I like the widow without the cabinets.

The other uppers look for odd to me. I'm thinking it would look better without the two little cabinets flanking it and the big ones moved over next to the frig.

I would also get rid of the uppers next to the refrigerator. They seem odd and "floaty," and look to be crowding the cooktop.

The kitchen seems out of balance with the sink side much lighter and airier than the other side with all the cabinetry. I agree with Beachem and Errant_gw. I'd take out those particular uppers and live with it like that for a while.

Do you have 9' ceilings? Have you tried hanging the window valance at the same height as it is over the french doors? I know you were going with consistency between the two spaces but it might look better to lower the valance and remove the roman shade from the kitchen window.

Function over form as I like to say. :)

I think your kitchen finishes are very pretty with the mahogany cabinet stain and the stainless. The wall color reads a little green on my monitor but in a good way. Is there any gray in your countertop? You might want to get tile samples to bring home and see if it will complement the granite and the wall color.

I also vote for removing the uppers on either side of the window. I like the valance.

I vote for bombing out all of the uppers. Rather than look unfinished you might find that your eye goes to something outside the window.

I think your mock-up without the uppers looks like this is the way to go.

As far as the other cabinets: I think those three staggered cabinets look a bit strange. I wonder if you could hang the shorter cabinets higher and add a shelf underneath. Of course, you'd have to add one longer crown to all cabinets. Also not sure how this would work on the side where your oven is.

I agree taking out those uppers on either side of the window is the way to go. I would leave the ones by the fridge you don't want to lose too much storage. How about a nice orchid or some other décor with a bit of height on the counter for some vertical interest

I'm not really the right person to answer your lighting question, as I'm not a designer, but I can give you my personal opinions. You appear to have recessed cans over the raised bar area. Were you planning to replace the cans with pendants just for looks sake, or do you need more task lighting on the working side of the island? Pendants over the island and one over the sink might help add more weight to that side of the room depending on the fixtures you choose. What are your plans for the fixture that appears to be hanging over a sofa in what looks like the breakfast area?

the issue really is the fridge being so large, lacking panels, or a "built in" cabinet look...so all the wall cabinets look dwarfish . If you remove all wall cabinets, you still are left with a mass of hulking metal. I'd move the cabinets flanking window to a higher position and put small open shelves below them. Something should be done around the fridge. ....price that out.....you may want to use the cabinets you have near fridge...just a reconfiguration, once you surround the fridge. Maybe all wall cabinets should be white-altho I like the dark stain...but you could update the look with a two toned kitchen. When you look close it seems as though the kitchen wasn't finished....backsplash missing, wall cabinets seem an afterthought-not the proper scale or molding/etc....fridge just stuck there. Were they in a rush or something?? funds drying up...DIY on walls maybe??

@zmith - yes, you are correct, we have recessed cans in the entire space with the exception of the hanging fixture in the breakfast area. We really don't need anymore task specific lighting. The lighting is more than sufficient the way it is today; however, I was considering pendants more for the visual appeal. There is a loveseat in the breakfast area, soon to be replaced by a small black round table, two chairs and a bench. I plan to replace that fixture, but will wait until I decide on pendants so that the hanging fixture can coordinate nicely with any pendants that are added.

@herbflavor - this house was built in 2002. Honestly, I agree with you that it looks like they didn't put a lot of thought into how the scale of the cabinets worked within the layout they built. Our fridge is a 42" built in model and it does have paneling surrounding it, although it is very minimal. We LOVE the two tone look. In fact, our last kitchen was remodeled (with the help of Gardenweb!) in a two tone white and walnut style. (http://ths.gardenweb.com/discussions/2695301/reveal-two-tone-white-and-walnut-kitchen) If we are going to consider white uppers though and try to reconfigure additional cabinets, I would replace all of the upper cabinets so they go to the ceiling. That said, even in that scenario, I'm not sure it would fix the balance issue around the sink.

I think the cockpit island is the biggest offense. It's so overpowering and painting it black will only make it worse. I'd want a rectangular island, one level, for my work surface since there's very little perimeter prep area. I'm not sure which lighter color would work for paint on the island with the mahogany cabinets, maybe a light gray. I'd have to change the granite too. Gray subways will not work with Baltic Brown granite.

Add another vote to removing the cabinets by the window. I might also consider removing or renovating the cabinets to the right of the fridge. I like the mahogany, don't know if I'd go black. But overall I like the kitchen and think that with your proposed changes it will look great.

With regard to the backsplash height around the window - you could put in some open shelving on either side of the window and just tile to the bottom of that. Otherwise I think you just tile to the same height as the bottom if the rest of your cabinetry.

Here's an idea…

- thoughts on these island pendants (they are the Thomas O'Brien hicks pendant)

- thoughts on framed art around the window

- Shelving with or without the pictures around the window

- do we need another pendant (different from hicks) over the sink? Or just keep the recessed can?

Possible coordinating chandelier for breakfast area? Choros Chandelier or something like it?

Choros Chandelier

If you do the pictures, I don't think the shelves are necessary, if you do the shelves, I would only do one picture higher above the shelves so that they're actually functional.

I agree with sweetsarabeth. Also, I wouldn't do yet another pendant over the sink. You will end up with too many clowns.

I would also post on the home decorating forum.

I like your pendant choice!

I think the area around the window wouldn't feel so empty if you had similar breathing room to the left of the range. What about removing the center tall cabinet and putting one of the cabinets you took down from next to the window in its place (looks like they are the same size as the two smaller ones next to the fridge anyway)? Shift them all to the left and line up the top with the top of the fridge.

Are you opposed to having backsplash below the range only? Perhaps under the window frame too if the sink area is a concern. If the tile you're thinking of is the wall color, I think that would look nice.