Should They Stay or Should They Go?

Oh this kitchen....It is absolutely fine right?  Newish and clean(sometimes), but when we moved in it was super duper cheapy looking.  I feel like it still is a bit "cheapy looking" but we have done a few things to make it a little less "track builder quality".  I am pretty sure I don't have a before pic anywhere so you will just have to use your imagination, but only a teeny tiny bit.

We started by:

Removing the large florescent light over the bar and replacing it with of course non other than an IKEA light fixture.  Our obsession with IKEA lighting and cabinetry started back when we lived in Houston 10 years ago and honestly before we had a house. Touring the floors of IKEA was sometimes a piece of our weekend entertainment. I digress....

We then replaced the builder grade 4 light chandelier that hung over the breakfast table

And then decided to tackle our ever so sad island that was essentially thin laminated sheets of particle board(and still are).  We trimmed it out with MDF and put a coat of the Sherwin Williams black fox that we had previously used here in our mini master redo just to give it a little character and make it look a tad more sophisticated.

As for the rest of the cabinetry we just have not decided if we should paint or not.  I like wood cabinets I really do but these are just a tad too light for us.  If  going with a wood stained cabinet I prefer something darker. 

 Like this!

(yes this is a tiny pic but you can see a bigger clearer version in the link to it in my pinterest kitchen board)

 I also have had a thing for white cabs lately and of course I can't keep my eyes off of gray.  

(Not a kitchen but you get the idea...again found in the pinterest account on the right sidebar)

So how on earth do you decide whether or not to tackle the uber huge job of painting your cabinets....especially if you don't know what color you really want?  

In comes Sherwin Williams Discover Color program...You can take any photo and easily edit it with the color of your choice to see how you like it!

So here is the kitchen in Black Fox(the gray I am in love with)

What do you think about the gray?  I actually love the way it looks.....but....I am nervous about resale issues with this color.  It would of course look much better with an gorgeous marble or glass subway tile and new countertops but what kitchen wouldn't right?  We just can't put that kinda dough into this house.

So how about a lighter look?  This area in our house it actually a bit dark so I would love to lighten it up..oh and I guess that would be another reason not to go gray;)  Out of fear of going too bright white I thought I would play with this Softer Tan color.  The name is a bit misleading but I new it was a great color when I saw it here.

I don't know though...Of course it makes the pendant light stand out but not in a good way(I don't think) Hmm.  It just looks totally different than it does it the link above.

So then...I tried moderate white because that is what all of the trim in the house is.  This is o.k. and definitely lightens the place up but I don't like the way it brings out the tile and the black appliances and since we can't replace the tile and appliances..well...I don't know what to do.

What do you think?  Would you go for the bolder approach of gray(if your into gray at all of course) and/or does the white just look all wrong with this beige tile color?  Is it worth all of the effort?