i was just reading up on this about refinishing furniture. what i learned about formica is that they actually have some sort of spray stuff that can be used to make the cabinets "sticky" where you can paint on top. i'll have to check my other computer for the link...
maybe you can take down one of the doors and bring with you to Lowe's or Home Depot and ask them for their advise on products to use. There has to be something out there to use. GL! It you find something, then you can paint them brown so they would be similar to wood like you want. GL!
I don't have pics but when we were house hunting we went to one house who had the 80s formica cabinets that were white with the faux wood trim along the bottoms of the cabinets... know what I mean?
Anyway - they had painted them black and it looked MINT. It was a matte black finish and they had like butcher block countertops - I think - I don't even remember b/c the cabinets looked soooo good.
That's another color option for you.
It fit with the style of the house - it was mostly country/cottage shabby chic - but it really looked awesome.
I also saw once on Designed to Sell, that they first add wood trim around all 4 edges and then painted white to make it look like shaker cabinets and added modern hardware.....it looked GREAT! Just be sure to use wood filler along seams and nail holes so it has a clean look.
this isnt it, but this is what they looked like when they were done.
you could also cut the center out of some and add some glass panels.
