I think black pulls would be nice on those cabinets. I don't think you need to stain them unless you really hate the color. They seem to be more cherry than the orange honey oak.
If you do a new backsplash I would remove the 4 inch granite backsplash and do natural stone mosaic or subway tile.
Agree about a new light. http://houzz.com/photos/89372

Thanks so much for the advice, onthefence! I definitely hear your point on the backsplash and good call for the vent! Any thoughts on putting a vent with a window there? Does that change anything? The kitchen, and the house in general, definitely has good bones which is one of the selling points of the house - even though it is small. We do have a plan for an addition if we do decide to stay in the house longer or we decide it is worth the investment. This would include a kitchen expansion so I am trying to not make any major changes that would end up costing me money down the road aka moving major appliances and do major re-wiring since if we expand, I may end up moving things again.

Lamps plus has a good selection of affordable lighting
http://m.lampsplus.com/aHR0cDovL3d3dy5sYW1wc3BsdXMuY29tL3Byb2R1Y3RzL2Nsb3NlLXRvLWNlaWxpbmctbGlnaHRzL2ZpbmlzaF9icm9uemUv

Thank You, sam0705. Interesting idea about black hardware...I hadn't thought of that! Might pull together the black granite. It's true, the new hardware and new lights might make enough of a difference that I may not need to stain them...right now the whole place just seems so blah to me.

I agree that changing the pulls on the cabinets to a darker gunmetal or black finish would help coordinate more with the countertops. If you have new, beautiful solid wood cabinets, I wouldn't spend the time or money to change them but rather focus on things to coordinate. Find a tile for the backsplash with a little texture or pattern to add some personality to the space. I also agree about the sink light. A beautiful pendant that coordinates with the kitchen table pendant will would look great!

I concur with the majority of onthefence's suggestions. However, I would not stain the cabinets, not enough return on the time invested. You will need to select a free standing range as your replacement rather than a slide in. Definitely get the lights hardwired, surprised they were allowed to sell that house with those. Good luck and enjoy your new home!

Kimberlee, Thanks for the suggestions! I can't figure out what kind of backsplash to use that will brighten up the space but still coordinate well and create a cohesive look with the black granite and wood cabinetry. And I agree, onthefence's sink light suggestion was not something I had thought of. My mind is already running with ideas! :) And thank you, sam0705, for the link! What a great site!

A Kitchen That Works, thank you for your input! We are currently looking at free-standing ranges. I am a big fan of GE's new slate finish and am leaning towards that. We are currently under contract and the inspector is heading out next week so they may say something about the wiring of the lights. I'll make sure to look into that! It is an old house and the owner is older so I'm not sure how much more she is willing or able to do. She has knocked the price down quite a bit for us at this point so this may just be something we will need to invest in doing. Thank you for pointing it out!

Try searching houzz products for natural stone mosaic for ideas
Here's one I love
http://houzz.com/photos/2668998

I agree on the new lights. Under cabinet lighting would indeed make a nice difference too. Would leave the hardware, cabinets and backsplash as they are.
Once you've cleaned the kitchen and the previous owner's stuff is out of there, look at it again.
New lights, more attractive blinds/shades, a coat of paint on the walls may do the trick.
Once you're in and all the other stuff is out, I'd love to see photos of the cleared kitchen then :-)

Congrats on your new home.

Looks like you have a fun project! I just helped update my sisters kitchen on a very small budget and the main focus was on brightening it (for her that meant lighter color on walls); updating backsplash; updating lighting; window treatments and improving storage (she added storage shelves on a close basement stair as she had no real pantry either). See photos below.

For you, I would agree with the above on updating the lighting fixtures above the sink and above the table (if you plan to keep a table) and the ceiling fan. (Once you have an electrician in for one thing, you may as well have him do a couple as it costs a minimum just to get him there). I don't know your asthetic (modern or traditional) but might be nice to see a glass pendant over the sink and the table and maybe a flush mount to replace the fan. Lighting really brightens and modernizes a kitchen. I also think you should change the backsplash to a simple subway tile (if you want to get a little fancy you could do glass subway). What you have there is neutral but really not modern or fresh. Given the size of your kitchen the smaller subway size would look nice and modern (but not too so for a traditional buyer and your traditional cabinetry). I would do the tile under all the cabinets as it's not a big area and would be more cohesive (right now it looks like it's only by the sink). In terms of color I would recommend white or a very light color if you are doing glass. If you chose white, then pick a nice light color for the walls and if you do colored glass than I would chose a neutral for the walls.

If you can figure a way to get the microwave off the countertop I would do it as you seem to have very limited counter space. Ideally you could do a microwave with a vent combination but it appears that maybe there is a window over your stove? At a minimum maybe move to the wall on the other side of the table so you have more usable counterspace where you need it.

The window treatments look really old so I would definitely get rid of them. My treatments were custom (this was the big budget item in my project), but I think you can do better when you use one of those catalog companies as long as your comfortable with doing your own measurements. My are mostly decorative and if you don't need the coverage and don't want to spend the money than just go without. It keeps the kitchen much brighter.

Finally, I'd do something with the floors if you can afford to. Once everything else is freshened the floors are going to look a little out of place.

Good luck.

Perhaps recessed lights in the soffit (?) above the sink?

tchirsh, a simple yet beautiful backsplash idea would be to do a subway (3" x 6") tile in an off-white. I think it would tie in nicely with the dark countertops and would also look great with the color of the cabinets. It will also help to brighten the space some. Home Depot has a line of subway tile as well as Daltile. In both lines I would either go with the color Almond or Biscuit. My recommendation would be to grab a sample of both and hold it up to your contertop and cabinets to see which one is a better fit. Hope that helps! Good luck!

Also, this is a really popular and classic look so it will be beneficial for resale purposes.

I agree with many of the comments. Love the idea of spray painting the current hardware flat black! I think the back splash is fine, too. It looks like an old exhaust fan on the wall by the range that I would remove if I were you. I have something like the pic below & think it would work with the glass block window. I'd prefer not to have a dining table, but rather a work island of some sort. In an old 1945 house I bought, the previous owner removed the walls between a tiny kitchen, dining room, & LR. It worked! They did neutral tile in the kitchen and refinished the hardwoods in the rest of the house. Depending on what you have, there could be an issue with wood floors when you remove a wall, so an experienced floor man is required. A good cleaning will work wonders & you can oil the cabinets if they are solid wood. Check Ikea for lots of space saving ideas. I'm thinking matchstick blinds at the windows and fresh paint in your fav color!

Definitely don't stain the cabinets, besides if it's an older home you'll probably find surprises that will eat away at that budget. Change the hardware to darker pulls, find some nice lighting and what about some pretty glass tile for a special backsplash? Its kinda translucent. I've also seen jade colored semi translucent subway tile so fairly neutral color but very pretty and would really bring the wood and granite together and really pops. The glass tile is more expensive though.

The suggestions you've gotten are excellent. From what I can see, my priorities would be a stove vent, new lighting, and getting the grouted tile floors cleaned professionally. Getting the microwave off the counter would be good: perhaps a new microwave drawer would work. THe pull out shelves in bottom cabinets work really well.

Wow! So many amazing ideas! Thank you so much! That hood looks great, Pattigoode! And from all of these suggestions, I think I definitely decided not to touch the cabinets for right now (which will make my husband super happy as we are DIYers!) I do like the idea of oiling them - they are definitely solid wood!

The house was built in 1948 so Pattigoode, you are right on with what you are saying. The hardwood floors were re-finished a few years ago (the owner has really kept up the place pretty well despite how cluttered it looks). The subway tile suggestion, Kimberlee, is great, thank you! I've been eyeing them and trying to decide if it would be the right fit and I especially like the idea of the jade semi-translucent subway tile, hazeldazel. I don't know if it will be too contrasting with the traditional wood cabinets but I am a big fan of glass tiles. Amymthornton, thank you for sharing your images. I do like the idea of the glass pendants and I think it will definitely make it more sophisticated. I don't think I am going to mess with the floor right now, especially considering the age of the house, I don't want to play around with the tiles unless I am ready to undergo potential asbestos clean-up and as well as the re-doing of the entryway, hallway, and main floor powder room as the tile continues throughout those spaces. That's a big job and is just not in my budget right now.

If you are working with existing floors a toothbrush and bleach or commercial tile cleaner will go along way - it takes a lot of time but I have actually made grout look spanking new by doing this before!

Amymthornton, thanks for the suggestion! It's a first home so I might as well cross off the "toothbrush cleaning" method off my list now while I'm still willing to do it. A few houses in I'll probably be less willing. It's still exciting when it's the first. :)

here's a couple images - one shows the jade tile against the dark countertop and one shows it against the warmer cupboards. Try to imagine them together.

As much as I like subway tiles (have them in my own kitchen), it seems a bit of a waste of money here, because you have pretty good bright white tiles here. Just live with it a while. Really. Trust me, I'm (not) a designer ;-) You can do so many other things to make this a more attractive kitchen than changing perfectly good, non offensive tiles and spraying good hardware black.
Just breathe, keep a clear mind (the toothbrush/bleach method will help with that :-)) and give practical improvements priority.
Aunty Carolins has spoken.

If you are considering a gas stove, an outside vent range hood should be your first priority, safety first! Then decor. I think your kitchen will look fine once it is emptied out and with some brighter lighting. Live with it for a few months before you change anything time consuming or expensive.

Please, if you have the keys to the house and the kitchen is cleared of all the stuff, post new photos. I'm sure you have a really nice kitchen somewhere under there.

Yes, keep the cabinets and the cute tiles. Th tiles have a 1940s touch that is in right now. You need pretty tiles (neutral but pretty on the floor), and if you don't need the space, lose the table in the kitchen. it is making it feel cramped. If the dining room is close, why not eat in the dining room?

But I have to admit, the jade tile is AWESOME!

Is the flooring sheet vinyl? I thought it was ceramic tile. I have done the toothbrush-and-old-tableknife method on 1960's vinyl coated with too many layers of floor wax. The tableknife is used for scraping wax out of fake grout lines. I'd recommend trying a Hoover Floormate before I ever do that again!

I don't know what a Hoover Floormate is (sounds lovely though), but I have a Kärcher steamcleaner for indoor use (it's like the yellow heavy duty ones but different) and I use it to clean the grout (yippee!), the (floor) tiles, for mopping, cleaning the kitchen, the windows...
This thing almost makes cleaning the house fun. With the emphasis on almost.

@carolins: the Hoover Floormate is an electric scrub brush and vacuum combined. After scrubbing, it sucks up the dirty water. http://www.amazon.com/Hoover-FloorMate-SpinScrub-Vacuum-FH40010B/dp/B003A2IDMC

It works on vinyl flooring as well as some other hard floors. Most vinyl flooring manufacturers don't recommend using steam cleaners on their products because they get too hot. I've heard the steam cleaners are lots of fun (compared to hand scrubbing!), especially on really dirty tile the first time.

Apple_pie: Thanks. A Hoover Floormate sounds even more fantastic than the steam cleaner I have (it does get hot... steam eh). I'm going to find out if the floormate is available in the Netherlands and will put it on my birthday wishlist :-)

@carolins: A few years ago, the Hoover Floormate had a wonderful, funny commercial:

Apple-pie... I'm sold on it :-) Does the guy come with it or do you have to pay extra?

@carolins: I think you get the kangaroo with it.

LOL