You should first make a plan for the whole connected area: kitchen, dining area and family room. Because they are all visually connected, the wall color is important. A light color makes a space feel larger. If your wood has a golden oak tone, I would suggest a pale creamy white for the walls and ceiling. Avoid beige and gray for walls, carpet and furniture. If the room seems dark in spite of the windows, add a few additional light fixtures. The house has a lot of wood, so I would not add wood kitchen cabinets.
Do you have a budget for replacing only the kitchen cabinets or is there enough for painting the whole space and replacing the rug and kitchen flooring? If we know your budget we can give better suggestions.

With that kitchen it's more of a complete gut than a simple cosmetic upgrade. Are you prepared to take that on?

Warm white cabinets would provide a nice break from all the wood, and they would work with the white appliances if you're keeping them. The layout seems ok, maybe consider moving the fridge to the back wall where the pantry is. The carpet in the kitchen is an issue, hardwood or tile would work well, and if you go with hardwood consider running it into the living room space. It seems like lighting is an issue too, so invest in that as well.

If you are re-doing this kitchen (and I don’t think you can really “update” that kitchen without a complete re-do), make sure your new upper cabinets all go to the ceiling.

Remove tchotchkes from, well, from everywhere. Top of cabinets, fridge, stuff on fridge, and counters, for a bit of fresh air.

I love your place. Do consider painted cabinets as well. There are more colors than white and gray. Browse the us companies deVol and Plain English and see if perhaps there is a light color you woul enjoy. Though perhaps a pretty taupe would be simple and suitable.

Nice space. The first thing I noticed was the textured ceiling. If you are able, I'd recommend smoothing the ceiling along with whatever other updates you decide to do.

change the pink beige wall color right away. I would embrace the modern potential and do a WHITE kitchen. NOT CREAM. Texture in some great tile/maybe butcher block/ etc. For budget and planning..save some and wait and get ideas. The lighter/cleaner look on walls can be done right away . this is a modern space.

White? All other colors in your room suggests you're not really a white type. Am I wrong?

Appreciate the comments so far! Yes, I want to paint throughout. To me, these colors are too traditional and a lighter color scheme would brighten up the place. I do want a blue on the tv wall, however. Yes, I need more lighting. I want to add lighting over the peninsula, take out the trash compactor, and create more storage for baking supplies there. Yes, we are changing the flooring in the kitchen but not the living room. We do not want hardwood throughout this floor - just in the kitchen. As for the pantry, I want to keep the tall cabinets on the left, add glass door cabinets with a wine rack underneath, and then add drawers on the bottom. I do not want any counter space over there. Useless. As for the rest, we are taking out all cabinets and replacing -- not painting the crappy, cheap ones! I've considered a color on the lower cabinets and white for the upper but think this is just a trend. Would appreciate wall color ideas and cabinet color ideas.

Have you considered a pale green for your new cabinets? A neutral green would complement the woodwork in your space and could (if carefully chosen) also complement your blue TV wall.

You really need to speak to a designer. In the end you are going t spend more money trying to "fix" what you have an make it work when it never will than gut and redo the kitchen. If that isnt in the budget then save and wait. The cabinets you have are poor quality to begin with and any modification to them simply won't give you good results. It needs to be gutted and reworked.

Like the tie-in of blue countertops with your blue TV wall accent. M.Miller is right that currently there's to much clutter--and too many refrig magnets! If you're going to replace all the cabinets, I agree that 1) they should go all the way to the ceiling (added advantage--no more dusting the tops!); 2) no 2-tone color scheme (too busy), no wood, no taupe--especially if you're keeping your white appliances; and 3) moving the 'frig over to the wall that you want to re-design with wine rack, drawers, etc. will majorly open up your kitchen. If the 'frig will stick out too far on that wall, either move it to the right of the new cabinets on that wall (do not put it next to the door) or have a handyman reduce the wall depth behind just the 'frig--which we did because we had this problem--and you can gain 3" more space. Adding an interesting (colorful) backsplash and painting the walls (which will be less visible with taller cabinets) white also will make the kitchen appear more spacious. Pink peony's advice to consult a designer will help you avoid pitfalls and make the whole process less stressful. Good luck!

Hello Janet!

This kitchen could use some help, and our website might be able to provide you with at least a stepping stone to getting some ideas. Check out yourremodelingguys.com and click the 'Design Online' link.. Our kitchen visualizer at the least may be able to help put some color choices in perspective of your thoughts and ideas on color choices and combinations that could work in your kitchen space. If you live in the PA, NY, ME, MA, NH, VT area and would like once of our certified kitchen designers to come out to see your kitchen for FREE, you can do so right off the website! Perhaps we can help you out first hand right there in the comfort of your own home.

Hope this helps!

Pale green, sea foam, pistachio, maybe.

when you say update, what does that mean?

I have to agree with everyone. To "update" and not renovate will end up taking forever and will be piecemeal and will probably not get you the kitchen that you want.

You need to plan, plan, plan and then plan some more. This will take you at least a year to plan what you want, what materials you want, what you want to relocate, etc. Trust me on this.

What do you want the finished product to look like??

Save pictures of kitchens you love, hate and why.

What is your budget?

This needs to be realistic. You cannot remodel a kitchen on 5K and have it look like the

kitchen of your dreams.

What needs to be relocated?

Moving appliances can be very costly or it can be a minimal expense. Planning will help

you decide that.

What do you want to add? Subtract?

What do you HAVE to have and what do you want to have?

These are all questions you have to have answered before you can even begin to think of materials to be used.

As for paint, it is always the last (in addition to the backsplash) to be decided.

To my eye, your stove is not well located. You can't stand to the left of it for prep, and the counter between the stove and fridge is narrow. But then, I can't figure out your kitchen layout from the photos. Are the refrigerator and stove opposite the sink? If you're going to the trouble of new floors and cabinets, maybe you could get a better layout.