We had a similarly dark kitchen when we moved into our current house. We had our maple cabinets painted when we moved in, which was five years ago. The painters sprayed the cabinets with a cabinet specific oil-based Ben Moore paint (can't remember the name) and five years later they look great, some marking on the pull-out garbage and a few other places, but that's about it. We also replaced the dark tile floor with white oak wide plank flooring, replaced the black appliances with stainless, the dark brown backsplash with subway tiles, and the red paint with off-white. It has helped a lot. However, it can't change the awkward layout. We are now in the process of replacing the cabinets and countertop and improving the layout (as much as we can since the space is awkward). As a stop-gap measure until we figured out what we wanted and had the budget to do so, painting the cabinets was great. It was also very affordable -- $600 bucks for 12x14 uppers and lowers and 8 feet of lowers on a peninsula.

When I replaced furnace I had one duct installed in the basement. It runs along near the ceiling and then turns down to towards the floor. The register is in a wall about 12 inches above the floor. It works fine. A basement which is mostly underground does not require much heat to keep it warm. But if you want good temperature control then consider making the basement it's own zone. This is something I regret not doing.

The counter top has ALL THE COLOUR OPTIONS you could ever want. I would pick the pale/blond tones that match the colour in the counter top (not the cream colour...but the next "darker" tone of gold/orange). Any blonde wood look will work. I know the visuals of "beech" or "birch" will work very well with these cabinets. Simply find a vinyl product that works in those natural blonde wood tones. Done. Done. And done.

Thanks everyone for your comments. At least I know I am not CRAZY for not being able to decide as there are so many good opinions/reasons/options! For now, I decided to do nothing..ha! Well for the time anyways, I am making other changes and then will figure out what to do in regards to this fan. In fact, turns out I am using it way more than I had expected as I’m doing painting and other work in my condo through the HOTTEST July in DC! And this thing doesn’t quit, so it’s a blessing in disguise that I could not decide what to do with it! Maybe I will post an update later but for now, hooray to 1982 appliances! Thanks!