Do you have a picture of the entire kitchen? Hard to get the idea in bits and pieces.

Change the hardware and the backsplash would be my suggestions

Here’s two pictures of the whole kitchen

We were thinking perhaps a subway tile, but could use some color suggestion. Keeping the countertops as is. Considering painting the island.

Removing that overly fussy vent hood, will be help a lot. And, update the lighting over the island, and table.

As for backsplash, Subway Ceramics has an extensive collection: https://subwaytile.com/glazes They even make switch and plug plates from the tiles, making them almost disappear. Click to enlarge.

Good call not to paint. It would be a nightmare with all the detailing, and they do look to be high quality.

While the style isn't currently in vogue, the traditional styling and more elaborate details aren't entirely inappropriate for a Mediterranean-style home. And the current kitchen design seems really cohesive; all the colors and styles work together. That creates a bit of risk for you in a piecemeal update that you could get rid of the more dated items but end up with a less cohesive design. So it's good that you are being thoughtful about this.

I don't know how you feel about the cream/gold color palette. If you prefer cooler colors (I do), one thing you could when you change your lighting is to go for higher color temperature bulbs. The same paint and tile can look dramatically different under 4000K lights than under 2700 (warm white) or 3000K (soft white) lights.

I was never a fan of travertine backsplashes even when they were all the thing, though, so I agree with your plan to change that. (Though it looks as good in your kitchen as I've ever seen it look; at least the colors of the travertine play well with the counter and cabinets. That was often not the case, which is probably why travertine earned such scorn when the trends turned.) You have plenty going on in the kitchen with the cabinetry and counter, so I would choose a simple backsplash. Rectangular or square field tile in a cream that goes with your cabinet and counter. Maybe a hair lighter than your cabinet color, but not too light because it won't flow nicely. No fancy detail behind the range.

I would match the subway tile to the cabinet color. Change out the pendants and chandelier to simpler ones. I'm assuming the valance and table & chairs are the previous owners?? I would leave the slider bare and get a dining set that is not farmhouse/country

Well, I’m going to differ a little here and say that if subway tile is what you want, go for it, but you have a highly ornamented space, and it makes sense for your tile to be a bit ornamental as well. You can opt for a shape,. The glaze should match the cabinet white as jck mentions, and it’s going to take a lot of samples for you to find the right white. This is Fireclay Tile in the Ogee shape.

May I ask, you say you want to modernize, but you do mean update, correct? You are never going to make this a space in keeping with modern design without significantly altering the cabinetry. What you have is a very traditional space, and the most economical choices will leave you with a very traditional space that you like better. You can remove corbels, columns, and other embellishments, but you have to replace them with something, and that precludes a minimal, spare, truly modern space.

Regarding lighting, I would go for a lantern pendant in a brass or gold finish.

Thank you! We are looking to update the kitchen so that’s it’s something we can live with until we could afford to change it. I don’t like anything over the top or elaborate, so we are trying to remove as a many elements of that as we can ... also the kitchen has very over the top yellow tones so we want to minimize that as well. Unfortunately it would be too costly to refinish the cabinets so we wanted suggestions on new hardware and new colors. The backsplash is the main color change we can do to tone down the yellow tones. Thank you!!!!

IMO the 2 biggest items are the backsplash and the hood. So remove the fancy hood and replace with a stainless one , remove all the backsplash and replace with a nice simple subway tile in a color from the counter with matching grout no fancy background for the stove and have a ranite company come and lift the island counter and replace those huge corbels with steel supports . Change the lighting so that all the bulbs are LEDs in 4000K . I think maybe painting the island would lessen the overall over the top Med. look . Those pendants need to be simpler .If you painted the island a color from the window covering like a pale green you could sort of move more toward french counrty instead of the Med. look

I was really thinking the subway tile would be best. The question is matte or shiny and one color or gradations. I’m going see about how much a new hood would be. The issue with stainless steel is the since the dishwasher and fridge are both paneled it would stand out.

Shiny, one color. Preferably an off-white that matches your cabinets. Really, the only Mediterranean component is the bs. Once it’s gone you’re just in a traditional kitchen. Thank heavens there’s no stucco or floor tile.

I would go with a simple subway tile that matches the lightest color in your granite. Let your granite be the star.

@Neha Shah Stainless steel is basically a neutral now in kitchens, so I wouldn't worry about it standing out too much (although I do see what you mean because of the paneling on the other appliances). What I did was get a wood hood, and will paint it to match the wall (so it sort of blends in). You could also do this with a wood hood but paint it to match your cabinets.

This kitchen has a lot going on. You are right to stick with subway tiles. There is plenty to look at without going all arabian nights on the backsplash. The brown granite is really not my style (I have it currently in my very traditional fake tuscan kitchen) and personally I wouldn't try to draw attention to it by matching it to your subway tiles. It's a little tricky in your space because your cabinets are a really creamy off white so your subway tiles should not be too white-white (unless you want them so, of course), because it will look jarring.

Anyway what a fancy kitchen! You must be very excited. Good luck-