Painting kitchen units (except doors!) - anyone done it?

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My kitchen has white gloss doors, but wood effect plinths and trims. Thinking about selling in the not-too-distant future, but don't want to replace the whole kitchen as it's the kind of thing a buyer is likely to want to put their own stamp on.

However, I do think the wood effect trim makes it look dated (I'm not actually sure how old the kitchen is - probably mid-2000s? I'd describe it as "tired but serviceable"). I'm wondering whether it would be possible to paint the wood effect bits white, or perhaps even a contrasting colour.

For what it's worth, my bathroom units are made entirely of the same wood effect stuff (the bathroom worktops are also the same as the kitchen ones, so I'm pretty sure the kitchen offcuts were used to do the bathroom!) and I painted these successfully several years ago, but there were no white gloss doors to take into account there.

I did think about painting the whole lot, but I'm not sure how the gloss doors would take paint and primer.

Just wondering whether anyone has ever done this - I've seen lots of examples of whole kitchens painted, but never just the trim and not the doors. Is this a terrible idea?

Could you paint the shells a different colour? And leave the doors?

Oh that’s what you mean!

I think they’d look alright in a grey or greyish blue.

I think it could look lovely. I’d definitely leave the gloss doors alone.

@thelegohooverer Yes, I'm not brave enough to tackle painting over gloss! I can imagine the streaky mess that would ensue...

@4PawsGood Grey was one of the colours I was thinking about - I don't think blue would work, as the tiles are a sort of teal colour and might clash, so aiming to keep it neutral.

Ideally I'd like it all-white, but I know that the "wrong" shade of white will be really obvious, and I also won't be able to get the same gloss finish.

Yes ive done it. Similar set up to yours.

I used frenchic al fresco paint and it's been great. I didn't do much prep to be honest but it didn't take long. Was fiddly getting into edges but I didn't want to take the doors off.

Hardest bits were the bits around the unit under the sink as the drawer front was stuck on.

See pics

As long as it’s done well I can’t see an issue.

I'm doing this right now! Although mine are going to look the same colours as yours once I'm done. My whole kitchen is brown faux-veneer walnut. It's awful and I've hated it from the very first moment I saw it. But, like you, it's quite new and it would be so wasteful to just get rid. I have no idea who would have ever chosen it.

If I were you, I would masking tape all round your doors and then paint the carcass ( I think that's what you call the rest of it!?) with Annie Sloan chalk paint. You don't need a primer. Once you have a couple of coats on, leave it to cure for 10 days and then wax it.
If you have Instagram, there is a lovely lady called Mel (@littleterracedhouse) who has a whole series of tutorials on how to do up your kitchen like this.

I also got stick-on feature tiles from Amazon! They are as cheap as chips and look absolutely fab. I've only just stuck them on so I don't know how long they will last, but they look great for now! Good luck with it all.