Paint the backsplash, something with some color. Do that first, it's the cheapest change.

Can you or maybe someone far more skilled than I am photoshop the tile eam44 posted into the kitchen backsplash?

If you are willing to tile, that sample may work well.

I think the counters are fine. You've been given a lot of good ideas so I won't say much except a big YES to clearing all the stuff off of the top of the cabinets and removing the beadboard. Oh, a big yes as well to changing out that light fixture.

I really like the tile eam44 posted, too. You wouldn't need to change the fridge with the black in that tile.

What jumps out at me is the lack of color and texture and that there isn't enough contrast between the color of the floors and the cabinetry. You really need a kitchen rug or runners. I think that would make a huge difference.

What really bugs me the most is the white door. My eyes go to the clutter above the cabinets and then straight to that door. Your actual kitchen barely registers because those grab my eye so strongly. I think if you had a white fridge, the white door wouldn't bother me so much. If you keep that fridge or go with a stainless one, you need to change it. I would either put in a wood door stained to match the cabinetry (if possible) or paint it the same color as you paint the walls.

If you don't go with a tile like eam44 found, or something similar, I would suggest playing with color. But I know that goes against the advice of realtor's for selling.

Another vote for the BS eam's posted. Perfect! :)

I love the colors of the BS tile proposed, but in all honesty, the pencil mosaic tiles have come (and are already gone) in my area. So if you're thinking about resale in a couple of years, I'd look for something else.

I love painted kitchens but honestly for resale I would leave them wood. People love wood-finish cabinets. That tile eam44 posted above is a genius solution (although I agree with nosoccermom that the pencil mosaic shape is getting a bit expected). It still looks like a good quality, clean kitchen, and that will help it sell.

ETA There are some interesting options for different shapes here: http://tilebar.com/collection/blends.html

like this one

I like eam44 's backsplash idea.

I have never seen a SS major appliance that has looked other than cold industrial, and certainly not home-lived-in/friendly, but apparently a lot of milages differ. (Go with your own tastes, though!) The floor is the feature that needs work. A bit lighter? Also, some more peripheral lighting above?

If you want to sell in a few years, yeah, go be "trendy" and hope you guess the trend correctly. Otherwise...

I think it looks great. Other posters are correct about the beadboard. Doesn't look like enough of a contrast nor does it look close enough to style. I don't think you have too much wood either. I would not do any of the more 'trendy" tiles but maybe chose a simple light colored 4x4 or 3x6 that blends with counter and use a grout to match. then a rug to blend together. A collection of baskets on top of cabs always looks good. also if there were stools at the island a fabric could tie everything together.

you don't need to paint the cabinets but changing the light fixture would help to update the space as well. Good luck. this could be fixed up beautifully with a few changes.

If you are selling in a couple of years, dont spend boat loads of money. Buyers will have their own idea what to do. Make the house presentable, declutter, maybe do some cheap DIY stuff like backsplash and get rid of the beadboard, get a better pendant light for the island. And if anything else, restain the hardwoods.

Bead board is a distraction (does grab my eye at least) and no matter the color is a problem.

Maybe more photos (straight on) so the photo shop folks can have fun placing in various tile options?

Fixing the back splash issue will likely take care of any cabinets / counter issues. After that, consider if any change in floor color will improve the look / feel.

Also, there are a lot of electrical wall plates and well spread out --- any chance of improving that?

Personally, I think that counter would look better with darker cabinets. I like the floor.

I actually think white cabs would look really nice with that counter (now that I reread your post and see you are open to repainting), if you decided to change them. Otherwise the coordinating BS seems a good option.

I think the warm/cool thing can be challenging to pull off, but I agree with those who said the colors are fine here. I couldn't see the backsplash until I enlarged the photo, then I got why it looks wrong. It doesn't fit with the rest of the style(s) and the vertical lines are too busy. If I were moving before long, I'd probably just remove it and paint, maybe add a low backsplash, but I wouldn't go too crazy.

Get those expert designers back and ask them, "now what?"

Would NOT paint the cabinets. As a buyer I would prefer to decide which I'd want to change - cabs or CT, and changing CT is less $ than cabs.

Tile that earn posted is GREAT, tie the colors together.

If not that, I would paint the BS to match CT.

EAM - great choice!! I also tried darkening the floor, but don't think it helps.

Visual clutter detracts - suggest clearing the fridge and what's on top of the cabinets. You could paint the door black too. Orange bar stools? Have to say that orange is a fabulous color with your oak floors (ask me how I know, I struggle with them too).

Island front and door painted grey:

Black with an orange stool (could use orange glass in the light fixture)

Orange door island. Can easily pick out a color from the tile to use, or blend one/both in with the woodwork.

WOW, that tile looks GREAT!!!

oldbat2be. Thank you so much for taking the time to mock that up. I wasn't sure how tile would look but I'm actually liking the look, especially with the gray door/island. Now I need to watch a couple instructional videos on installing a BS.

Where did that tile come from?

The tile and paint transform this kitchen. Nice work, oldbat2be.

Ditto what funkycamper said!

Love the orange on the back of the island --- and thought it would be meh. Nice move. The black from the fridge is a distraction, maybe?

Ditto the orange! It's my favorite but I like color so that shouldn't be surprising.

It's amazing how well that trick works. Mix the disparate colors in the bs and it looks as though you did it on purpose. That tile is manufactured by Botanical Glass and I found it on the Glass Tile Oasis web site where it is currently selling for about $30/sf. You can likely find this tile on other sites as well, and you don't actually have to use this mosaic if you prefer a ceramic tile, for example (but it is sort of perfect and beautiful is never dated). But you're going to want this kind of a mixed palette in whatever you choose.

Just FYI, if you must DIY glass mosaic tile you will have to invest in a diamond blade for your tile saw. They're not cheap. You might want to get a couple of estimates before you proceed. They will certainly be lower than many of the other remedies you were considering. Good luck.

I think the orange paint draws attention away from the tile BS - which should be the star.

Would also change the hanging light fixture.

I keep getting distracted by that black fridge. So, after thinking more and not wanting to suggest lots more work (getting the fridge painted), fearful that getting a black painted finish on the door may be hard to achieve / maintain), thinking the dark gray door (a color to be similar to the counter) would work, along with a black hanging light fixture. And maybe change out the kitchen faucet for a black one. Beginning to think with this, that kitchen will be simply amazing and a bit different.

cml29 - you're most welcome! Kudos to you for all the color swatches you've tried. After having lived with them, which colors do you prefer?

Here's one more, with a rug for funkycamper (Modern Waves, overstock) and large hex tile (no idea of source). With your neutral palette, you have a lot of choices with tile. You can see hopefully see how a coordinating rug and stool can help tie things together. What is your budget for tile?

Personally, I like the black fridge - I have one as well and have grown used to it, along with a black oven and microwave. I am not showing it, but think that the island front might be best if you painted it to match the cabinetry - currently, the two colors break it up.

Do you have undercabinet lighting? (Makes a difference with a darker tile).

mdln - suggestions for fixtures?

nosoccermom - I agree about the pencil mosaics - but boy does it work with these colors:)

Keep the cabs wood. It is easier for your buyer to paint them, if that is what they desire, than to remove the paint back to wood. If again, that is what they desire.

I like the backsplash ideas here, especially the first photographed one.

Speaking just for myself, very obviously -- SS is horridly industrial. I feel I'm in a factory when I am in a SS kitchen. This is simply a minority voice!

Two more, then on with the day! Island and door 'same' color as cabinetry.

Dark rug, backsplash, island and door matching cabinetry:

I prefer the Persian style rug. It adds warmth. And, actually, in this kitchen, I seem to prefer the lower photo backsplash above the upper..

Maybe this has been discussed already. But are there other doors in this same room, or nearby? I'm afraid that painting just the one door will be strange if all the other doors are white.

If other doors are not an issue, then I agree with other posters, and think paining it the same color as the walls would look nicer.

The black BS also looks really good, esp. w/ the black fridge.

Would use a more contemporary style light fixture with a color picked up from the BS. For example if you picked the orange from the multicolor tile:

I do love this forum, with all the ideas presented!

My first glance at the original pic I thought the cabinets weren't the problem, just the floor and lack of color overall. Because of the limitations of color on my monitor, it is hard to say, but it seems that the counter is a color that can morph a bit depending on what other colors are adjacent to it? So perhaps you could find a more pronounced greyish blue or green for the backsplash and walls rather than straight grey.

If you are going to refinish the floor, yes, go for a bit more contrast.

The tiles suggested do look good and remove the need to change the floor, but I wouldn't want those in my kitchen frankly (I have a strong dislike of orange and amber tones). YMMV.

The door, seems to me, needs to either match the wall or the trim. Is it a wood that can be stripped and refinished?

I concur with the posters who thought changing the backsplash would give you an opportunity to tie the cool, flat tones of the counters with the warm colors of the cabinets. Make sure whatever you put there that there is some cool gray and some warm brown or cream. Another thought would be to paint only the upper cabinets a lighter color that would work with both colors. But if you're selling in a few years, you probably should avoid doing anything big and/or expensive. The backsplash is probably your best opportunity to make it all work without taking too big a chunk from your time or budget.

I like the idea of a variegated tile that ties in the warm golden wood colors with the cool gray countertop color. I like calacutta gold as it has the warm and cool tones. It is very subtle. Nothing to bold that might turn some buyers away. Something like this would make it all look perfectly planned. i would just change the door to wood to match the trim. If possible crown molding on cabinets would make it look more finished. A fresh neutral color on walls and island, and I think it will look beautiful!

Sorry but I really don't like the wood trim around the door (draws your eye to it & it's hard to work with). I would remove the trim so that the door goes into the background, run the molding from top cabinets to ceiling, tile the BS either the black or the tile above (I really like the pattern of both), up date cabinet handles (probably dark) & lighting ( go with a funky light fixture with some black in it) & bring in some color with bar stools & accessories. Doesn't look like you have much lighting in the kitchen. What about under cabinet lighting? Love the dark runner in front of the cabinets….you could pick out a color in the runner as your accessory color. It looks like the kitchen is open to another room…den? What is the color scheme of the other room? As you would want to tie in the colors. The cabinet really aren't bad nor is the black refrigerator….I have a black refrigerator.

I remember this one! cml 29, have you made any decisions/progress?

Finally got around to doing a few updates in the kitchen to help blend the countertops and cabinets. We installed a marble backsplash (first time I've tiled and it was a pain!) with both warm and cool tones that compliments the cabinets and countertop and replaced the black refrigerator with a stainless steel one; the old unit stopped working properly. We also upgraded the halogen under cabinet lights with LED units, I accidentally broke one during the tile install and couldn't find a replacement so I really had no choice but to update all of them.

Still working on the light over the stove/island, haven't found a suitable replacement as of yet and we still need to find the right color for beadboard on the island. I think the backsplash makes a world of difference and the LEDs under the cabinets hooked up to a dimmer are fantastic, much more functional/efficient than the old HOT running halogens. Thanks for all the feedback.

I think the changes you made really did work. I really like the BS and the fridge disappears more now that it's SS.

Thanks. We struggled mightily with the tile choice for the backsplash. Had a few samples up for months before scrapping them all and deciding on the marble.

All that work (including all the thinking / deciding work) - success! Wonderful outcome. Thanks for sharing.

Your backsplash is lovely and worth the work you did to install. I agree the SS fridge almost disappears. It looks so much better and like a happier space to be in. We have the same fruit container/banana hanger! :)

Much better! You did a great job. The kitchen seems warmer, more inviting and just overall flows better. And please put me in the lovin that backsplash camp! Nice work.

Great job, looks so much better. Thanks for coming back to share the outcome.

Very pretty backsplash, and the fact that you did it yourself--Brava, well done!

It looks really great! And lots of options to change/update it with different accessories down the road.

Just a new light fixture and maybe a runner at this point.

I was going to mention a nice runner too. Add some pretty color that's easy and cheap to change.

Wow that looks so much better with the new backsplash and the SS fridge

Definitely much better! I applaud your ability to work with a choice that wasn't quite what you wanted - I agree it's not ideal on color for your kitchen, but blends so much better now. The SS fridge make a huge difference too - the greys and SS all pull it together.