take your kitchen out of there! and move it down onto the back wall, put the dining table in that space, and the living room in the foreground of the first photo. that what you should really do. but i know you cant do that right away. I would do a very light gray as that kitchen is small and the walls will close in. I would start by painting everything white. taking off the back splash. taking down the pendant light.. dont put one back there its not needed. take out the glass front cabinets over the back wall...too stuffy. reuse those doors if you can on the two cabintes to the left of the sink. take off the corner shelf thing on the right hand stove side. take of the wood trim over the window. idk about painting the cabinets... but i would start with the walls and taking off the back splash

if you took down the back wall uppers could you open up that wall too? like another island

Here's a pretty grey treatment on cabinets in a knotty pine environment.