Painting cabinets is a lot of work, mainly because of all the prep that needs to be done. Most new buyers will want to put their own stamp on a home and will probably do their own upgrades.

I'd leave the cabinets as wood but try to change out the handles to something more modern. You may have to fill in the holes though but look into that instead of painting.

I'd try to repair a bit, gel stain the most worn parts. You can get a pretty good result with it, when it comes to refreshing.

painting is hard, time-consuming/or very expensive to do right. To find the color that will play nicely with the rest of the surfaces, all of them, will be challenging..big chance it will look as an afterthought.

oak(I think it's oak?) is especially hard to paint as the grain will peek through

btw it's an attractive shade of oak too

ah, and wood is coming back, lol.

(they prefer quarter sawn white oak in high end magazines, because who doesn't. but that's how one knows that wood is coming back, big time)

I actually love the handles, to me they're the best part(them, and that molding). But even if I didn't-I'd figure out pretty fast for how much these can be sold:) So if I was a buyer who were at some point to redo the kitchen to my liking-I'd repurpose them or sell them, either on Etsy or to a nice antique shop, where they'd have a ball with these.

They're also situated in the middle of the door, which means you're either repairing a lot to put in new more contemporary ones, or need to match with something of different style yet same interest. Pretty penny.

I'd gel stain( takes time to find the right color. or maybe a combo of couple colors, to match the wood precisely, and lots of patience in applying..but does make a difference), before I list, and obviously clean very well, declutter, and style just a bit. Pretty bowl with lemons, along these lines.

Buyers will most likely consider kitchen needing work anyway because the trend changed years ago, (and now is changing again btw)), they won't consider the rest surfaces "updated"(flooring, backsplash, etc) either. Just refresh, clean, de-clutter, price accordingly to the area etc Leave the rest to the folks who'll choose the house.

1. Cabinets are oak. You can paint them any color you choose but I would use a straight white from Sherwin Williams for resale. We use ProClassic Interior Waterbased Acrylic-Alkyd in Satin sheen finish. A shinier finish will show more of the grain in the oak and imperfections. In the past, everyone used oil based paints for cabinets and trim but over time, oil based paint will yellow. The Hybrid won't and the added Alkyd adds durability that latex paint cannot offer. Also, Hybrid has much less paint buildup so details remain sharp and it has lower VOC and drys much faster.
   
   For primer, we use Sherwin-Williams Premium Wall & Wood primer to get a good bond. This primer is excellent for fine finish painting and its very easy to sand, drys fast and offers the best base coat finish for the tops coats.
   
   Steps are:
   1. Remove handles.
   
   2. Lightly sand the doors, boxes and drawers existing clear coat finish using 220 grit to help with primer bonding.
   
   3. Spray one coat of primer.

4. Fill handle holes and repair all chipped, dented and damaged areas with a sandable wood primer such as Elmer's wood putty. Apply caulking where needed.

5. Spray another coat of primer and sand cabinets again with 220 grit paper.

6. If needed, putty additional damages areas on cabinets and spot prime and sand.

7. Remove all dust from kitchen area and cabinets.

8. Spray two or three tops coats of finish coat paint, Pro Classic.

9. Purchase new cabinet handles and mount in the corner of the doors and not the center as before.

You may leave the doors hanging when you paint or remove them. Each project is different, you decide based on your application. Drawers need to be removed, caulked and puddied like the doors and boxes. Tape the drawer glides unless you plan to replace them. Don't use a brush, spray the paint.

It's a lot of work, I would hire a professional.

It's a LOT of work to do oneself (read above!). And hiring a pro will cost WAY too much money for a re-sale where the new owner will most likely rip it all out anyway.

Clean everything within an inch of its life. De-clutter the cabinets and countertops. Price the house realistically. It will sell.

If you do decide to paint them, please put some effort into prepping them, and filling holes. Looks like they may be oak veneer by the one edging. Try and repair that, and sand well, before primer and paint. I do like the color, and if they were in better condition, I would say, never paint them, however these do look a bit tacky. Also fill in the holes where the handles are, and sand them well, and put new hardware on, and put it in the right location.

How much painting experience do you have? You can test a soft white paint color on foamcore board, then practice sanding and prepping on the back of a door from some unobtrusive place like over the fridge. To save time, take a spare backsplash tile to the paint store. It'll be a two or three trip job to finalize the paint choice.

Warm white w modern, larger scale bronze hardware. Definitely hire a painter for this, it's quite a job. Good luck!

Before you consider painting the cabinets, find out what it will cost to replace the hardwared and decide if anyone wants to actually spend that much money for this 'fix'. Handles are not cheap, and handles in the center of the door are so very terribly dated that no amount of new paint will fix that.