I refer people who want to paint knotty pine walls, ceilings, etc. to Sarah Richardson. Years ago, she renovated a cabin in Northern Ontario. Her husband was Team Knotty Pine. She was Team Paint the Pine! In the end, she white washed it. STUNNING. I refer you to YouTube where you can see how she renovated, modernized, yet kept tru to the Cottage’s Charm. Google Sarah Richardson Cottage Life Renovation. Enjoy!

The pine ceiling is heavy and is limiting your floor choices. You wanted to paint it twenty years ago. Paint it now!

Start with the lighting. It’s a beyond beautiful kitchen. I love the island and cabinet colors. 🤎🤍

Ok, so now we can see that lighting was the issue after all. If you had posted this picture to begin with no one would have said anything negative. Now, I see the weird blue light on the tile was coming from the beverage refrigerator across the room.

I think it looks nice, but if you don't like it at this point thats what matters. Not sure how much blame the designer should get since this looks to be a successful kitchen design... tiled wall and all. In my opinion, there is no reason to redo this kitchen other than you don't like it. Good luck!

No railing.

No railing.

The black looks very good and the white trim will be fine.

Yes! Definitely. We have two, one on either side of the sink. So that the dishes could go directly in and not spill water/food on the way over. we added them when we did our kitchen remodel. I also was tired of having dishes pile up in the sink while the dishwasher ran. I would rather have two dishwashers than two ovens, if I had to choose.

If they're solid oak, you'd hardly need to tear them out. Sand them down and stain them a color you prefer.

I assumed the OP was too young to have known that. And I did not point it out because I wished for people to assume that I, too, am too young to have known that... ;-)