Start with addressing the lighting and ceiling. Why can't you change the ceiling? Even if you're stuck with the dropped ceiling, you can add more and better lighting to it.

Can you take more pictures of the kitchen? Do you have a wall that you can place a shallow amoir with shelves and doors? checking Facebook market, garage sales and Craigslist. Something you can paint.

Decluttering will be freeing! that is your first chore.

Take down the valance on the door, it will let in more light.

Do not paint the paneling, but do add large Farmhouse Art with cream back round.

Do not paint the cabinets, not worth the time. Add the mint green in with towels, canisters, plants, and other decor.

I would take down the paneling and head to Home Depot for ideas with the cabinets and lighting. It’s surprisingly not so expensive and they often offer payment plans. I’d also head to a Benjamin Moore store for paint ideas.

with those early 80's cabs, ceiling tile, florescent lighting, old paneling, there isn't much farmhouse.

Mint green paint on melamine cabs w/pink/taupe colored countertops?? oh please, no. Painting those cabs mean getting a certain primer so that paint adheres. in any case, those cabs look horrible painted. keep reading for some other options

I'd start w/ceiling and lighting. can you remove that drop ceiling and at least do some beadboard or tongue and groove? Look on line for DIY ceiling makeovers on a budget.

for those cabs, they just have to go. they're melamine. they don't take paint well. If you're near a big city, look on craigslist for people selling oak cabs. those can be had for next to nothing and look better painted. or try Restore or Habitat for Humanity.

take down that backsplash and replace w/beadboard. paint it. you can do that for $50.

remove that weird island and bring in something like a wood console or table you can use

make your own. buy unfinished raw wood cabs, paint, find a remnant piece to top it and build shelves on the end

at this point, it's time to learn how to DIY if you don't have the money. there are excellent blogs and tutorials on line to guide you.

https://ana-white.com/community-projects

this one gives you instructions on anything you need to make.

this one too. teach yourself to do home repair or improvements.

https://sawdustgirl.com

I think I would concentrate on ceiling, storage, and lighting before painting cabinets or paneling. If you above cabinet storage, use baskets. The ones pictured below have attached tags to identify contents. The other photos show before/after of updates dropped ceiling. It may be checking if that’s within budget.

Ok... you cannot change the ceiling, backsplash, or floor. Is it a safe guess that you also cannot change the cabinets at this time? You probably can't change the island either since you can't change the floor.

I think the cabinets in a light green would be nice. And even without changing cabinets you could add under-cabinet lighting to the uppers to help illuminate your work surfaces.

Can we get pics of the rest of the kitchen please?

Some inspiration:

Farmhouse Kitchen · More Info

"Colorful Cow Hand Painted" Canvas Artwork, 40"x40" - Wrapped Canvas Painting · More Info

3-Pc Farmhouse Lidded Canister Set · More Info

We painted melamine cabinets once. Worst decision ever. They will not look like what you hope for and will cost a bundle in time and energy. Better to start saving up for a redo kitchen. Think Ikea.

Do you have windows ? When you clean off the counters put things in cupboards take little things off the walls etc see how much cupboard space you really need . The old style paneling/ cabinets/ even ceiling would not bug me as much as no windows . Can you Forfeit some wall area and get a window installation ... light ... ventilation !!!! Laptops and handhelds means desk for a computer is not critical but a kitchen island w overhang or table w seating might be wise to think abt. What kind of storage do you want are there bedrooms you can work on the closets? Clever ways to get storage but the kitchen should start w issue of dark as you mention so investing in window is wise. Even and especially if it’s a cottage or the like the enjoyment of natural light /view etc far exceeds any painting / color/ or light bulb changes you can attempt it just isnt the same .

Lighting is the main issue. If you can’t do anything about fluorescent lighting, just don’t use it. Just keep it turned off. You could bring in a plug in chandelier/light fixture that is dimmable, hook it to the ceiling and use that.

Everything will immediately look better without the fluorescent lighting.

Additionally, you can get some plug in under cabinet lights. And if you still need more lighting in the room, you could use some type of floor lamp.

This is a low profile floor lamp:

https://www.ikea.com/us/en/p/ypperlig-led-floor-lamp-dark-gray-90349897/

This piece offers a lot of storage.

https://www.discountbandit.com/sauder-select-storage-cabinet-in-highland-oak.html

Depending on what the drop ceiling panels are made of you might be able to remove them and paint them a bright white to better reflect what light there is. The fluorescent light fixtures - see if you can get the full spectrum bulbs to put into the fixture (might need to go to hospital supply for them). I would see if there are light covers that would let more light through the light panel. Even just replacing the fluorescent bulbs with new ones might make a difference - I think they lose some output over the years. But the full spectrum (not daylight which is bluish) is a pretty bright light and should help. Some.

If you can’t change a lot of what you have, but you want to go lighter and brighter, I would paint that paneled wall the same color as the melamine cabinets, update the lighting, and declutter. Eliminate the smallish wall decor in favor of one or two brighter pieces.

This was the original log cabin, the walls are not thin paneling, they are 1/2 inch thick wood, we don’t have fluorescent lighting, what you see are new led lights we installed. The ceiling has a gap of about 6 inches between it and the floor upstairs, all the electricity and upstairs plumbing is in that gap,so will be painting it white. Yes, there is window, will add picture, But big porch outside, so very little sun gets in!

you all have so many ideas... thank you! This is awesome as I do not have decorating talent as you can tell! Just tried to put in several things to “try out” and ended up with the clutter! maybe get new cupboard doors? Am really afraid of what I will find if we remove them. House is from 1888, there is only one outlet for whole counter space. Going to have electrician install more somehow for more lighting.

You'll be amazed at the difference removal of clutter, dated fou-fou curtains, silly looking ceiling fan/light and replacing the ceiling tiles with some of the vintage tin ceiling looking ones will make in your space. I used to watch a Canadian decorating show and they were always painting those kinds of melamine cabs with a specialty melamine paint, but I never hear it mentioned on Houzz. You might check into that possibility. Perhaps the wood part of the cabs could be stained to blend better with the wood walls. More LEDs under the uppers would be helpful in brightening the work space. First job for you is to remove all the wall items that can be held in your two hands and everything on top of the cabs.Clear of the countertops and then take down the curtains. It will start to feel better.

Can you post pictures that we can enlarge? Very hard to see them. Are the doors melamine and the frames wood? A closer picture would be helpful. And a closer picture of the walls.

Don't whitewash the walls with a tan colour. It will not look good with the floor. Same with mint green cabinets. Not good with the wood frames.

First thing to do, at no cost, is to remove the draperies from the window and the door. Those ruffled sheers are not a good look. Leave the windows bare, it will look fresh.

Your backsplash can be painted with epoxy paint, once you decide on what to do with your cabinets. But the tile floor cannot be painted - too much wear.

Is there any interest all all for switching from farm house aspirations to making it into a cool log cabin? It seems like it would be a lot easier and also a big improvement. Yes, lighting is the biggest problem followed closely by clutter. Take down the window treatment too.

Will do this and resend pics! Thank you all!

Determining what can or cannot be changed based on budget is perfectly reasonable. We don't all have unlimited resources and sometimes have to make things work.

There is also no crime in owning a small space.

You know you need to de-clutter, but it sounds like you are having difficulty figuring out what you need and finding space for what need. My advice is to go through everything - but only get rid of the things you are sure you don't need/want. Place a small rubber band around each item (Handle of pots and pans, around the cords for small appliances, over the handles of serving spoons. . . For plates, platters, bowls ... buy a few sheets of tags and place one on each item.

Put stuff away. Throughout the year, as you use things remove the rubber bands and stickers. Next fall you will know everything that has a sticker or a rubber band was not used in the past year and is not serving a useful purpose. (this works for clothing, books, all kinds of things in your home where parting with the items causes stress).

To utilize the space above the cabinets buy enough containers to line up from one end to the other. Measure the space you have from top of cabinets to the ceiling to figure out what height. You probably have 12" from the wall to the front of the cabinets - get something narrower than this. Place a white sheet of paper on the front side and list what is inside each container. They will have a uniform look straight across the kitchen. Far better than the 100 individual multi-colored items stacked on top of the cabinets now.

Amazon Link to bins that may work

For the ceilings - the best fix if you can't replace is paint. Remover tiles. Prime with a good sealing, stain blocking primer. Paint the ceiling tiles and the metal grid all the same color. (White). Replace the ceiling tiles.

If I were working with your kitchen I would not paint the cabinets - just clean.

I would get a peel and stick backsplash - Back Splash really doesn't take a ton of abuse - this will work for a cosmetic update.

I would look for something with blue and yellow

I like this one

Peel and stick Yellow and Blue

I would then tackle removing or painting the wood panel wall - I would paint a nice soft yellow to work with the new back splash. Paint the trim and baseboard White.

It looks like your countertop is square edged laminate. I would also cover the laminate counter top with sheet laminate. Not hard to do - get nice white counter tops for a couple hundred dollars.

Take the curtain off the door - not needed, not adding any decorative value.

I would also recolor the grout on the floor - make it match the tile.

Here is a very rough idea of what it could look like with minimal investment.

What is your approximate budget?

So much potential in this room! Just decluttering, adding some lights, and a coat of paint will be a great start. I hope you’ll keep us updated!

On a tight budget, I'd use a lot of paint and see if anything more is needed. With the right paint and appropriate surface preparation or primer, you can paint anything in a kitchen except for the floor tiles. And you can even re-stain the grout a different colour.

Your idea of painting just the doors will not look good. The doors need to be painted the same as the frame. It just won't look good otherwise. I would paint the doors and all the wood (frame, door edges) in white. A great look if you like a country kitchen. Add some pulls in a country style that you like, and spray paint the existing hinges to match, if they will show. Sometimes places like Habitat for Humanity have good deals on hardware, and with an inexpensive can of metal paint you can have any finish you like.

White epoxy paint for the backsplash. White ceiling. Green is a good idea for a fresh look for the kitchen and living room walls. A pale grayish green would look good with the kitchen and living room floor because you will be painting the walls in both rooms the same. Use paint not whitewash. More of a greenish white wall because you have so little light in the room, and paints will look much darker than on the chip. https://photos.hgtv.com/photo/white-kitchen-with-mint-green-walls-and-white-granite-countertops

I am looking to make this a winter project, was just going to do a few things every month, painting the ceiling is first on the list....unable to afford contractors and such, just saw such great suggestions on this site a figured why not ask ? Glad I did before I tried to whitewash the knotty pine.

Keep us in the loop! we love watching the transformation.

I can't tell if your cupboard doors are wood or laminate, it matters. #2 Painting a high use area prone to knicks and bangs and scratches is not a DIY. #3 adding color to white NEVER lightens. Color is moving away from brightest possible which is white. Your best bet at this point is to get better bulbs. See if you ca add more light boxes to what is there. With a drop down ceiling this is about as easy as it can get when adding light to a ceiling.

When we moved into our current house we had dark cupboards, inexpensive builder grade. We were focused on paying down debt and knew that we wouldn't be changing up the kitchen for at least 10 years. My Dad repainted them for us with regular semi gloss paint. He washed and lightly sanded them but didn't do any other prep. They didn't look like a factory finish but they looked pretty good to me and were 100% better than the dark colour they were. Once or twice I gave them a little touch up when they got a ding.

My philosophy is "Don't let the perfect become the enemy of the good".

https://www.thespruce.com/freshen-up-melamine-and-laminate-surfaces-1822210