I am rather new on this site, I spend more time on the homebuilding side of things, but I have a question better suited for here, I think.

I have a customer who is interested in giving her kitchen a new, modern look. The existing cabinet carcases are sound and solid, but they have been painted an ugly purple and the doors are shot. The paint is tight except of a couple of exposed corners. The owner was thinking of having new overlay slab doors mounted on the existing carcases. She likes the look of clear maple with a satin lacquer finish. She would like to contrast this by painting the cabinet face frames and exposed sides a semi-gloss or satin black. The look she is after is something like a nice finish to match her baby grand piano which sits in the corner of her dining room. My fear is that simply painting the frames black will result in rather one dimensional finish and look just like it was painted. Does anyone have any ideas on how to add some depth to the paint job? Maybe painting (spraying) and then finishig with a couple coats of lacquer to add some depth? Other ideas? The blending of finishes is not my strong suit so I would welcome any suggestions as well as any “heads up”.