The top cabinets date kitchen. Maybe you could replace just the upper doors with same pattern as the bottom doors. What is the cabinet that sticks out? Colored cabinets date quickly in my opinion. I would stick with white, beige, or light gray. But I'm not a designer.

I think what you are seeing is the island (its movable) and it is currently where the fridge will go.

I love the inspiration photos you have choosen. It sounds like the flooring is staying so choose colors that make the floor feel as if it were part of the plan. The white built-in shelves fight for attention with the window in the middle, I want to make at least the top half of those go away. I also envision stacked stone or glass tiles heading up one of those walls, but that's not in alignment with your inspiration photos. Lastly the lights in the ceiling gotta go, and I'm not sure you can put anything in their place? I'm not a designer so for whatever it's worth, I hope that helps.

http://houzz.com/photos/11389569 like this.

Get rid of the 4 inch backsplash made from the counter material. The backsplash on the wall should all be the same no counter material on wall.

Could you have the doors refaced? Then you could add hidden hinges and paint white or what ever color you want. Gray could be nice but the arched design looks very 80's.

Take a look at the placement of the knobs/handles.

I like your ideas. Gray seems to be the new beige. I'm afraid it's going to go away soon. I would change the upper cabinet doors with shaker style or like the lowers as suggested. I really like a blue kitchen. It could be an almost white blue or an almost white aqua, I mean really light. You will have a pretty large kitchen. You could do the lower cabinets in a dark color if you go light on top.

I disagree with getting rid of the corner cabinets, but I would do the same color combination you do in the kitchen. Remember your countertops and floors are white so you may not want to add too much more white, although a white kitchen is always timeless.

Is that a pan rack hanging down in the middle? I like it. You could fill it with lovely copper pans. I would change the braces holding up the counter bar with either ornate corbels or black wrought iron ones. You could add crown molding to the ceilings, it will enhance the almost French look your kitchen has.

As far as the color of the walls you could do a very little bit darker hue as the upper cabinets. This will help tie in the corner cupboards in the nook too. The backsplash
I think you must do very updated however, not trendy. You don't want to do them again in a couple of years. I agree with removing the small section of the countertop material if it won't be a major project. It may conflict with your backsplash you choose.

You cannot go wrong with subway tiles as a backsplash, however you won't want to use white I don't think. But it would carry the very pale kitchen theme you want. You could go with a clear glass rather than tile, but I would only do that if you use color. People can ruin the whole look of a redone kitchen by using the wrong hardware on the cabinets or a poor tile job on the backsplash. This is critical.

Be sure you get the proper under cabinet lighting as well as the overall lighting. I would love to see pictures when you finish this job. I think it will be lovely.

Thank you all so very much! All of your input is helpful, we are just now in the very beginning stages, I will def post before & after pics.

When you tear out the old backsplash be sure to remove the 4" backsplash of counter material. The whole backsplash should be the same material.

You might need a little repair work on the tall cabinet when the 4" backsplash is removed but even if there's a little damage it would still be an improvement and you can always prop a tray up there.

Take a look at the inside of your top cabinet doors....sometimes they can actually be turned "inside out" to show a less ornate side that's hidden. That would save some money.

i would paint your cabinets either white or grey but stay away from greige. i like your inspiration photo a lot. Since walls are easier to paint than cabinets -- you could paint your cabinets white and walls grey.

The built-in book cases have to go all together. They are an architectural conflict with both the window and vaulted ceilings -- don't know how someone could put them in to begin with,

If you need shelves there for storage, i would go with a more modern choice with straight lines. I'd also recommend replacing the window -- the arch is dated and out of synch with the room.

I agree that the top cabinets are dated but I also understand the need for space -- especially since i live in SF.

To modernize the look and not have to deal with trying to coordinate them with the bottom cabinets, you could remove the doors and have open shelves. Or you could find glass paned doors. Either approach is a budget friendly approach.

If you have the $ to replace them completely, chose cabinets that go higher up to the ceiling.

I agree with leelee.
Our cabinets were all arched. I took off all the doors, filled all holes, sanded them all down and painted them. When we put them back on we flipped the doors so that they are flat on the outside now
I left top open shelving though.
You have some really great potential in that kitchen and I love all the suggestions!

Glad to hear that actually worked!

Can the white corner cabinets in the breakfast room be moved to the dining room? The shapes are too competing, but they could be great storage elsewhere.

Suggested Lighting for Sheena.

I got the lighting from YLighting ( http://www.ylighting.com/louis-poulsen-doo-wop-pendant-light.html). The gold lights perfectly match your cabinets.

An improved version of what I originally suggested is the color of light green which really compliments your grey cabinets. I should have sent both of these 2 images before.

Get rid of wall paper paint with accent wall. Bring art to kitchen. Paint top or bottom cabinets and stain in darker color.Counter tops hard stone or surface with color.