I think it looks great the way it is. If you do the corbels, I'd stick with the same stain as the cabinets.

I'd think about waiting until you have the range and backsplash (and pot filler?!) in. I think it's hard to gauge now. But it's looking great! And I agree with homechef, if you do go with corbels, stain them to match the cabs...

Becky

Me too: Wait. See. It might be just right when everything's in. I think corbels would be the wrong move. The molding might look nice.

What I'd be thinking about instead is doing an inset in the backsplash, and make the top edge follow the same shape as the bottom of the cabinet.

Thanks for the responses--they are really appreciated. I am not doing the pot filler. There is molding that is going to go up--not sure about the specifics of it. We got these moldings that are about 3" wide for each side of the cabinet and filler. I think it is supposed to look like raised panels. We did receive some extra molding today though--maybe he could incorporate something with that. We do have some of that light molding that is supposed to go under the cabinets--it is not installed yet. As I look at the pictures--I wonder how that will work on the valance--is it not meant to go under the valance?
Pillog--great idea about incorporating the shape of the valance into the design. Would I need to pick out curved tiles to do that or will they just cut the tiles to make the curve?

Be careful when adding korbels and other details. Here's a cautionary tale of a design that fell afoul of a building inspector. The hood of this kitchen was much more elaborate, with the cabinets antiqued and washed by an exceptional artist, when the building inspector arrived and immediately pulled out his tape measure and checked the clearance between the hood valance and the burners.

Twosit, if you want to use a molding tile, you can get it custom made to follow the exact line. There are some lines that have curved pieces that you can fit together, but there's less choice there. Alternatively, the trim can be cut from field tiles, but for that you'll want to use a very square edged tile (rather than rounded or pillowed) so that the cuts don't show. The last would look great in stone.

Live with this a little. The visual width is important and you'll find that making that space more square is going to make the wall feel confined. You might want to paint that wall as a temporary thinking tool, to see how it feels as a consolidated space. I assume the range is stainless steel. The light area of the wall is an important counterbalance to all that dark stuff.

The wider the channel for the air uptake, the more efficient the air cleaning.