If you don't like the cabinet wood it could be painted? This would brighten the whole kitchen. Just pick a color and paint it...probably have to sand the varnish on the wood so the paint will adhere properly.

We painted cabinets once and it made a huge difference and worked fine.

I agree that painting the cabinets would totally transform this kitchen to a much brighter space. You have the right style door to have the cabinets look timeless and classic along with the lovely wood floors. I'd use my money to paint the cabinets white and hold off on the backsplash until you replace the counters. Why spend money on a backsplash you're going to have to rip out in a year or two when the counters get replaced.

If you do not have under cabinet lighting, get some. I only have it between my sink and range and it helps so much. I also have a hood with good lighting as opposed to an over the range microwave and I think that also helps.

Backsplash comes after counters, so wait with that till you are ready for counters. I have seen a number of wood and white mixed kitchens. If you can paint the uppers and not the lowers without it looking half painted, that might be an idea. If you have the budget and can live without the storage, you could remove a cabinet on each side of the window and put in a bigger window.

Here is my wood kitchens idea book with both new and older, refreshed kitchens:

https://www.houzz.com/ideabooks/75202366/list/wood-kitchens

As much as i would like to paint the cabinets, at the moment we do have the budget. So i was hoping may be peel n stick backsplash could temporarily do the trick.

The kitchen in the house we moved into had peel and stick 4"x4" metal tiles and they looked like it. I wouldn't do it, unless the quality of such things have improved significantly.

I echo the recommendation for undercabinet lights. It makes a huge difference.

I agree with eam44; the wall color (and the ceiling?) is a bad choice for both the cabinets and the counter. They will both look much better with a warm cream or off white. No tan or beige, please. Repaint the walls. Those are lovely classic cabinets. Make sure that they have been cleaned of the usual fine layer of kitchen grease + dust buildup..

Any suggestions on what kind of barstools would look good?
I was planning to get a low back white with wooden legs.

Or go bold with a pop of color?

It's a lovely kitchen. Don't get stick-on backsplash or even contemplate painting the cabinets. Down the road, get rippled subway tiles in a cream that harmonizes with the countertops.

Affordable upgrades:

--Cream wall paint and backsplash wall.

--Cream/white bar stools

--Great overhead light

--Undercabinet lighting. You could do some glass-fronted cabinets for a lighter look.

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Or, consider painting your island cream or a color:

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@housegal200... OMG thank you so much for those images. I couldn't find one kitchen which had the same situation as mine with dark cabinets on dark countertop. Appreciate it!

Based on all the suggestions, i think i will drop the backsplash plan and invest in undercabinet lighting instead.

When budget allows, consider lighter countertops and backsplash. Good luck!

If you do a search on Houzz for "cherry cabinets dark countertops" many examples pop up. Create a "Kitchen Wood Cabinets" Ideabook with those features to get ideas about lighting, possibly changing out one or two cabinet fronts with glass ones, new countertops. Many pros on Houzz recommend living in a new house for a year before making major changes. Maybe by then the mania for all white kitchens will die down and you'll put your household budget to uses other than a major renovation. You have a very nice kitchen already. Here's just one of many kitchens in my Houzz Ideabook, "Kitchen Wood Cabinets."

I would replace the knobs with some pulls to jazz things up a bit. The cab/ knob combination is a little too plain for even my taste--which runs on the spartan side.

I think you have a very nice kitchen. I would not be a rush to do anything yet. I think the cabinets are really nice as they are