Try uploading photos again. What type of wood do you have now? How old is it? What type of finish does it have?

Do you have previous experience with wood bleach?

So sorry, here are the pics! :)

The wood, I think, is oak. The cabinets were here when we bought our house 6 years ago. I am guessing that they are 10-15 years old. They are varnished over the wood. Thank you!

8 months of nights and weekends sanding and redoing this to a light finish does not help a lighting problem. Get in an electrician to add proper lighting to the space. Including under cabinet lighting.

Ok, thank you for responding. I like the idea of adding lighting. Do you think we should also leave the cabinets as is, or paint?

white washing that awesome brick and a lighter color on the wall would also brighten that room immensely.

Yes, fix the lighting, as suggested: undercabinet; a couple larger pendants with wider shades to throw more light. (See below.) Consider painting your walls and island a warm white matched to the floor and counterop. New wall paint will greatly lighten the room. These are budget friendly changes. The oak on the walls and brick add character with the room. Take all the doodads off the walls. If you don't want to paint the island, then paint the counter stools same warm white as walls.

Getting rid of that black refrigerator would help too. I see you already started in on stainless with the DW. Also the wall color is nice but it makes it look darker. Can you find a blue that doesn't have so much grey in it? I wouldn't paint the brick. I think it looks interesting, especially with the multiple generations of tuck-point repairs in different mortar colors.

Thank you all for your suggestions. We are hoping to renovate one day, so, just trying to make low cost improvements at this point. I’ll definitely make changes to the lighting. I love the idea of not having to DIY the cabinets! I wouldn’t mind painting the walls & island. Thanks again!

One other suggestion: After you fix the lighting, you might want to spiff up the cabinets vs painting, etc., especially if someday within the next 10 years you'll likely do a real renovation. Give the cabinets a good scrub and then apply some Restor-a-Finish (https://smile.amazon.com/Howard-RF4016-Restor-A-Finish-16-Ounce-Walnut/dp/B000LNSIM8/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1531696918&sr=8-3&keywords=restor-a-finish) which is available at most hardware stores. It comes in many wood tones, so choose something close to what you have. Follow up some Feed-N-Wax (https://smile.amazon.com/Howard-FW0016-Feed-N-Wax-Conditioner-16-Ounce/dp/B001BKQYGW/ref=pd_bxgy_60_2?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B001BKQYGW&pd_rd_r=e2bc9e2f-8885-11e8-9c69-252c111cdb03&pd_rd_w=heUPc&pd_rd_wg=z0IqZ&pf_rd_i=desktop-dp-sims&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_p=3914568618330124508&pf_rd_r=S605W6JW20YSJQ470J46&pf_rd_s=desktop-dp-sims&pf_rd_t=40701&psc=1&refRID=S605W6JW20YSJQ470J46) also available at local hardware/home improvement stores. For under $20, this is a great refresh.

If you want to go really crazy, you could add some knobs and/or pulls!