Agree that you can live with this for now. But I understand the feeling of being in someone else's kitchen unless you can pesonalize this. Curently the countertops are so strong a visual feature that no other feature can stand up to them. They have too much power so your task is to defuse that strength. Agree that a window valence will help--this could be first thing you would see when entering the space and it would draw eye away from the squares.. Don't choose anything that reinforces the grid of the countertop (no plaids, stripes, linear stuff)--choose a vaguely floral pattern or abstract blotches or a textured solid. The black appliances lack echoing blacks elsewhere and have to fight with so many whites; overcome this by integrating black and white with a lot of other colors in the valence. Look for a print that has some gentle splashes of black but also generous amounts of wood color, small doses of white, and plenty of the colors that are accents in your kitchen area (the colors of your dishes or tablecloths or canisters or whatever). Consider fabric that also has a warmer brown but also includes the existing brown. Repeat the fabric on chair seats or napkins or something else, to integrate kitchen and eating area. You don't need to be an ace seamstress--this is not difficult sewing and your work will be good enough for now. Consider paint as an accent color--to the right of the outside of the pass-through, around window, above refrig. Imagine brick-red... or mustard yellow... or celery green...or warm gray or.... Bring in some good happy colors in small items--textiles, houseplants, rug at the sink. Be sure to keep the scale of items small. No big prints or large items. Don't use "ancient" to describe these appliances--it colors your opinion unfairly and it's inaccurate. They aren't ancient. (You want ancient? These could be much older! When we moved into our kitchen the dishwasher was one of the oldest models made for household use. We stored cat food in it until we could afford our first remodel.) A new lighting product on ceiling would be good but I understand that the existing one works and might be a bit tough to replace. If it is inside a plain ceiling niche you could replace the light with something affordable yet mod and play up the niche as a feature; but if there are ugly or difficult features in the niche that you can't remove, live with the lighting for now. Undercab light is cheap and good--get some at Ikea or Home Depot or .... ! If you like severe & mod, consider multi-color blinds--bands of 3 or 4 consecutive slats followed by the next color (black + warm brown or tan + brown of the cabs + white that matches countertop). Otherwise get wood blinds that match the cabs. In time, if you can somehow integrate the color and/or texture of the fireplace stone in the kitchen, that would add to the kitchen aesthetic because the fireplace will always be a visual feature of the kitchen. If you are determined to remove the cabs over the pass-through consider open, backless shelves that will still define the separation of kitchen and adjacent spaces and will add colors of dishware on both sides. New cab knobs are sometimes a good way to banish the old owner. I congratulate you for restraining yourself, for living with functional existing stuff, for thinking harder and better and more ecological. Have fun!

Ok maybe I should explain a few things that I guess I didn't explain fully...lol. I absolutely love Ultra Modern and we were going to build a very modern house before we bought this house, but when I seen this house I just fell in love with it. The house I plan to make ultra modern with my furnishing and with the kitchen. When we bought the house we knew it needed a major overhaul. What I loved about the house was that the rooms were not closed off and I knew opening them up more would give more of an open layout. Before we start knocking out any walls we did consults with several contractors. We have only knocked out the arches and part of the wall which divided the Sunroom and Kitchen from the Family Room. After we bought the house I found the Original Blueprints to the house which showed that these arches were never here. I thought it was funny how the changes I wanted to make were actually bringing the house back to it's original layout. After talking to the neighbors I found out the arches were added in the 70's and so was the Kitchen and Sunroom. My thinking was by opening the wall it will follow suit with the rest of the house. I think the "Original Kitchen" may be where my Family Room or Dining Room is. It's hard to tell on the blueprints. When the addition was built of the Kitchen and Sunrrom they also added another section of basement. Now there are 2 levels in the basement. They way they laid out the Kitchen is really unorganized and does not allow for a dishwasher and the placement of the basement door and steps make for a very difficult Kitchen Layout. The attached Garage and Rooftop deck were added in the 80's or 90's and I absolutely love it. I guess my question for everyone really is what rooms would you designate for what? What room would you put the TV in cause every room has a door or windows on the wall. As far as the Kitchen I am debating on putting on a small addition so my husband can take off his shoes before he comes all through the house? After posting the pictures on the Kitchen Forum and getting the great advice on there it was suggested that I get a structural engineer to find out if I can remove the 1 column from the Family Room to the Kitchen. My KD also suggested the wall, which I know is weight bearing, be removed and utilize the Sunroom as part of the Kitchen. I do have a Structural Engineer coming out before we make any attempt at tackling that and I also have the Contractor coming out. So no worries to all. I love this house and am not changing it they way you are thinking I just need advice on if I added on how would you do it, from the side or back of the house and where to put a 55" TV and make what room for a Family Room? I appreciate everyone's input. Thank you

pcjs..I did see Premier cabinets at HD...the sales guy said to stay away as they are a bit cheap..and flimsy and difficult to install. There was a display in fawn glaze that I thought looked very nice. I don't have to have top of the line, nor can I afford it, I just don't want cabinets falling apart in 5 years! igloochic..that is the tone we may go for..there are 3 basic tones, orange/brown/red...my DH goes for the red toned ones (but he's color blind and always drawn to dark colors)..I think a brown town would look best but don't like any I see as they all look dull..so we're back to the orange toned stains.... mustbenuts..I do love that second photo..simple shaker cabinet but it looks so modern. I'd love to know the maker, but I'm sure I can't afford an Italian designer! Thanks so much for your comments..it's so hard as our granite is at the granite yard over 1 hour away and I can't just run over there and hold cabinet doors against it.....any thoughts to mixing uppers and lowers so DH gets his stained and I get my painted? Then of course there's the whole backsplash saga..and a floor...I'm not getting much sleep these days...I'm off to Lowes and HD again right now just to study the styles and colors. Yesterday I spent over 2 hours with a HD "design consultant" and she didn't know squat. I have "0" confidence that I'd end up with everything I want/need after an order was placed with her. I'd love to just order cabinets off the internet, but am too paranoid that when there's a problem (and there always is) how long it wil take to resolve. I may look at Buycabinets.com but it seems like a 50/50 shot at having luck with them. Any other ideas, I'd love to hear..thanks!

LVP can be awesome. The ONE THING you NEED TO KNOW about LVP is this: it MUST HAVE a subfloor that is FLAT. It must be flat. After that it needs flat. And sometime after that, you need to check that this thing is FLAT. Carpet hides some of the WORST subfloors in the WORLD. Some would rank as "dangerous rollercoaster". I am not kidding. And basement slabs have a long history of being wonky. And slanted. And bumpy. With the occasional crack running the length of the space. Anything but "flat". So the LVP may appear (price tag) to be lower priced, but the SUBFLOOR preparation that MUST BE DONE, can cost $2-$5 per square foot (the $2-$3/sf is more common). Please be aware that you will need to have the contractor to offer and estimate for the REPAIR of the subfloor before LVP can be used. This is an added amount that is NOT NEEDED for carpet. Please make sure you specifically ask for this to be included in the quote. And "no" this is not automatic. Contractors will only quote what the homeowner asks to be quoted. LVP can cause heartache if the subfloor preparation is skipped. Tooooooo many threads have popped up because the installer did NOT prep the floor because the homeowner didn't ask for it in the quote. It then became a massive sore point in their relationship (some ended in court). And many of those floors had to be removed and replaced (once the subfloor was prepared properly). It is a HARSH lesson to learn. Please make sure the subfloor preparation is included in the new quote. And if it is less than $1.50/sf, ask why so low.