The wall color isn't helping the situation.

As to the floor, what is it? It looks like hardwood. If so, get it stripped and refinished in a somewhat darker color.

I agree that the wall color and ceiling color don’t help my situation. The flooring is a very cheap vinyl and isn’t waterproof. It is starting to swell in some areas which is why my father said to replace it first then see if I still want to change the cabinets.

^I agree the wall color needs changing. A soft white would be neutral and nice. If you're not replacing the counters, you need to remove the 4-inch backsplash before adding a new one. New hardware on the cabinet/drawers that matches the appliances would be an update (such as brushed nickel).

ETA - The Vapor Trails from Marylee looks like a good possibility with both your cabinets and appliances.

Replace your flooring since it needs to be done, choosing something neutral that works with your current kitchen and the rest of your home. Then paint the walls a warm white.

I would leave the cabinets, they appear to be in excellent condition. Paint your walls. and until you can replace the floor with darker, put some runners down on it. The color of the walls now, does not go with your cabinets at all. I would probably wait on the backsplash too, since the counter you have now, looks like it has the integrated backsplash on it already. When you are ready to replace countertops, get countertops without that 4 inch backsplash, and then do your new backsplash.

It’s your gray counters with the yellow oak and yellow walls. The cool gray is competing with the yellow tones of everything else. Painting your walls to help bridge the gap and merge the two may help, but I’m not sure what color to paint them.

(I don't know what y'all are looking at- I just want to kiss those adorable kitty toes)

IMO get some new lighting even a track light would work use LED bulbs in 4000K then see how the space looks . Yes you need to paint the walls and unless you have painted many cabinets this is not a DIY job and IMO the cabinets are a dated style and I would not spend money having them painted which BTW can run as much as new, I would suggest a nice grayed green for wall color I always like Gray Wisp BM . I think I would really not do much before analyzing how much you love the kitchen as it is layout and cabinet space . It looks to me like storage sapce is needed and that might be where a new kitchen will come into play BTW that stove placement is very bad. I would hold off on the new floor until all the major decisions about the space are made.

Patricia, I agree that the layout needs changed, however, I am afraid there isn’t much I can do about changing it or I just can’t envision the change that is possible. I HATE the placement of the stove. The whole layout of the house is odd because the original house is from the 1920s and then they added the addition extending the kitchen space and adding a garage. Would pictures of my house’s horrible layout help?

This is our first home and we plan to be here for at least another 3-4 years as eventually we will start a family and need to move. I would love to change the kitchen layout, cabinets, and etc. but I also would hate to put more money into the house that we might not get back when we resale.