I agree- I love the table & chairs you have already and would look into staining the top & seats to match your island. I have wood barstools with backs & while I love them my small children have banged up the sides from pushing them into the granite & they look a mess. My kids are getting older so luckily I am getting new barstools. The adults who hang out in our kitchen love the backs, however. Leather backed barstools would probably be what I would do. I just don't find backless ones very comfortable. And the leather would be so easy to wipe clean! By the way, I think your kitchen is Beautiful!! Would you mind sharing what tile you used for your backsplash?

If possible, give away, they will never be transitional or contemporary. If you must use them, put chair foot pads on them right away before they scratch your floors. Sometimes people keep sentimental furniture that doesn't go with anything else, where it adds a note of whimsy or just says "family history". To make it work better in that case, upholster with a Sunbrella fabric and spraypaint the frames black. Then you can move them outside to the patio when the weather clears up or use them inside.

Do you have a dining room in addition to this? How many people need to sit down on a regular basis?

LOVE! the built ins. Beauty!! I’d possibly update the hardware there. And possibly in the kitchen too. I’d remove some rather than adding. You can add a coffee nook someplace else. I agree that it seems a bit dark. Lighting is a big one. I would go clear or maybe maybe white glass here. But something very airy. I’m assuming across the built ins is a door? Would you prefer to keep that space and work with it. Or maybe remove the peninsula and add a bigger island with seating. Do you have another space to work with? Are you not interested in a big project? Or maybe you are. Tell us more. What’s your style? Goals? What works? What does not? Teach us about your home. So that we can understand more to give you more. Overall seems like a good space that would benefit from some reworking. But what and how much obviously depends on you. :)