You want more light but you are going to block 1/2 of what light you get with plantation shutters sorry i don’t get it. Pics of the actual space would be very helpful right now I would choose a very light greige to pull the spaces together.

I like the green in your picture frame.

My intent with the plantation shutters was to add a bit of West Indies vibe to the room. The view outside one of the west windows shows my neighbors backyard shed,etc. Our home sits up high enough that I could keep the lower third of the shutters closed and the upper two-thirds open and not see their things. Previous owner had woven wood Roman shades; they closed off a lot of light too.

How big is the picture you're hanging over the fireplace? Hard to tell but it looks on the smallish side.

The picture is 32" x 32"

Here's a picture of the room . . . still lots of work to do!

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I was leaning toward off-white or a very light beige/gray/greige, but read somewhere that it's better to use a saturated color in a darker room . . . guess that is what through me off . . . ???

Leelee . . . I will probably have to reframe my picture . . .you are right, I won't have as much space above the future mantle as I do now.

How high are your ceilings? They look low?

I can see where a rich color might look good in certain rooms but I don't think you should follow that here.

With your choices for the counters and cabinets you really need to lighten up on the walls. Especially if the ceilings are low.

Ha, just reread your intro and the ceilings are 8 feet which is on the low side.

Not only would I keep the walls light neutral also go with furniture/rug that's light, too.

Ceilings are 8" high. We wanted to raise them at least a foot or two, but short of tearing the roof off the house that wasn't possible.

I thought I might bring attention to one of the color choices I mentioned SW Sea Salt. See next picture

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White walls. Use accessories to tie in the colors, pillows, curtains, furniture etc.

One other consideration...you've chosen dark counters and cabinets. By using an off white paint for the walls, you'll make those counters really pop! Don't even think about doing an accent wall on the smaller walls you mentioned.

Do you have pictures of the backsplash? You'd be smart to wait until the counters are installed before you make a final decision on the backsplash. Just Say No to the 4" backsplash out of counter material. This is something that the granite counter people will try to talk you into.

This is one of my favorite kitchen ideas. The electrical outlets are installed under the cabinets so they don't interfere with the backsplash tile.

Under cabinet lighting too!

We'll be using travertine planking for the backsplash; similar to this picture:

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Great idea for the electrical outlets! And yes, we will have both undercounter and overcounter lights in the kitchen area along with cans and island pendants. I hope I have the lighting issue covered!

Thank you to everyone for posting your ideas. I think I'm leaning towards a very light beige so I'll still have a little contrast to the white plantation shutters. Any additional suggestions will always be welcomed!