Go with some 'current' a bit 'cool' with light choices, etc... seems that painting brick wall can look that way too.

Adding more lighting does wonders for dark kitchens.

Solatube.

if you post pics of your kitchen, we can help you with all kinds of ideas to help refresh the space. my opinion is that if money is tight, save it up until you can do some big changes. do a few DIY jobs for now to tide you over until then:

painting the cabinets white will definitely brighten, but I'd only recommend it if you don't like the wood and/or if they're in bad condition. note it can be hard to do it the right way so they end up smooth and impervious to chipping.

some people remove doors from uppers (and paint the interior) to help open up a space. this is particularly nice if you don't like the style of the doors. of course this will only look good if you think you can organize the contents nicely (you could do just a few, not all of them).

painting the brick wall white will majorly brighten the space.

will rugs help cover the bad parts of the floor? such as runners in high traffic areas, or large-ish rug in the kitchen to hide water stains or whatnot?

and of course, like Celadon said, lighting will really help. but we need to see pics of your space to give you better advice.

If we could see it, we could help!

Mostly what you're talking about is cosmetic. Is there anything broken, used up or unsafe? That's where I'd put my money. My kitchen cabinets are dinged up and not the most current in style, but they're plywood and solid and (mostly) clean. :) I don't like my countertops either - they're a dark, late-90s granite. But it's all fine and I don't want to spend money on cosmetic issues since the layout works and we have plenty of storage. I think we get hung up on "dated" when, really, who cares? You're not going to be in Architecture Digest. So what?

Unless you need to make repairs to sell the house, I'd live with the cosmetic until you have a more secure job situation. Get working appliances, some rugs and make sure it's clean.

There is markers that come in cherry for colouring on the furniture so I would do that since you don't have money to replace your cherry stuff And granite is a natural stone I wouldn't worry about a little chip

Nothing you mentioned is inexpensive or DYI. You can try Old English Oil on the cabinets to bring them back to life. Put down a large rug over the floor. Make sure your walls are painted in a light color so everything isn't dark. If you post some photos you might get more suggestions.

Most bang for your buck: new counters + new lighting.

Deeper cherry colours do REALLY well with COLD WHITE counters (bluish white = 'crisp'). The lighting would be updated prior to the counter top. If you must, go ahead and work with a laminate counter top to save some money.

A white counter top goes with almost anything you want ... even white cabinet facing.

If you can't afford the $7K for counters (I'm guessing...a big kitchen = a bit more...a small kitchen = bit less) then go for the FULL LIGHTING update. A few thousand dollars (includes cost of electrician and materials) and you will INSTANTLY perk up the kitchen.

With the new lighting in place you can plan for a new look....without worrying how it will 'look' in your OLD lighting. See....the piece-meal form of decorating can be done...with a snick of planning you can move forward without having to rip out a decision you made a year ago.

Lighting first.

Never use oil of any kind on a cabinet finish. Including oil soap like Murphy’s, furniture silicones like Pledge, orange oil, lemon oil, or “furniture oil”. Oils penetrate finishes over time and ruin those finishes. That’s why you see the gummy dirty places next to the handles where the hand oils have softened and damaged the finish.

A softened oil damaged finish cannot be a basis for painting or refinishing. It has to be stripped to do something else. That oil treatment costs you a whole lot in the long run.

if you're half decent at DIY, lighting doesn't even have to cost that much. sometimes it's a matter of swapping out the bulbs for better ones (new LEDs are SOOOO much better than they were even 5 years ago, and a million times better than CFL). Consider adding LED strip lights under cabinets.

if you don't have enough ceiling lights, you could replace the fixtures with a tracks that holds 3-5 LEDs, or a pendant that has multiple bulbs. I see light fixtures on Houzz that are crazy expensive, but you can get decent basic styles at hardware stores and Ikea that don't break the bank.

Don't cheap out on bulbs too much though, there is a difference in quality of the light, and the lifespan. Stick with known brands such as GE, Sylvania, or Philips. (Avoid Feit, it's crap.) Other Houzzers may chime in with their favorites. Sometimes you can get better deals on amazon compared to local stores, but again, stick to the known brands.