Defiantly test out cabinet paint in the kitchen to help decide. Rooms with low light can make greige look muddy , whereas white can brighten a space. Not sure how to handle the tile above range. If you are removing the 2 small cabinets above the range and installing a chimney hood, there isnt really a dedicated “stopping point” for the tile as that chimney wall is now open. Not sure about tiling above the rest of the cabinets. Stopping the tile under the hood can create a choppy look at the chimney portion. I’ve only seen full tiled walls where there are open floating shelves. Good luck!

Removing that cabinet involves removing the crown and the flat piece beneath it and it looks to be 1 piece all around that bank of cabinets. Also do you love the layout that island must be a pain to walk around when going stove to sink

My husband is pretty handy so we’re confident he can make it look nice (especially since we’re painting them after). Even adding a hood under the cabinet means modifying them in order to get it the minimum 30 inches off the top of the stove.

When we moved into the house I thought it would be weird to walk around the island, but I don’t even notice it now. I love having one flat space to work in the middle!

why don't you fill in the gap between tops/ceiling? diff ways to do it

You could do a thicker crown, add on to the cabs w/ boxes, or do something like this (it all gets painted w/the cabinets) :

or you can add these boxes w/glass. either way, fill in the gap, and add the crown. then you could do a vent hood like this, or the SS chimney type

if you do this, then you take your tile all the way up to the ceiling

if you don't fill the gap, you can do the tile either of these