Have you seen the post by "Reno fan"? It reminds me of what could be done with your kitchen. I love what she did with the arches/replacing wood doors with glass insets, and the valences above the stove and the window. Do you hate your island because of aesthetics, or because it gets in your way? I immediately thought of her island when I saw your kitchen. A curve at the end (and you could fit a stool under) and it would echo the curves above the sink and the range. The repeated curves, a change of height and/or depth of some of the cabinets (we pulled two lower cabinets out a few inches from the wall, and it did lovely, low cost, changes to the layout we had planned. We also cut a base cabinet down, creating a lower baking center.) You could reuse the cabinets you take down to either wall side of the range (you would need to remove them to create and arched valance/vent - adding this element that went to the ceiling would look dramatic and break up the space fairly reasonably) and use the cabinets to create something elsewhere (you could even take off some depth if you wanted to) - you could create a "hutch" with the cabinets to the far right (over the cabinets next to the dishwasher - remove the panels, replace with glass, add a couple of corbels, and you have a hutch.) Some paint, glass, new tops, and if at all possible, new backsplash tile (or, conversely, would you be willing to beadboard on top of the tile for a less expensive fix - you would need to get creative with molding) - I read somewhere of a lovely fix - someone had removed panels and inserted glass into uppers, painted the cabinets a warm yellow, pasted beadboard wallpaper into the backs of those cabinets, and painted the wallpaper a duck egg blue. They were lovely. I think your kitchen has a lot of potential. You may also want to add a stronger crown molding. Here is a link that might be useful: French Country Yellow and Blue Update

Thanks everyone - yes we are keeping the red it looks great with the new tile, and gives our living room some warmth and color! The contractors are coming back to do the kitchen backsplash next week (after counters go in tomorrow) so they need to touch up some of the wall patch, there are a couple spots that need attention before we do the touch up paint. Of course it will look much better with the paint repaired but I was too excited not to share. The hearth will be easier to keep clean and it's much safer than the raised heath. In fact the doors fit perfectly this way because they would have overlapped the top more if they could not extend down below where the hearth was before.

Thank you Aktillery! I have heard of Barker but forgot, thanks for the reminder. This could be good. Now that I have decided on a partial overlay I'm sort of excited about a cute two tone kitchen for son with better function. Imagine having wall cabinets deeper than 10 3/4" so you could easily get a plate in there. Or, adjustable shelves that you could put cereal boxes or coffee supplies and even a container of cooking oil. And, a corner cabinet that would actually fit med sized serving bowls...oh the luxury! The other change will be putting a microwave over the range to free up counter space. That area above will require a smaller custom size cabinet, maybe, need to re-measure. Down the road after son pays for a new flat roof over patio and a few other expenses he can do the bottom half, or, not. This townhouse is in more of a "starter" community. It's nice but there is a limit to how much to spend on remodels. He did the important stuff like new a/c , water heater and updated baths/plumbing and more. So, need to re-measure and perhaps also get a quote from Conestoga's lower line as well. So many cute kitchens in two tone.

Maybe something like this but not sure if I should do black or brass.