When we were making this decision not long ago, I came to the conclusion that you can do what you like, there is no standard for what and where. We went with pulls on the lowers and knobs on the uppers, but knobs on the pantry and a pull on the utility closet. You even have to deal with where on a door/drawer to put a knob/pull. Breezy's decision to put her upper pulls horizontal isn't the most common choice, but not bizarre either. Some people put a drawer pull in the middle of the drawer, others go with a pull at the top. We put ours in the middle of the shallower drawers and at the top of the deeper ones. See the 4 knobs on the 4 pantry doors? We could have put the 2 lower ones down towards the middle of the door somewhere, but we liked them in a group of 4, so that's what we did. There is no right or wrong here, so just do what you like.

My flatware along with steak knives resides in its own drawer. I have an expandable organizer I like so well I bought a new one for the new kitchen. It holds a serving for twelve including iced tea spoons with room for steak knives and chopsticks. My good knives have a knife block. Paring knives and other utility knives share a drawer with peelers, corers, cheese slicers, pizza cutter and microplane and other "cutting" tools.

I think you will get good feedback if you post some pictures of the style and colours you like. Spend some time browsing kitchens here on Houzz and pick some that make you happy. Now, for your kitchen, I find the centre placement of the handles very dated. I hope when you are painting that you will remove those pulls and have the holes filled. I assume you are happy with your current layout since you are keeping it. Have you considered refacing your cabinets with new doors? I'm worried the arched tops are going to continue to make the room look dated even once you spend money to update other items. There are several companies that do refacing. You might look at Semi Handmade for profile ideas. If you chose this option, the bodies of the cabinets would be painted onsite but the new doors could be factory painted. You'll want to remove the wallpaper and also the heavy valance over the window and the wood valance too above the window. The room looks a bit dark in the pictures....so removing the heavy curtain will help bring some light in. You may also need/want to consider some new lighting. If you are going to get new counters then also get new backsplash. I know some folks have had success painting tile but I think it may be temporary success. I think you should start with counters. Go shopping and see the slabs in person (not always possible these days). When you find something that you like, then bring it home and start choosing your cupboard paint colour based on the counter. The last thing to be chosen will be backsplash. Wall paint colour will need to work with the cupboard colour and the counters, so it all has to tie together, starting with the least changeable element - the new counters. Please take the time to gather some inspiration pictures. It will help you narrow down your choices (solid colour counters, lots of pattern, small veining, large dramatic veining - all of these are out there waiting for you).

I should have added - I’m in Canada, so Target is out and Amazon has pretty limited (and expensive!) options. Only groceries and big box stores are currently open for in person shopping here, so I was hoping to get a specific idea for online shopping.