Thank you so much for your suggestions! The fridge is an expensive subzero that's actually stainless underneath this wood casing, I think my fiancé will kill me if I suggest replacing it :)

I'll start looking at new hoods - I wonder if stainless would look better. Again, I appreciate your thoughts!

Congrats! I love your wood floors in the living area. Any new hood is going to have to be fairly substantial to stand up to that fridge. Are you able to order stainless door fronts for the current fridge? Depending on how old, it might be a replacement part you could add. The other thought would be to remove the heavy corbels and paint the existing hood and fridge in a dark stainless color (like pewter). As grapefruit said, any grey other than those stainless accents will not play well with the tones throughout the rest of the house.

Will the new trim be a creamy white, rather than a stark white? Keep in mind you currently have NO furniture or stools yet either. Choose substantial pieces but with clean lines to modernize the look. Add a colorful rug in the dining area and a runner between the island and stove. It looks like the perimeter counters are different than the island. I actually like the counters better than the floor.

Thank you! I will look into ordering door fronts - I didn't even know that was a thing. I'd never seen a fridge like this in my life, ha.

I love the idea of removing the corbels and painting the hood and the fridge a pewter-sort of color.

We're struggling with the color scheme right now because the house that we're moving out of has some gray furniture that we planned on moving into the new house. Namely, a sectional sofa, bookcase, and TV stand. So, we were going to try to work it in, in small amounts of a very light warmer tone gray, to lessen the overwhelming brownness and heaviness of it all. But I totally see what ya'll are saying.

And yes, the perimeter counters are a dark color, very dark brown/almost black. I think that's what they were trying to match with the paint on the island.

Will look into rugs for sure.

Thanks again for the suggestions!

Oh, Heck! Your kitchen has absolutely beautiful bones! Don't do much! Replace the Island counter top with white quartzite, a natural material that is harder than granite- like 'Taj Mahal'. or, if you want less expensive, then quartz a manmade material, but boring. The stone tile on the backsplash does not look too dark. So keep it, and replace the tile behind the range with a white and cream marble mosaic. Paint your ceilings white! that will lighten it all up. Make the walls lighter. Take out the roman shade in the kitchen and use plainish whitish one. I can't see the granite on the regular counter, but you might leave it. The best thing you can do is change the floor. If you want to lighten the cabinets, there are 'glaze' stains that you can go over the cabinetry with, without painting or sanding. you can get a lighter one, but don't let the cabinets turn pink. Changing the floor to something lighter or more modern is one of the best things you can do, I know you said no, but I would. That's what dates it. Whiter walls, white ceiling, whiter slab, whiter backsplash behind the stove, and lighter floors. The cabinets can be glazed if you choose.

I could see a rug like this. And don't discount a subway tile with a rustic or handmade look (I wouldn't do the herringbone, but I couldn't find a better example)

The heavy, ornate range hood is what is really dating this kitchen. I would look into removing it and replacing it with stainless. IMO the fridge and backsplash are not so bad. Everything will look updated if you paint the walls white and get rid of what looks like the faux yellow paint.

So many great suggestions!

So, the walls are the same color throughout the house. We might choose to paint rooms in the future, especially the bedrooms, maybe the dining room. Does anyone think it would look odd if we painted the kitchen almost-white while leaving the adjacent living area the way it is?

This was a rug I saw on another thread that has the grey tones and caramels too. Perhaps something like this could marry your existing furniture with the new place.

https://www.crateandbarrel.com/ceres-desert-beige-rug-8x10/s203838?localedetail=US&a=1552&campaignid=853779501&adgroupid=46164021347&targetid=pla-452635342300&pla_sku=203838&pcat=HSW&ag=adult&scid=scplp203838&sc_intid=203838&gclid=EAIaIQobChMImpme4InW4QIVhP_jBx1wngIAEAQYASABEgL6IPD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

You had some good ideas in your ideabook for stools, but here's another. Painting just the kitchen walls will make the other rooms look even more yellow. I would start with the trim and see how that helps, as the current trim is much darker than the walls. Just the white on that closet in the kitchen should brighten things up. Lightening up the ceiling is a good idea too (suggested above)...

Here’s the above caramel and gray rug in your space. (wrong spot, I know.)

I'm so excited now! I was feeling overwhelmed before but think I have a plan now. I'm gonna paint the trim and the kitchen ceiling a creamy white, replace the island countertop, remove the corbels from the hood and consider replacing the hood, add the mosaic behind the range, and depending how everything looks and how much it might cost, consider new flooring. And of course use your furniture/decor tips as well.

Thanks for all the suggestions!

I think you should go ahead and paint the kitchen white. Do the other rooms later....

I would go with arabesque tile for back splash

Or

Kenzzi Mixana Hexagon Porcelain Wall and Floor Tile, 7"x8", Set of 36 · More Info

following

Here is a possible island fixture & you might want to consider beams for the ceiling.

The kitchen looks appropriate to the style of the house. Trying to add trendy gray or go more trendy modern, would be a bad idea. I would replace all the counters with something like Taj Mahal quartzite to lighten things up and then do an interesting backsplash with a nod to the style of the house.

I have a Spanish style house with dark wood cabinets, TM counters and I used this arabesque tile from Encore but in a tone-on-tone colorway, so it has the look of one color from the distance.

OR, if you really dislike the kitchen, do nothing for now and rip the whole thing out when you have the budget and time for the project. I waited 8 years to do mine, which then justified getting rid of the appliances too, which allowed me to change the layout.

This suggestion from Chispa is the right way to go. I posted similar a few days ago.

That arabesque tile is beautiful! Thanks guys. I definitely wanted to do something that references the style of the house while making things look a bit more updated. Love it.

you might also enjoy reading Maria Killiam's blog about color. She has a lot of info about updating houses from the brown tuscan trend.

I personally would update the backsplash to a very basic off white subway tile and get some great rugs. The gray trend has been going strong for about 10 years and I think things are starting to warm back up with brown. I think that kitchen will be hard to update without making major changes. I'd live with it a bit and see what works and what doesn't. Yeah, it's dated...but it's not ugly.

thanks to everyone, again. I've taken all your suggestions and made notes. I thought I'd post a few photos of how things look in different lighting, because I realized the photos I posted seem more yellow than in real life.

I don't even think the textured beige backsplash is too bad - it actually reads less tan and more creamy white than most of the rest of the space. If you could remove those corbels and the supports they are mounted to (assuming they are not supports for the hood itself) and replace the current accent behind the stove with the same textured tile, I think it would lighten the look and give some cohesiveness. Once you paint the walls a light cream, that will help too.

I like a washable backsplash myself. Stone doesn't wash as well as tile. A new range hood cover, and new fridge panel might go a long way. And removing the crown might lighten things up a bit.