Bumping your post to the top...
It looks like you’ve got a lot of real estate to cover from the sink to the stove-including crossing a main line of traffic. How do you use your kitchen? Do you cook a lot? The current layout seems a bit dysfunctional. Since in your post you went from asking whether to paint the cabinets to asking how someone else would arrange the kitchen I suspect its functionality is a bigger problem than it simply being dark.

Can you share a floor plan of the kitchen, complete with measurements of doorways and windows? There are some great folks on here that can help you figure out a course of action!

Your flooring though not awful is not a preference for me. I dislike the lvp or laminate flooring with the sort of wavy texture yours seems to have. If you are ok with it keeping it I would. Rearranging cabinets doesn't seem like a very viable option unless you want to move appliances too. Painting your cabinets is a viable option and will make a tremendous difference. If you are adept with photoshop or some other software you can take a photograph and experiment with different color options until you hit upon a scheme that you like. Would you consider adding at least a utility sink to your island? That would dive you a better work triangle. If you are one a basement or crawl space that should present a big problem. Good luck!

I agree that it does seem a bit out of practical use. But assume you know what does and doesn’t work. The only big thing I see that needs to change is to add a sink. But I assume there’s a story for that lol. Anyways design wise:
Agree that the floors are a big part in this. Would love to see something lighter but not a must. You can leave the lowers and paint the uppers. But I don’t know that will get you the look your after. What’s your style?? I would for sure do new pendants and new hardware. 2 cheap. Easy fixes. I cannot really see the backsplash clearly but it does look pretty , BUT very yellow. Countertops are ok. Also I can’t tell. Some spots they look black which I love but some spots the cabinets look brown. Just want to make sure. They’re deep brown right?

I would paint the walls a lighter color, redo backsplash and pendants and see if that helps enough. If not then re-evaluate.