to do. Good Luck!

I see you have a lot of red accents. How about a retro blue-green, much like the color of the mixing bowl on the counter?

That is some serious hardware, especially the brass corner points. Can I have it?

You don't have to sand to degrease. There is a product, Arm & Hammer Degreaser, that when sprayed on, the grease actually sides off. I cleaned my oven hood with it, and it was spray once and wipe quickly before the grease hit the range, literally. It's like magic. You can get it on Ebay.

I would degrease, and paint the cabinets the white you want. If you use Ben & Moore, you will only need one coat of paint, but two coats of primer. One coat of primer, sand and caulk and touch up primer where needed, and then prime again. After that dries, one coat of paint is all you will need. I painted DARK brown painted cabinets this way, and it worked beautifully.

And you do need to seriously declutter. When I moved, I left one cabinet completely empty, and put the stuff in there that would normally be on the counter. I have a coffee bar on the counter, and that's it. I love having a cabinet to shove all the things in to keep them off the counter.

P.S. Since you have very limited counter space, I would seriously consider putting up open shelving where the poster is...just to get some things up and off the counter.

Acknowleging that it's not just the blue walls that you're working with, but the tan flooring and wooden countertops and trimwork - I'd suggest either a Charcoal Grey or Dark Chocolate Brown...

...and as long as you're at it, why not consider painting the interiors a bright and fun color - such as a matte tomato red? (just be sure to prime first!)

That is a lovely blue, and those are potentially treacherous green cabinets... if it were me, though, I would either just go for it and do the color I really want, or I'd roll with the green color. They are going to be a *heck* of a lot of work no matter what color you do, so you'd might as well really love what you end up with and go for a big change that's worth it. Also... I'm having a hard time envisioning a successful pairing of your pale blue with an off-black or dark grey. I would have maybe tried a sulfur yellow color on the walls to embrace the green and hardware (which would again look very nice with a dark grey if you really couldn't stand the green down the road).

I think you could make that green work, actually. Those are fabulous cabinets -- with the right styling, you'd see this posted on AT and people would say "how original and charming!" And it is so much more interesting than gray. Bleh. (That trend will be over before you can clean up your paint tools.)

But if you're hell bent on eliminating the green, I also agree with allisongryski. The prep is more work than the painting. And you'll have to prep the same regardless of what color you paint -- or it will just look crappy. These lovely old cabinets deserve better.

So if you must paint, just paint the color you really want. Don't try to make do with some half assed compromise.

Two words... Crackle Finish.

Prep and apply a coat of crackle finish. Then apply a off white or gray coat of paint over the crackle. When it dries it will give an antique finish to the cabinets and look amazing. In the cracks of the finish will be the green paint.. It will look like this :
http://www.ehow.com/how_6727766_instructions-crackle-paint-techniques.html

I would also paint the walls a nice color and take off the the doors on the cabinet on the walls. It will make it look more modern and chic. Get a nice (cheap.. think ikea) Bowls and plates sets to display and use. Like this
http://www.twolia.com/blogs/dwellingsanddecor/files/2009/02/ishandchi-blogspot.jpg

Paint inside or cabinets or use wallpaper inside.

Put up a Curtain that goes from top of window and extended it to the far wall by the door. It will give you the illusion on one huge window in the kitchen. Or you could get crown molding or wood pieces and a mirror that is the same size as the window and make a faux window next to the real window.

De clutter and it will be nice. I would paint the wood door and window frames white too.

Zinsser primer in the brown can can cover that horrible green- check out Centsational Girl's blog. She's fantastic!! She says it dries in 2 hours! Spent the extra couple of hours to get what you want - even in a rental. You'll really enjoy it instead of looking at it and regretting it the rest of the time you live there.

http://www.centsationalgirl.com/category/thrift-store-transformations/

Oh - and I also think the white on top cabinets and light/darker grey on the bottom would be fabulous!

I think cream or a soft, buttery yellow would look good with both the walls and the woodwork and counters.

I'm with cream or buttery yellow, work off the sink. Gray is a tricky one.

How long are you going to rent this place?

Don't paint. You might end up ruining the cabinets. Nothing is worse than cabinets that have tons of icky paint on them. Get a tile backsplash and some really nice wallpaper that goes with the cabinets.

Shand Kydd Makes some great washable wallpaper
http://www.creativewallcovering.com/pc/19sk-jw105104b/shandkydd/Penrith+Mission+Style+Wallpaper+Border+Dado.html

http://www.creativewallcovering.com/pc/19sk-jw105709/shandkydd/Millom+Black+and+Cream+Damask+Trellis+Wallpaper.html

Try the wallpaper above- a lovely black and cream Arts and Crafts style. It won't fight with then but will add charm. Use some sharp black accents elsewhere.

The blue is just making the green more obvious and unpleasant.

If you are going to paint, you might as well go with what you want. To do it right is that same amount of work no matter what the color.

I suggest looking at the Knack Studios blog for ideas on making painted wood look really good. I would do a two tone style (such as dark teal or aqua bottom cabinets & a lighter top cabinet). I agree that an open shelf where the fruit poster is would be a good addition. Check out using milk paint (w/ a seal on top) for a nice antique look.

I disagree on the grey cabinets and the open shelving in place of the fruit poster. I have seen open shelving done right but I think in this case all you will do is tranfer clutter from the counter to the wall. And half of that stuff is dish towels and soda cans, big deal. Buy a nicer looking garbage can and move to the right were the plant is. Go for the white. The end result will be worth it.

Milk paint does look great for an antique look. You can mix just the right darker blue to complement your blue walls.

if you are daring, I think a cherry red looks great with light blues. update the cabinet hardware and it could look smashing.

Black. Upper and lower. Do it.

i agree with sassy piggy!

HI!
What I have done to my rental kitchen cabinets is to REMOVE ALL THE UPPER DOORS (even looks better if the interior color is a light one). Your kitchen will look beautiful and bigger as well and your everyday cooking is going to be faster as you will have everything close to your hand. Good Luck with your choice!!!!!!!

Why don't you go light turquoise? It's a lovely kitchen, as soon as you change the colour it'll look awesome.

I like the hunter green. It's the blue and the green together that I don't like. I grew up in a green kitchen though, and happy memories of it probably prejudice me in favor of the color.

As a home owner and landlord, I'm just going to put in that if you remove all hardware, etc, please get a letter from your landlord approving it, maybe even state where you're going to store it (bag in the basement, their house) because this could be a serious damage deposit issue.

Hunter green is absolutely disgusting here, but cream with the brass might look kind of sweet.

Most likely if you make it look nice it'll go over well, but if it's a crap job, or a hard colour sell to others, you could end up having to pay for it to be sorted, as well as some serious bad will with your landlord.

I think you should do the lowers a blue grey colour and the uppers a cream- not white. the white will make your sink look really dingy.

The cabinets are really nice. I like that they go all the way up to the ceiling.

Personally, I'm a painter type. I love to paint. So...if it was my place, I would go for the cream and I would also paint the window woodwork the same color.

When I have painted kitchen cabinets in the past- I take my time and do it one cabinet at a time, starting from the insides. It looks slightly skewed for a while but I can at least function in the kitchen while I'm working on it.

Although not for everyone, to me, it's not as overwhelming that way.

IMHO, when the cabinets and woodwork are painted, ***depending*** on how it looks I would encourage you to put up some open shelving where the artwork is. It will balance the "heaviness" of the cabinets and give the kitchen a more symmetrical look. Also give you more storage to get the clutter up off the counters.

p.s. I LOVE those big double sinks. You can scour eBay for a cover for the one deeper side or build a cutting board type thingy to cover it. I had one in an old apartment and it's a great place to "hide" dirty dishes or stash the dish rack when you aren't washing up. It may help cut down the visual clutter you have right now which will give you a more streamlined look.

Good luck and please post AFTER pictures!

She said she removed ugly walpaper and painted the wall blue (and likes it), so recommending that she paint the wall again or put up wallpaper again is unrealistic.

That said, I agree with everyone who says do it right if you're going to do it. And "right" is definitely cream! It will look gorgeous and totally worth the effort.

I'm a big fan of gray in general, but I don't understand why everyone is so quick to suggest gray cabinets in the kitchen... not a good look.

I also like cream or buttery yellow for the cabinets. Keep the cabinet doors and add some shelves, in the same colour as the cabinets, where the vegetable poster now is. That should balance things out while creating more storage. Paint the window frame in a lighter neutral colour.

I'll put another vote for cream and some additional shelves where the poster is. It's so odd that the sink is under the window!

In isolation (ignoring wall color and everything else), navy would look fantastic with those brass corners and handles. It is not the most fortunate set-up, with the sink under the cabinets instead of under the window.

Whatever you do, please promise us that you will NOT do a crackle finish. On anything. Ever.

I don't think any color is going to make the space feel smaller than the hunter green, to respond to a specific question I didn't notice anyone addressing. Even black won't seem smaller. (But decluttering ALWAYS helps in that respect.)

Like Wally3 said! If you do a crackle finish, I'm pretty sure your landlord will make a voodoo doll of you after s/he gets out of their sobbing fetal position. Crackle-finished wood is a PITA to smooth. And it only goes with the geese-in-bonnets decor, which I don't believe is back yet.

Try the new Behr paint with primer. That may help you cover that green with the color you want with less work/time/effort.

I see that above the trash can and behind the plant you seem to have a tan wainscot. I would match that color & even repaint the wall in the same color. You can add color with your accessories IE red.