I would remove the valence on the window. If you have to have one, make it colorful with personality. Then just cut down on all the stuff on the counters. Your kitchen and counters are very nice.

I would vote no to changing the cabinets. One thing I do notice is the total lack of color. Add some touches of a color. Almost any color will work and add just the right interest without re-doing the cabinet.

What colors do you use in the rest of the living room?

Love that pitcher!

I wouldn't swap out the cabinet doors for glass unless you are super fastidious about arranging/organizing your dishes, glassware, and serving ware, and they are pretty enough to display. I agree with the poster above who votes for injecting some color and/or texture. Some pretty tea towels, glazed pottery for your plants, or other ceramic objects might be nice. Try cobalt blue or a jade green. Both will work nicely with your black and white scheme.

Add rope lights above the cabinets. Easy and nice effect.

New cabinet pulls?

Go ahead and replace the door panels with glass--but use a patterned glass that distorts the view inside. Not only can it add color, but since you can see into the depth of the cabinets, it makes the room look larger and not so enclosed by a wall of cabinet doors.

You'll be surprised how well patterned glass can turn boxes of pasta, cereal, and cookies (and jars of peanut butter and canned goods) into a colorful abstraction.

Love that patterned glass idea, did not think of that! Removes the need for keeping content inside "perfect"

Like leelee, we have rope lighting.....love it! But that can get a little costly if you don't have outlet boxes on top of the cabinets that connect to a switch.

I'd just add pops of color like a rug, towels or a ceramic bowl/plate on a stand in the corner where the toaster is.

You have a lovely kitchen. I definitely agree that some of the examples leelle showed would be wonderful.I could see changing one cabinet door to glass just for interest, but mostly what I think is needed is more recessed lighting in the ceiling. Hard to tell, unless it's just the photo because you didn't mention anything about needing more light. ( it does look rather dark in the photo).

We actually think the kitchen looks quite good other than removing the valance, and perhaps adding a bit of color. Also it looks like you might want to update your pendant lights. Otherwise you have a really nice kitchen.

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I wouldn't do anything about the cabinets, including the space above them if you don't want to change your upper cabinets for the cabinets that would go all the way to the ceiling. If you put anything on your cabinets, you will just create clutter and make it more difficult for cleaning. No details needed, this looks just right.

You have a lot of storage so hide some clutter. Maybe some pretty wooden cutting boards instead of the plastic to add warmth? Perhaps a more interesting canister for the wooden spoons? We had glass on a corner cab and it was a nice way to show off a pretty pottery collection. agree to change valance to a patterned Roman shade. Do you have space for a nice dash and Albert rug in there? Finally, the black bars with hooks-can you remove as they are not being used?

Add some color... The kitchen is basically white and gray/black. Paint the walls, get a red coffee machine and toaster or things like that....

I personally don't mind a FEW well thought out items placed on top of the cabinets - it's free decoration and easy to change as your tastes change

Good luck and have fun with it! Do what makes you feel happy in there

Have you considered open shelving? Similar to glass, but you can put more decorative items on them (or a cookbook collection?). We've been seeing them more and more in kitchens. Here's an example of some steel brackets we fabricated for wood shelves. We would suggest you go with white though to match your cabinets!

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