Your kitchen looks nice, but it is very dark. (I am not talking about the dining area, which seems to be a completely different room) Maybe try to lighten it up, all of your appliances are black/cabinets are dark, stools are black, etc

as appliances die, you can transition to stainless steel. worst offender is the black fridge, no amount of magneting paper can cover its black hole-ness.

and yes, not-dark stools would be great.

To me, what jumps out is the short wall cabinets (made to feel even more blocky by the subdividing door trim) and the huge soffit above. This kitchen would receive a real shot in the arm if you could replace the uppers with something newer, either painted or a wood that matches the built-ins in the dining room, and that goes as close to the ceiling as the contents of those soffits will allow. (The lower cabinets appear less dated, and could be painted to match or left as is with lighter hardware.)

Well, if I'm right, then this will look less off. If not, then ignore my previous. :)

I think it's the style of the doors, they tend to look like two doors on top of each other. Makes it look so busy..

Lovely cabinetry in the kitchen.

I would start by adding under cabinet lighting. I would also paint your kitchen white/soft white. The current wall color in the kitchen seems to wash everything out.

Also, like auntthelma said the dining hutch is too disjointed from the kitchen. Can you stain that a similar finish to the kitchen cabinets? Assuming you stay with black appliances, I would paint or get black dining chairs to balance the blacks in both rooms. Then, I would also replace current black stools to a wood finish that matches kitchen's.

Hope this helps!

You have beautiful warm golden cabinets but a cool wall paint color. Change the paint color to a yellow cream. Also, try some warm white LED bulbs in the chandelier instead of the daylight color.

apple-pie is right on. You have cool gray walls with warm wood tones. Gray is popular, but matched with white or very dark wood cabinets. Those of us with warm wood tone just get to have non trendy walls till the trends turn:)

There are some blues and greens, many with gray undertones that work with warm wood, but they tend to be a little on the dark side. Cream, creamy beige are good neutrals with warm wood.

Consider painting trim work only white with a light creamy beige for wall color.

If you do not have undercabinet lighting consider getting some. I just did a row between my sink and range as that is my major food prep area. I used DIY and plugged it in for a year till I had some other electrical work done and the electrician wired my DIY into a switch.

Oak cabinets with creamy beige:

https://www.houzz.com/ideabooks/57579129/thumbs/my-pics-work-in-progress

Under cabinet lighting - DIY wired in by electrician:

https://www.houzz.com/photos/my-pics-work-in-progress-phvw-vp~81033766

that's a lot of wood. Different woods no less. Can you unify the two sets of cabinets? Do you need all those cabinets in the dinning area? I'd remove the uppers in the dinning and stain to match the kitchen.

Thanks for all the suggestions. The stain is color matched on all the cabinets, They are different woods which may be the difference being seen. I will try painting all the walls the same color to see if that helps. I also temporarily added our black folding chairs until I get mine painted. Do black chairs help?

Attached is a closer picture of the stains.

I agree with painting a light beige or white. I'd also take as much as possible off the counters to let the backsplash show and I'd put a pretty bowl on the island. Last, I'd look for bigger pendants, or maybe they're just too high? They seem rather disconnected from the island to me.

Consider changing the doors in the kitchen to the same wood as the hutch and stain them. It would look great.

From here, I like the sand color [?] of backsplash with soft green paint. What I would try is chalk paint on the hutch. Many houzz photos show a separate area or feature with accent color. Would seem to prevent bland of DR set same as hutch, wouldn't it? :)

Idk what material is in center of hutch? Plates can add so much - several could repeat color/ vibe of backsplash, or elements we can't see - just one:

Yellow paint would be great

To my eyes it is totally the hutch that creates an issue. The style seems too " modern" for the rest of the space. I would paint it. But....that big empty space in the center is the most jarring thing. It looks like something is missing. Could shelves be added to that space? Change your wall color as suggested and your kitchen will look great.

You may have different light bulbs (LED sunlight, LED warm, fluorescent, incandescent) in the two areas. That could be making the paint color and wood tone look different in the two areas.

It is a bit dull, and is largely due to all the wood. A new stain or coat of paint on the wood will help. Also, try painting the area above the cabinets a fresh color!

Do all your cabinets have tiny wreaths on them? That is not helping!

I think the soffit in the kitchen competes with the ceiling high built in cabinet in the dining room. Remove the soffit; replace upper cabinets with uppers that more closely match the built in; paint all cabinets white; leave the island as is. Matching cabinet hardware all around. Hope this helps.

Lots of helpful suggestions here. No one has mentioned painting the cabinets, but if that's in the budget I would recommend starting with that. Consider painting all the cabinets in both rooms in the same color, and use that same color on the soffits above the cabinets in the kitchen as well. As long as those are a different color than the cabinets below, the cabinets (and the room) will tend to look "squatty." If you can find a way to make those the same as the cabinets it will change the look of the whole room. I also think @grapefruit has a great suggestion about the importance of filling the middle empty space in the hutch in the eating area. Good luck :)!

Checking whether your living area really needs more space / if you wanted to remove hutch, could place eating table there [of many shapes and forms]?

Need storage? under bench seat - or like this arrangement if you don't:

... finding good storage options ... I can delete these.

Painting the cabinets White, adding some color to the window, floor and dining area, would brighten things up.

Remove those what look like small wreaths of the cabinets.
Change out the lights over the island to something larger and more modern.
Remove all the build ins in the dining area and if you need the storage replace it with a hutch type unit painted the same color as the island.

Yoi have some good elements to work with, but way too much going on. You need to make the whole more cohesive, plus a few updates. The soffits are claustrophobic - get rid of them. Since the woods are different, you can only make the cabinets hang together if you paint them. BM White Dove is always lovely (I have it in my kitchen) and will look great with the black accents. If you want to move towards stainless, you can get stainless front panels for some appliances. Use simple black hardware and take down the wreaths. A soft color on the walls - perhaps blue, gray or a deeper cream would set everything off nicely.

What is your budget for this project? Painting the cabinets, getting rid of the soffit, and buying new appliances are large, inconvenient, and expensive options, almost like getting a new kitchen. If you aren't ready to spend that kind of $$, then painting the walls, changing out the chairs, and clearing out all the clutter will help make the kitchen look better. As someone said, the tiny wreaths don't add anything, ditto for the papers on the refrigerator, and the clock, cutting boards and other extraneous stuff on the counters. You could also get new lighting fixtures (the one over the table is too high) and dress the kitchen window with a shade to hide the less-than-attractive view.

If you are willing to spend for a new kitchen, then have a plan, preferably drawn up by a pro, and don't do anything until you can execute the plan properly.

heres the updated look, still need to paint the trim around the window white and hope to replace appliances to stainless as they die. What do you think?

Holy cow that is awesome!! What an improvement! You should be really proud of everything you did.

By the way, this is a great example of the benefits of painting the soffits the same color as the cabinets. The whole room looks so much taller.

Good job!

yay! hope you're feeling good about it. agree that matching the soffits and cabinets makes the height differences between the rooms mostly disappear.

You have a beautiful kitchen. Don't want to make any one upset. But it needs a finish look and not a live in look. If you know what I mean. I would do the cheap changes. Because you've worked so hard and probably spent a lot of money doing it. Think about curtains and not the bare look at your window. A Roman shade would add color and privacy. Next I would do away with clutter. That's what I call the lived in look. You have so many cabinets that you need to purchase low price accent's and put every thing away on your counters. You will love the look you have designed. Next get rid of clutter on Fridge just try it and I promise you will have a very clean view of your Kitchen and beautiful appliances. Next refinish your beautiful chairs and table or buy a beautiful table cloth to match colors you have in both rooms. Last buy or make 2 beautiful floral displays for your island and dining table. Bed Bath and Beyond you can go there and either purchase display ( not me to expensive) or take pictures of them and purchase floral to do it your self. I hope this helps i always try to work with what I have and add color accents and groom the room. P.S. Would love to have all those cabinets.

Have a great day.

Di

You would be suprised at how updating your knobs and pulls can make a big difference! Century has
many collections that would look great in your kitchen! It seems like such a small thing to change, but with the right hardware, you could really give your cabinets an updated look!

https://www.houzz.com/collections/centuryamerica

It looks so much better. I was going to suggest painting the cabinets and the walls above the cabinets the same color. I did it to my first kitchen and it made a world of difference.