The floor and backsplash material has got to go, and the fridge and sink look awfully far apart to me. And I can't tell how long the island is, but it looks like it might be a barrier. While the cabinets look nice and I wouldn't really want to get rid them in order to change the layout, personally I would want to get the sink closer to the fridge. Maybe just redo the island completely, with a sink on the fridge side? New light fixture too, obv.

Do you live in the house? If so, how long have you lived in the house, and for how long have you used the kitchen? How long do you plan to live in the house? What's your budget?

When you talk about remodeling the kitchen, is your goal aesthetics (form) or function, or both?

How many people cook/use the kitchen? Are you planning on this being a "one bum" or "two bum" or multiple bum kitchen?

Can you provide a layout of the kitchen as well as the rest of the main floor, please? How does the kitchen relate to the rest of the house? This is pertinent especially regarding flooring, if you're looking to replace that. Are you satisfied with how the kitchen relates to the dining area(s)? Does the kitchen as is work for you for entertaining?

Unless your budget is quite generous, I wouldn't recommend a remodel so much as a refresh of finishes because with that many cabinets that appear to be toward the upper end of quality as they currently exist with complex molding, a total gut remodel could cost more than you anticipate. This is speaking as someone who has spent a year researching quality cabinet manufacturers in the United States with a floor plan of 8 cabinets and 2 floating shelves, receiving quotes in the $20K to $30K range or $3K to $4K per cabinet for semi-custom to full-custom cabinetry from mid- to upper-grade cabinet manufacturers. I've seen other discussion posted here at Houzz that around $2K per foot of cabinetry is also a good rough estimate for furniture-grade cabinetry. If you're willing to replace the cabinets you have with something less expensive and if the current layout isn't meeting your needs, then perhaps post a list of some things you might be looking to achieve with a renovation to obtain more input from the contributing community.

A layout (aerial view) with actual room dimensions - including windows and doors - will give you a better chance of input to improve layout. Include adjoining rooms and whether or not windows are fixed as opposed to be added, extended, et. Include budget and intentions for living in or flipping house.

If you are looking for advice only about finishes, that would depend on what you like, as well as what the overall feel/decor of the rest of the home is/will be.

Without knowing all of that - and therefore holding off on too much input - the absolute changes I would make would be

• for function: no desk, and cabinets that go to the ceiling.
• for form: brighten it up and update finishes (counter, backsplash, hardware, lights)

If it were I, and there was a not unlimited budget, I'd do as much of the following as is feasible: new floors, new backsplash, new counters, remove lowered granite end of island, change the light fixtures, change the hardware, possibly update the faucets, and flip prep sink to the opposite side of the island. Personally I'd never use the desk, and so I'd also try to reconfigure that space, perhaps into a beverage center by lifting the counter and adding undercounter fridge and icemaker in the knee hole of the desk.

Depends on budget :) I would possibly just change the floors and leave the rest as is.

Does the flooring run through the entire house?

counters, backsplash, stone pedestal for the island, repaint (that yellow doesn't play nice with the floor), light fixture over the breakfast nook and for the love fix the quarter round molding at the base of the cabinets to the correct stain color. If those floors are holding up that well I say keep them. It's the counter material that needs to go.

The cabinets appear nice. I love the transom over the pantry door and the stove backsplash with the shelf.

I’d start by deciding which, if any, elements must remain, then I’d gather inspiration images that capture those elements in a way that I like that is appropriate to the house.

If I lived here, and had the means to do it, I’d tear it all out. The layout is not great, and the cabinets don’t appear to be in great shape either.

Forced to consider a less radical option, I’d replace the floors, counters, island, backsplash, and chandelier. So basically, I’d remove every piece of stone, and replace the island with a more functional piece that could break up the visual monotony of the current cabinets.

It really should not need such extensive updating. There are some classic choices here, but a few bad choices, combined with an so-so layout and poor cabinet maintenance has plunged a space that could have been one for the ages, into ‘90’s disrepair.