Thank you- I should have mentioned i do have counter stools they just are not in the picture.

It’s too monochromatic. You need some more accent color to compliment the black vent hood. Swap out all the silver for gold - handles and drawer pulls, banding around light fixtures, bar stools etc. A dramatic sophisticated window treatment for the large window on the right side of the photo?

Well you know I'm partial to all dark. How recently did you renovate? I wouldn't stress about it. It may look off to you because it's new to you. As you live with it you may decide to change certain small things. But overall it's very pretty and kind of moody. Can you take a pic with the stools.

Illuvdark kychns said it best. I agree it’s very pretty.

I like it a lot! Maybe just paint the wall with the cabinet doors gray to match. Get a pretty runner for the sink area.

I think it's beautiful, the floors are stunning. It would not repaint the cabinets or change out the hardware. It just needs some accessorizing to warm it up.

• Replace the sheer window treatments with a more colorful and/or patterned fabric, and use the same on the window over the sink. Have them custom made--it will cost more than ready-made but it will make a big difference.
• Add a long runner on the cabinet run with the sink.
• Show us your island seating--can you have tie-on cushions made for them?
• Add something interesting to the island--right now it just looks like a place where you dump stuff as you walk in. A bowl with fruit for example would be pretty.
• Add some organic and textural items to the counter tops--maybe a plant near the window? A large potted plant at the end of the cabinet run near the double windows?
• What's in the room next to the kitchen? Perhaps you can bring some of those colors into the kitchen.

Agree 100% with Diana, it’s the window treatments.

It could be the way the photo is taken but is the island top a square? I'm wondering why it isn't a little longer. Don't suppose you want to take a picture of the kitchen standing in front of the island?

Your kitchen is very pretty, and your cabs look great, imo. You do have more traditional elements, so maybe if you chose warmer, more traditional pulls for your cabs you’ll like it better….buy just a few and try it out!

I like your kitchen very much. I am wondering why the island isn’t more centered in its space? Maybe that’s what’s off.

debra

I don't think you can get a true opinion of your kitchen without your stools in place.

Not every kitchen needs an island. Yours has no storage, so it appears forced. The island is serving as an eating spot at best. It has sharp unappealing angles. Better to replace it with a beautiful dark wood round table with an attractive light over top and a colorful area rug underneath. Create real storage for the items you are placing on it. Diana's other ideas are spot on.

thanks everyone i edited the posted with more pictures and clarification!

It’s a beautiful kitchen. I would just add a runner and some natural wood ,like quality cutting boards or hand crafted bowls on display to warm it up.

It's not the kitchen, which is beautiful. A couple things.

--Lack of texture and pattern: Your curtains dragging down the space. Think about replacing or supplementing them with bamboo roman shades the color of beautiful floors.

Or, as Diana Bier suggests, patterned roman shades.

Replace your mirror with an original modern art work

Dining Room · More Info

--Add a mahogony--antique or handmade--along with great antique or modern fruit bowl, set of gorgeous glassware, teapot and hand thrown mug--something that invites someone to sit down and keep you company in the kitchen. No need to change a single thing about your cabinets. Just think a little out of the box with window treatments, art, maybe a patterned rug under dining table.

Golden Road Kitchen Renovation · More Info

I agree don’t change out your hardware it’s perfect. Just add some plants cutting boards etc.

Meant to ask where did you get your bar stools? I love them! TIA

Thank you Kay P! they are actually from tjmaxx i believe but we are replacing them because upholstered seats with kids is.. not ideal haha

Don't waste your money on repainting the cabinets OR replacing the hardware. Repainting is going to cost a LOT of $$$, and needs to be done professionally. Also will be a big mess and disruption. Rather, paint the walls and trim a more dramatic and contrasting color?

Replacing hardware sounds easy enough, but the brass you have is very warm and nice, and you'll need to find something with the EXACT spacing to replace easily, or have to drill more holes. Neither of these is worth the time, trouble and especially cost.

The dining room is also lovely, but suffers from the same lack of color and warmth as the kitchen. The first thing I would do is replace the window treatments--woven wood/bamboo/reeds/grasses as shades with pretty patterned and colorful panels will add so much. Then select a color from the fabric to paint the walls and trim.

Here are some ideas:

Chatham · More Info

Weston Residence · More Info

British Colonial · More Info

California Coastal Home Traditional Style Dining Room · More Info

'Sconset Charm · More Info

Chatham · More Info

Then add a shade or other top treatment over the sink, either the same woven shade as in the dining room or in the fabric of the curtain panels.

Plain wood shade:

Eastmoreland Complete Remodel/Renovation · More Info

London shade in a toile pattern:

Midwestern Farmhouse · More Info

See how this colorful and patterned valance brightens up a white kitchen?

What They Did · More Info

Another top treatment:

Brorson Cottage · More Info

Or colorful cafe curtains with a pretty trim:

Sutherland Ave & Farmhouse · More Info

Another colorful fabric valance:

Classic Informality · More Info

You have a big black area in the hood/range. Repeat the black and maybe add some color - a rug would be nice to soften the hard surfaces. Curtains must go!

Where would you add more black? definitely can get nicer curtains super easy fix for that!!

for reference when we thought of going all dark this is what we envisioned but got scared to go bold which is how we ended up on the light grey perimeter

Adding more black as suggested into the rooms should help - experiment with the window treatments, rug, decor, maybe lighting.

The island is what looks off a bit to me. I can’t tell of it’s the size, placement, leg, island top or some combination of these. How much does the island top overhang on the four sides? It looks like the overhang is oversized with only one corner grounded with a beefy leg which makes it look unbalanced in the photos.

Yes so part of the balance issue is it definitely needs 4 stools 2 on each side the island top is intentionally oversized because we kept our original cabinets but wanted more counter space for when we entertain see below

Love your last photo. Don't repaint to something dark. You have the dark island and hood. Be creative with art and furnishings, and window treatments to get a warm, inviting feeling in the space. It needs personalization, not a paint job.

It looks like a recent beautiful remodel. Your cabinets are beautiful. I think what is visually not working is the monochromatic look. The two items you love are black so maybe add black hardware to your cabinets. The least expensive, and easily changed thing to do is paint the walls to a warmer, but not dark color. I would also change the hanging light fixtures to ones with some black accents to.

For me the pendant lights read cool/blue - could be my monitor though - if it were me, I would replace those with something softer and more textural (maybe a little whimsical) that could connect with the hood a bit more - maybe a single black carriage lantern?

You have a beautiful kitchen! I cut and pasted for a visual....I would replace the casual white curtains with a simple tailored and more elegant style valance over the wood blinds. Add some color with flowers, a rug and artwork in the dining area. The black and brass bar stool is from Perigold and expensive, but it's amazing how it matches your beautiful hood vent!

No to painting the cabinets, yes to looking at different pendant lighting with some black detail in it and I would get rid of the drapes on that tiny window to the right of the pantry(?).

There is something off-putting about the island. The wood matches that in the dining room and yet it's in the kitchen so add some elements from the kitchen. Such as black in the lighting and maybe black metal stools with a dark wood seat.

Paul F i love the idea with the pantry! we had a similiar design originally but truthfully we were having trouble making the vision come to life with our carpenter - now wishing i fought harder for that!

Paul F - what are your thoughts on making the other end cabinet black as well? or is that too much? maybe even add mirrors like below?

You have great ideas from several people. If you paint anything it should be as Paul suggested.

Before pulling out the paintbrushes, do the other suggestions - a better window treatment, a black over-the-island light (or wicker), and add some useful accessories to the island countertop.

I would buy ONE brass handle that fits your existing holes and see if that change will make the room more cohesive.

One thing at a time. Just getting a window treatment that adds color (or a bit more black) might work.

I love how your kitchen looks. You did a great job on the hard part.

It would look too boxed in with a black cabinet on the right too. I think maybe if the cabinet on the left were built with taller doors regardless of the opening size that that would have made everything look more in proportion.

MAYBE just have taller doors made for over the smaller cabinet box?? Looks better, no?

Red Ryder, if you look at the original post photos, the hardware is brass already.

Really great suggestions everywhere, I think lighting is an issue and are the island lights silver/ chrome? They seem to not match the other colors in the space but could be the picture. It’s okay to have different hardware on cabinets and island, black might be the pop you want on the cabinets and leave the brass for the island. Maybe try a couple and see what you think! New stools with texture will help, love the runner idea, and some wood elements needed for counters. It’s a beautiful space but wait before painting that be a huge PIA

@stephaniecowan now that I see how your kitchen relates to the adjoining space, I see that the island does double duty as a buffet. Made me think you and your guests had a wonderful happy dinner! The stools help soften what I originally thought were sharp corners on the island. There are interesting ideas here, but I think you can be proud of your kitchen. I like the combination of the dark wood, medium wood floor, and soft silver-grey cabinetry. May I ask what the cabinetry color is called? I can't tell if your dining room wall color is a yellow beige or not. It may be the lighting in there is just warm. Is it white with warm lighting?

I really like Paul’s idea to add height to the pantry doors, create more of a furniture feel with mirrors or such, and paint them black.

I believe that you should change the chairs to fanciers ones. Also, the lightening is pretty simple, but the whole furniture gives an elegant and modern vibe, not just a simple one.

Pretty kitchen!

I'd try changing your pulls to something like this, and agree with everyone about trying some black & brass pendants, and adding curtains and a runner with some black and pattern.

LInk: brass&black pulls

This suggestion echoes the black and brass of your hood. ^^^

I think you’ve done a great job, and concur with Paul F to add just a bit more black on the pantry and the pendants. Interestingly, the attached was on Houzz coinciding with your questions. Attached also is our kitchen remodel. Fairly similar in some minor respects with color, while more eclectic than your elegant style. You’ve done a great job thus far.

agree w/Diana. the kitchen is perfectly fine.

LOVE what Paul did w/the cabinet. great idea.

Or, you could try adding some vintage wood doors/hardware

don't mind the drapes, but maybe the blinds? what if you did a bit more texture to play off the antique vibe of the room and pick up the island chairs?

I'd start with any of the black pendants Paul suggested. The thing about pendants with metal shades is that no light emanates from them, it all does directly down so if you want the pendant lights to diffuse throughout the room, don't do all metal shades.

Something like this? If the budget is blown and replacing the lights are out of the question, you could always spray the metal of the existing light with a black matte paint for a short term solution. I did that with an ugly pair of guest bath sconces ten years ago and they still look good.

The only thing that feels off to me is needing longer pulls on the middle section of your massive pantry by the window.

If you want some texture, you can have overhead black wicker fixtures.

wow- Beth H. you and I are so in sync!

I absolutely LOVE the vintage doors and the black arched doors- this is so funny because originally THESE BOTH are exactly what I wanted for that pantry. I searched all over Etsy and reached out to SO many people trying get custom doors that look like french vintage doors. Unfortunately, the space is too short to accommodate any sort of vintage doors unless I have them made from scratch(which was thousands of dollars) but I really wanted the vintage look ( think The Corbel if you have seen them on the internet) Then I tried to pivot and do a glass type door but after going back and forth with our carpenter for months it just was not happening -my husband was super anxious to wrap up the project so we definitely settled on the doors we ended up with. We would love to do what Paul put in there or the vintage doors still but we will likely have to make a whole new unit in that space ( its under a staircase)

stef, yes, I kind of figured that would be the problem. (the height)

You'd have to somehow take it down to the floor and poss raise the header a bit.

on a whim, have you tried going to some salvage places (or look online like craisglist) for vintage doors? Your carpenter could possibly cut them down.

I lucked out on craigslist and found a guy selling these solid mahogany narrow doors (I wanted to do two sliders for my water closet)

These are what they looked like when I got them.

and after I was done painting and staining, adding the glass insert and the vintage hardware

Sometimes you have to 'fake' the vintage look. lol

these are stained on both sides,

but only the front was done w/the milk paint (4 diff colors)

then application of Tung oil

I went w/a seeded glass

early 1900 hardware that I had to clean up

so, maybe you could locate something similar and have it cut to size?

Black hardware

I think other places are beautiful, but it may be a problem with the lighting.