There's nothing wrong with those cabinets, but I would consider a color change for sure. Instead of painting them white, there's a new catching trend of wood-bleaching on these types of older dark cabinets, have you considered that? It still gives you the brightening effect for the kitchen that you want, but it looks a little less boring, and is also more appropriate to the style cabinet, you also retain the beautiful woodgrain which is a tremendous benefit.

You can easily have someone make a few changes to the cabinets, what I would definitely recommend on some of the lower cabinets is to replace some of the door spaces with drawers. Any carpenter with a half decent skill set can do this for you and create matching drawer faces without adding too much cost.

Also, consider doing the islands in a completely different finish than the rest of the wall cabinets, you can also consider throwing on a different countertop on the island, something like a butcher block.

I also agree with one of the previous commenters that's stated the granite might not be the best choice. This product is quickly becoming dated and isn't placed in such high regard as it used to be. Consider doing something like Corian, is a better product, typically cost a little bit less, and has a much warmer, welcoming feel to it.

One last finishing touch that adds a professional finish to any sour kitchen like this one is to do something with that space above the cabinets are typically just clicks desk for most people. The simplest and least expensive option for finishing this area, is to add him a simple bulkhead that extends to approximately the same depth of the lower cabinets which allows for adding potlights to give that extra lighting most kitchens are lacking. You could also consider adding undercabinet lighting which is another high-end feature to give your kitchen that slight edge.