Thank you for all of your comments and compliments... You have reminded me not to rush into changing things. The house has alot of trim work throughout, including on the dining room ceiling, dining room walls, living room, windows, entry/foyer, doorways, etc...In those areas, all the trim has been painted white, but it appears to be the same style and type as what's in the kitchen/family room. I guess I was thinking that the rest of the trim work should be white too. But, I see now that it doesn't have to match and will leave a bit of character to the family room! The wood for the built-ins do appear to be an upgrade over the kitchen cabinets. As much as I love the look of all white trim, the family room has such a warm feeling, as is, so I will probably just keep any furniture in the room light for contrast and accent with color. I will definitely not rush to change to quickly! Some of our main reasons for choosing the new home is because it was custom built, is loaded with trim work and moldings and is in an older neighborhood with lots of large trees and yards. Of course, there is also plenty of shiny brass in all of the bathrooms, door handles and foyer lighting that we will be busy replacing. And, the landscaping needs some updating from the overly manicured large bushes surrounding the front entryway of the home. I may have trouble with interior design/decor, but I am in my element with landscaping and yard work! I appreciate all the comments about the kitchen...My husband and I have done a lot of work ourselves in our current home. He does most of our home repairs too; he hates hiring out! Life has gotten extremely hectic these days, so we have less time for DIY work like the time it would take to do paint the cabinets. But, I think we can easily handle the backsplash and modifying the cabinets with beadboard on the sides, but will find someone for counters/sink and help with whatever we do to the cabinets. It sounds like if we have to hire someone to paint the cabinets, it might put us way over our current budget. While I still love my inspiration kitchen photo, I may entertain the idea of darkening the stain/refacing the existing cabinets, possibly painting the center island as one of you mentioned and updating the counters, sink and adding backsplash and other details. This would buy us time (and save us money), until we can afford to get the wood floors we want and the painting of the cabinets the way GreenDay detailed. I appreciate all the advice.

We bought this house about a year ago and you wouldn't believe it by the picture but we live in Phoenix. We have remodeled the interior to a contemporary look. White cabinetry, open floor plan, white quartz countertops, LVP flooring, modern fireplace, etc. For the front yard, we plan to remove all of the grass and brick beds that line the house and move to a simple desert adapted landscape of granite and flowers. We plan to do a new walkway that is straight and remove the lights at the end of the walkway. We plan to keep the tree. In the warmer months it shades the whole front yard which is a lifesaver here. I'm completely stumped on how to update the exterior of the house (eg. paint color, what do do with brick, etc). I'd like the house to tie in better with the desert colors of the neighbors (though many have brick accents like ours). I'm hesitant to paint over the brick because there is no way to undo that. I welcome any ideas!

A reference was made to changing your lighting. To clarify, certain lightbulbs can affect the color / tone of cabinets / walls / floors. You may want to try out different warmth levels of LED bulbs to see if any reduce the yellow tone. When you change the bulbs, wait a few days to get accustom to the change before trying a different bulb. I found the daylight bulbs helped make my (oak) cabinets look browner, but when I first put them in, the kitchen seemed too bright. That feeling passed in a week. I like my wood cabinets, and I think yours are pretty. However, maple does paint up well - much better than oak, and maple does get more yellow over time - not just the finish but the wood itself. I would look into what a specialized cabinet painter has to say rather than a house painter. I also agree that gray and warm wood tones do nothing for each other. The grays became popular when white and dark wood cabinets were popular. Warm toned cabinets are increasing in popularity and with this has come a decrease in the use of cool grays. Light grays - often a white with a gray undertone or green grays can work with maple, though I personally prefer whites and creams - and I do like the green / grays too - just don't like cool grays much. The large expanse of cream / white tile with the green gray works well with these cabinets, which I think are maple: These walls look to have a slight gray undertone (can only see over the window treatment) but the light backsplash is very pretty:

IMO remove the shutters and paint the siding a color from the stone or brick that is on the front Ideally new garage doors with some glass and maybe one shade darker than the new paint for the siding.Get rid of the plant in front of the garage pillar so that you can actully see the entry