Hello - looking for some suggestions on our current U-shaped kitchen and the flow (or lack of) into what will be our new living room space (this will become an indoor/outdoor area). Where the current dining room table is will become a living room. Dining room/lounge area will move to the front of the house.

Our kitchen currently feels very "heavy" and we're challenged with the space above the cabinets as well as the whether to break up the space and install an island. We want to keep things bright, light, open and most importantly a feel that is more organic/mixed use.

We're totally open and not stuck on anything. We would just like to maximize storage space without closing things in. We also would like to use what we can of the current cabinets (we like the more unfinished wood look) but do some updates. The granite countertops would be an obvious opportunity? We are also not stuck on flooring as we will be re-doing the dining space (new indoor/outdoor) to have better flow.