Updating old kitchen cabinets

Our kitchen cabinets are the original cabinets that were built with our home back in the 70's. I would love to replace them completely, but that isn't an option right now, so I decided to jazz the old ones up a bit. Luckily, they are in pretty good shape, and the design is simple. They were already painted white, but they were in major need of a massive cleaning and a fresh coat of paint.

We removed all of the doors and old hardware. Then we sanded and cleaned each cabinet door and all of the cabinets inside and out. After two coats of paint, in Behr's swiss coffee, and new hardware and hinges, in a brushed nickle finish, they were looking like this.

Definitely an improvement but still lacking the character I was going for. The more I looked at the scalloped piece above the sink, the more I disliked it. So we turned it into an arch instead in an attempt to make it look a little more updated. I also decided I wanted to go for a more open look so I removed a few cabinet doors and created a little open storage. The lower cabinets got a coat of soft blue/gray paint.

I painted the interior cabinets the same blue/gray color as the lower cabinets. I was beginning to like the space a little better, but at this point I felt like it was looking to country cottage instead of the modern cottage look I was going for. So, on to the next project. 

We eventually removed the arch piece completely and removed the section of paneling that connected the two upper cabinets above the sink. Crown molding was turned upside down and added to the tops of the cabinets. We turned it upside down since there isn't any open space above our cabinets. It fit better that way.

Ahh! Looking much better! When we added our laundry room on a few months ago, unfortunately we had to lose the window. In it's place I opted for bead board along with a piece of crown molding to visually connect the two sets of upper cabinets.  Then we installed floating shelves to give things a more modern cottage look. 

The combination of open shelving above the sink and open cabinets was just too much, so the cabinet doors were put back on. New door hardware, a fresh coat of paint on the lower cabinets in a more beige/gray color instead of gray/blue, and new flooring (it's actually vinyl!) and this kitchen is complete!  Well, for now. :) Oh and I also painted the wall you see here a darker gray color, and painted the upper cabinets bright white. Additional upgrades we made to the kitchen when we moved in were new counter tops, new sink and fixtures, new appliances, and a bead board back splash.

This is what our kitchen is looking like now. I'm finally getting the modern cottage vibe I was going for! It was definitely a lot of trial and error to figure out what I liked and disliked, but well worth it in the end!

For fun, here is the before:

and the after:

Have a blessed day!

Leah

UPDATE!!! 
Here are a few updated kitchen pictures that I have recently taken:

And now with our new appliances in place: