Carrara marble isn't a durable choice for a kitchen. People who do put it in are doing so usually in white or gray kitchens. With all your wood tones, it wouldn't be a good coordinating surface. It's a lifestyle choice as the maintenance burden is high. Staining, etching, and scratching are things you'd be living with in any marble. If you cook much at all, the black counters will be your friend in the way of maintenance. I do think replacing the small splash with tile is a good idea, but you have to be careful, because sometimes the countertop installers will do a huge gap and sloppy cut underneath what they know is going to be a thick backsplash. If you try to replace that with tile, you may have to end up patching the gap, so beware. People truly don't look up at your ceiling that much if at all. If cost is a concern, I'd leave the new fixtures in place for a few years.

I should add that the photo is from

the Zillow listing :) not my decor

What is the flooring like?

Yes it can be done. But you need a terrific tiler in case taking the 4” piece off creates a gap. I agree with millworkman - wait 6 months (but look for tiles that would complement your kitchen as is) then take the plunge if you find the layout works well for you. If there isn’t a gap and you buy Inexpensive tiles it should not be a lot of money. But waiting (and shopping) is a good idea for the first few months in a new house. I’m sure Houzzers
will give you suggestions when you live there and post far better photos. The coloring is too weird for people to give you good suggestions anyway.

I do not agree marble works nicely as a counter as long as you are not the type of person that always wants everything pristine for ever. I do think waiting to do anything is a good ideabut i would concentrate on new lighting for sure before even choosing a wall color. You need pot lights , never a fan in a kitchen . Get the bulbs in LED 4000K . The cabinets look really rustic but that could be the photo itself. Take away the paper towel holder and of course any fake greenery . I think the kitchen looks fine as is for now. Once you are in take some better pics for sure.

I meant to write a Carrara “marble“ quartz, but houzz won’t let me edit! Thanks for the wisdom to wait and @Patricia Colwell Consulting the suggestion to put in can lights!

Hi! I am in the same situation with a home we will close on this summer, except our cabinets are cherry with a forest green formica counter. Check out my kitchen idea book, I have rounded up a few pictures of kitchens with wood cabinets. If you like subway tile for a backsplash then there are some nice ones with black counters in there :)

Agreed I would wait to do anything before you get comfortable in the space. You can update knobs/handles for an instant refresh that won’t break the bank.

I can't tell it the undercabinet lighting is LED strips, but if not, that's an easy change to provide good task lighting.

A warm white on your walls would be lovely. And those counter tops are beautiful and classic, with the wood + black combo.

With a nice ceiling light fixture that is dimmable + under cabinet lighting, if it is not already in place, space will be beautiful.

I would change the cabinet hardware to brushed or polished nickel to bring more light to the cabinet faces. (and yes, they are beautiful!). You may want to change the cabinet knobs to handles down the road after you've lived with them a bit ( I found that I hate knobs) - it can be done.

I like the white walls in the above photo, but dislike the dead white ceiling - You could change yours to a subtle color that enhances the overall look without drawing attention.

At least one previous contributor in this thread who is from Canada suggested the fan be removed, but I live in a climate where people are still mowing their lawns at Christmas, and we actually put fans in our kitchens on purpose to make it through blazing summers with a bit lower central air bills, so it's relative. The kitchen is often the warmest room in the house when the oven or range is in use.

IMO granite is a much better choice for couters quartz has issues with heat that IMO make it unsuitable for a real working kitchen . I like to be able to put hot pots on my counter sometimes without a worry and for sure I like a material I can use as a backsplash behind my range ot cooktop without issue. I am the one from Canada and where I live our summers are often 104 degrees and up and I stlill do not require a fan to cool everything I cook. I run a catering biz and often have 2 walloves and 6 burners running. I have really good ventilation and a KA double wall oven that does not heat up my kitchen, those are how you mange heat not with a fan blowing air all over food.

I do live in Phoenix, so I understand the idea of the fans -- it's an older house :)

first things first, i would remove all the things on top of the cabinets. change up the celiling fan, and remove the rugs on the floors and the pans hanging from the ceiling. i think the backsplash needs to be changed to something more bright. The color of the cabinets with the black is ok but its dark so the backsplash needs to pull through to help brighten up the space. i would say go with a light subway tile. the paint color needs to be changed as well. i would love ideally to see the cabinets a little lighter in color. also the cabinet knobs makes a HUGE difference in the overall look of the kitchen. if your looking for small changes to make a BIG difference i would definitely suggest changing the knobs to something more current and fresh looking. some nice chrome or gun metal knobs will do the job.

below is a link to inexpensive knobs and the website has many other options too in case this one isn't your style. check it out

https://focalpointhardware.com/emtek-86151-finger-pull-1-p-22207.html

I am also in the "live with it" camp, for at least a year. We moved into a new-to-us house last March and while my kitchen is still not my ideal from a cosmetic perspective, it is functional and there were a lot of other things that became a much higher priority once we moved in. Once you get in there, take down all the plants and pots and (for heaven's sake) the books above the stove, you may decide other things are a bigger deal. Don't rush it - it's a nice kitchen.

@jpanu Just to clarify, you wrote, "We will definitely be changing out the fan . . . ," which I took to mean you're getting a different, fan, so correct me there if I misunderstood. Houzz forums are a place where all different opinions co-exist, and my intent with the prior comment was just to encourage you that it is by no means imperative for design or functional reasons to eliminate the fan if you didn't intend to do that. I wouldn't have even commented on fans had it not been for more than one contributor's differing views on the matter thus far.

My past experience includes years of living internationally in all kinds of climates, including several years in places where it was a warm day if it got up to zero degrees Fahrenheit (-17 degrees Celsius). I cannot remember ceiling fans being present in buildings in the northern countries in which I've lived, and in fact, those places typically only featured central heat or radiator systems with no central cooling at all because high temps weren't sustained for more than a few months in the summer, making it less than worthwhile to maintain central cooling. In the hot climates where I've lived, virtually everyone has fans in most rooms in their homes either from initial build, retrofit, or floor fans, and uncomfortably warm temperatures begin mid-spring and do not end until late fall.

So many factors play into temperature comfort level beyond the number on the thermometer. Humidity is one. At my home right now, my indoor humidity is 78%, and the outdoor is above 90%. Rarely does indoor humidity where I live dip below 50%. It might be 113 degrees Fahrenheit outside, but the feel of it can be bearable in a dry climate and unbearable in a humid one. In the warm climate where I live now, even if heat-producing appliances are off, fans are appreciated in all the rooms. We run fans on low or medium, not high. The ceiling fan draft is meant to cool the person, not the food or anything else around. Fans make a huge difference here. The draft is little different from air that is blown across food by the extraction of a vent hood. Yes, adequate range ventilation helps remove a lot of heat, but not everyone has a ducted vent hood nor can they always affordably remodel to include one. Hope that adds some clarification on why I commented what I did previously and stand by it.

[Edit to add: I just saw you live in Phoenix. That used to be a dry climate but is becoming more humid as more people are moving to the city and planting vegetation around their homes. You're probably in a low to medium place as far as humidity and a high place as far as temperature. Friends in Arizona I know use a lot of water-cooled ceiling fans in summertime to save on energy bills.]

I sincerely appreciate all of the insight!! Truly! With regards to the fan- I definitely wanted to take the current one out and replace it with a light.. I really like the can light suggestions... but I guess it will be good to wait and see if that kitchen just gets super hot! Totally agree to removing all the cluttery things - especially the fake plants! This is the Zillow photo, so I will update this once I'm in and can take some better photos without everything.

When I first looked at what would become my 7th house, I noted a ceiling fan in the kitchen and thought to myself, why would someone put that in. After all this is MI and even in AZ I didn't have a fan in the kitchen or any of the other previous kitchen. That baby is going to go! Fast forward 4 yrs later and I will never own a kitchen without a ceiling fan again. I have been amazed at how much I use it. Even when I have the AC on I run it as it keeps me and the kitchen cooler without having to turn up the AC higher or if I just want some extra breeze with the windows open. I also found that since my kitchen doesn't have a strong hood vent that it helps with dispersing odors ( ok, also helps if you burn something, too!).

As others have suggested, live with your kitchen before making any changes and even if you do a few upfront things wait on changing that fan out as like me you might be surprised and want to keep it. Enjoy your new home.

We put this one in our kitchen. It is so quiet but it really moves some air. And it doesn't scream FAN.

What is that fan? Manufacturer?

@crcollins1_gw I second that question, do you remember the brand of the fan?

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Stile-Anderson-22-in-LED-Indoor-Outdoor-Brushed-Nickel-Ceiling-Fan-with-Remote-Control-CF0110/301919991

crcollins1_gw that is a great idea. Reminded me that there are interesting ceiling fans with light features, too. I just have not looked at them in a while.

I just did a search and found this one.

https://m.beautifulhalo.com/modernism-oval-cage-ceiling-fan-light-acrylic-living-room-255-w-led-semi-flush-mount-lamp-in-coffee-with-7-silver-blades-p-417627.html?currency1=USD&track=PA_G_SUS325&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIst3Onc3S6QIVM_C1Ch35YwmTEAQYASABEgLr6_D_BwE

the cabinets are lovely.

counters don't bother me either. i'd love to see more pictures.

i would think about updating the knobs/pulls on the cabinets.

and remove plants from above. and ceiling fan. if need fan, switch with ideas above.

I am assuming pots in window are not still there. if so, remove.

best of luck!!

@crcollins1_gw Thank you for the fan referral! It looks like that one has a reverse motion option so you can move air down in the summer and then switch to circulate warm air upward in the winter.

Love the fan crcollins is suggesting. It’s modern and doesn’t look like it will collect dust.

It’s very cool!

I also like your cabinets:) The one change that I would make is changing out the over the range micro for a hood - because I am short and like a good vent. That is personal preference, but something to consider if you ever do a backsplash. You have a good layout and I like the glass door cabinets.

This is my wood kitchens idea book. Not all the wood tones are similar to yours, so keep that in mind - but might give ideas:

https://www.houzz.com/ideabooks/75202366/list/wood-kitchens

I looked up the listing from photo you posted. It is a beautiful home, but you have yellow walls and yellow ceilings in every room. It is the yellow wall color that brings a cohesive look to the home.

The choices for flooring and cabinetry throughout the home vary quite a bi from grays to gold to green golds, red browns and blacks.

The yellow is a pretty strong yellow and keeps your attention. This is how they tied everything below together.

I don't often tell people to get professional help to pick colors, but if you are not a color expert you may have a tough road ahead. There are a lot of decisions that you will need to make. What can you afford to change, what must stay and what you will use to replace those things you are changing.

I good interior designer can help with these decisions and find colors that work together and work with the variety of colors already present in the home. The fee for professional help will be worth every penny spent.

The best money we've ever spent was on color consultation. And it's not even that expensive, in the grand scheme of things. Large painting companies will sometimes have someone who does it for them, or paint stores may have references. It's a great tip.

Jennifer is right. A color specialist will be worth her weight in gold. I used one to choose the right white for my entire house since I’m not good with whites. Best money I spent. Do it once, do it right.

thanks! we were going to have the whole home painted before moving in. I will hire a color specialist. Does anyone know one in Phoenix??

I don't specifically but you could start by calling a Dunn Edwards Paint store in the valley and ask if they have names they could recommend.

Since you are changing whole house paint colors and consulting a color specialist why don’t you just leave the short backsplash where it is for a while. Then just paint the backsplash area. Changing the knobs to a silver tone would change the rustic country look of wooden knobs to a more contemporary style. This kitchen has good potential

Sherwin Williams stores here have color specialists on staff.

I would say that what you do depends on the rest of your home furnishings. What does your kitchen table look like? Furniture in the adjacent rooms?
Short backsplashes may be on their way in. I’ve been seeing them on the home improvement shows.

Just removing the Kitsch and painting something other than yellow will go a long way. Cabinet pulls and lighting next. I would ADD canned lights and not remove the fan. Having a white fan keeps it from being a eye catcher. I think those fans that are posted here are too fancy. Maybe just get a simpler white one than this. It will be less noticeable if you paint the ceiling white. And definitely don’t use anything other than matte or flat finish on the ceiling....it looks like they did.

And kitchen faucet will help too.

Traditional fans in a kitchen are a bit of a pain to keep free of grease and dust. The enclosed one that was posted above looks like it would be easier, and the style suits the cabinets IMO.