Pics ok kitchen

Nice hood, really updating the space. A warm white, be careful not to get to yellow. You have a white around your fireplace that needs to be respected plus the whites of the cabinets. Swiss Coffee can be a nice white that can compliment a lot of whites. Not to cool or to yellow. Take your tile floors into consideration too- they looked grey base. I used a KMW 47-1 Broken White to soften grey tile the other day but still complimented other whites in the room.

Taking out the upper will be a modern addition and make your kitchen look larger and more balanced. Pay particular attention to the depth of the shelves, too deep will look too heavy. I would consider white shelving to keep it looking bigger, wood is chic but could make the space looked cramped.And a bit to rustic with you counters??

When you talk about back splash are you talking about out the existing or adding to it- just behind the behind the hood correct?

Thank you so much for your responses I'm always Blown Away by how strangers take the time out to respond to my pleas for Help!! Lol! I love both of your ideas and we'll definitely keep them in mind. shelf depth is something that I hadn't really thought of!... Something to keep in mind for sure. in terms of the backsplash initially I was just going to tile behind the vent but now I'm thinking the whole wall would look more cohesive. what do you think?

Yes , the whole wall and I would use white tile with white grout for sure!

And your welcome :)

Yes, remove that awful brown backsplash and the side splash. You may need to repair the wall under the sidesplash. Then tile the wall. Your current stove looks like a stand alone but the one you show looks like a slide in, will it work?

It seems like it according to the dimentions @emmarene