I think your kitchen is beautiful - minus the refrigerator "ART" and I would lose the piece of furniture...maybe you could just improve the lighting?

How about a sky light or is there a room above?

As faux artists we have painted quite a few kitchen cabinets. I personally like a light kitchen. If your walls are a light grey - you have some choices of color. As they have some inset detailing on the cabinets you could even paint them the same color as the grey and use a glaze to accent the indentations to give it some pop!

There is a room above the kitchen...I LOVE the idea of a skylight...too bad for me!

If you are ok with the white that your built in cabinet is, I would paint your cabinets the same colour. Because your gray walls appear in the photo to be a cool gray, you need a creamy white that is still very crisp. An alternative to take a look at is Benjamin Moore Oxford White CC-30. It's creamy enough to have some warmth with enough crispness to look great with a cool gray.
Adding some art between your pass through and door would add some life as well. I agree about the mahogany cabinet though. It's a lovely piece but i would find another home for it.
The library cabinets shown on my Houzz profile are done in Oxford White.
Good luck!

thank you so much!

I really like Carrara marble tile.. would that work as a backsplash with these cabinets as is? What kind of countertop(color, material) would work with them?

Your kitchen doesn't seem dark at all! I would just paint the walls a slightly stronger color. They appear very light blue- almost a baby boys' room color- which, to me, doesn't hold up to the weight of the cabinets, but that's an easy fix! The cabinets are a classic, medium toned wood and I wouldn't suggest painting them. I would move that dark cabinet, though. I bet it would be just as useful in another room.

Since you just put this addition in, give it a little time to get used to your new look. It is not dark. I would add the marble you like, then get a coordinating backsplash. Consider glass tiles for some dimension and a clean modern look. Adding under cabinet LED strip lights will lighten up the area a lot. Get rid of the clutter. The piece of furniture is awkward there. Hang either lovely piece of artwork or large clock. Get rid of all the little things on your refrigerator. Remember "less is more". Add a colorful area rug and possibly reupholster the chairs. Do one big thing at a time. Do your homework. There are so many beautiful ideas on house, look at them before any big decisions are made. Great looking kitchen, just needs a few little tweaks. Good luck!

It's a very light grey, almost white color on the walls. The color behind the cabinets is a light peach that goes w/ the outdated tiles. It is dark in there except around 4-5 o'clock when the sun comes thru the door window.

Are you using LED cool lights in the recessed lights? On a dimmer? Possibly a few more recessed lights and under cabinet lights. Exchange a couple upper cabinet doors for glass doors and lights in the cabinets.

The window is looking in a screened in porch. This is an eat-in area. Before the addition, we could sit there and look out at the backyard. The cabinets are 12" deep wall cabinets. At the time we designed the kitchen, we didn't want to sit at a regular height table and not be able to see out of the window(original w/house). I was thinking of using this dark cabinet for more storage and to put the microwave on top(with some kind of prorectant on cabinet top) in order to make the kitchen not seem so closed-in. I think the microwave above the stove really closes it in.....maybe its a bad idea...What do you think?

I think it's a beautiful kitchen and does not appear dark to me at all. If you're looking for a quick pick-me-up, I think you'd notice a huge difference if you were to a) completely remove everything ontop of and attached to the refrigerator (the uncluttered stainless steel will make the room appear brighter and cleaner), b) Switch out your dark floor mat for something with a little more color or pattern - maybe reupholster the counter stools in a similar pattern, c) "Stage" the counters by removing clutter and adding a bowl of fruit or pretty glass jars or something. That will make a big difference, in my opinion. The next step would be to remove the piece of wood furniture and add some artwork to that wall.

I would not want my microwave anywhere else than above my stove. It is out of the way. How does it " close in" the kitchen...it matches your stove perfectly. The brown piece of furniture must go. I would declutter, remove the magnets from the frig, and get a pretty rug.

Oops, Claire.....we were posting the same thing, at the same time! We were on the same wavelength....

It's a beautiful kitchen, warm floor and maple cabinets which is always timeless! Remove few things and add some deep and rich colour on walls to balance and enliven this room. Maria Killam offers some great advice. http://www.mariakillam.com/blog/

Perhaps it is the fact that you have wood floors and wood cabinets that makes you feel the room is too dark. I think a soft cream painted cabinet always looks fabulous with wood floors and would look fine with a soft gray painted wall. I would not move the microwave. If you decide not to paint the cabinets a lighter countertop and area rug would also lighten up the space. If you switch out the countertop, do a new backsplash also, in a lighter tile and install the tile from the countertop all the way to the bottom of the wall cabinets. Good luck!