Lighting and paint would be your best budget friends. It's really hard to tell given the lighting in that picture, but your beadboard looks like a much cooler, brighter white than your cabinets. The cabinets and wall color look very warm. Consider painting the walls and the beadboard a soft blue or green that complements the cabinet color.

If your budget is large enough, replacing that fan with a semiflush fixture, or even a more streamlined fan/light combo, would also make a big difference.

Yes you’re right sorry for bad lighting but thanks for helping out despite it! Beadboard hasn’t been painted so it’s pretty bright white . We have no idea what color would look good with the granite and counters, we’ve put the room into paint color visualizers and paint will def help just haven’t found one that makes us think we found the right one. Going to focus in on some softer blues and greens. And I agree I think the fan is doing no aesthetic favors - Thank you again!

i think a nice new light (make sure it has good wattage, more than 1 bulb) and a terrific washable rug (ruggable) would make a huge difference - coralling the counter clutter might make it feel more relaxing as well - congrats on your baby! ❤️

It looks nice so far! Perhaps consider doing beadboard on the entire wall - ceiling to floor - if there is a convenient way to end it at another wall

I think bamboo blinds at the windows would warm the space and add interest. Pay attention to what they’re saying here about the beadboard. I like it but what you have isn’t quite right. I would take everything off your open shelves and put it back on very selectively. I’m sure you need a lot of what is there but a lot of it could be a lot more interesting….which may mean replacing some of it, putting some platters on stands to get some vertical interest and perhaps hanging all those mugs on hooks underneath. Study some open shelving pictures & you’ll see how much better you could make that look.

Thank you so much for your input!! Yes I really like beadboard used as a kitchen backsplash under cabinets that run the whole kitchen wall. Do you think beadboard a good choice or would you think of using something diff like shiplap? We did this as a tester and it looks better than nothing but not sure if we’d be better doing something else as a temporary backsplash. We lack much of a natural stopping point bc it’s open all the way to the window on the left and then another 12 feet off the camera to the right

Sonja thanks so much for the specific points- I’m blind to interior decorating and design and half the time I do something that I saw online and it looks great and other times I cannot for the life of my figure out why it looks so wrong . I cannot figure out what looks so wrong here and this will help get us closer

one other thought - there are lots of photos online of kitchens who have a charming lamp or 2 on the counter and it could be another source of light for the space (esp when you’re up in the night with the baby) the right lamp would look terrific and cozy up the space

and i agree with the bamboo blind addition for texture and warming up the beadboard color :)

I think the beadboard needs to be extended to the end of the counter. And extend the soffit hiding the pipes to the end of the counter also. That will create a logical stopping point.

For now, I would at least extend the beadboard to the counter end and to the ceiling past the end of the soffit. This will be an improvement; you can extend the soffit later.

Going to focus in on some softer blues and greens.

Yes! A soft aqua would look awesome. But you can't go wrong with bluish greens or greenish blues as long as the color isn't muddied or grayed.

When I was looking for the perfect clean pure aqua a couple of years ago...and not finding it in the paint chip array, the paint store owner pulled another sample book off the wall. The un-trendy, un-greyed paint colors were hiding in that book.

The first thing I noticed was the cups and dishes on the shelves. They are all stacked at the same height and none of them are unique in size or color. I think, for no money, those could be a better focal point. You have nothing tall or colorful. Look at pictures of open shelves here on Houzz and notice how the items vary to give interest to the room. For instance, I have three antique yellow ware bowls of different sizes lined up. My cookbooks, the most used, are part of the display- they lend vertically and color to the shelf. If your favorite color is red, find three or four red ceramic pieces, like a platter and serving bowl. If you’re not sure about your favorite color, go look in your closet! You probably have serving platters and bowls and interesting things you can display and it wouldn’t hurt to add a real plant in a leak proof pot. You needed add a lot and you can consolidate the existing tableware into taller stacks and stash away some of the less attractive and less used items on the shelves now. The fun part it changing it for the seasons- a pumpkin or a vase with cut evergreen branches or a pot of tulips when the grocery has this in the spring.

I agree with the posters above--you have a great foundation. Lighting, window treatments, paint and declutter and you will be great!

This kitchen has shiplap instead of beadboard, but you could look to this for color inspiration. I like your idea of blues and greens, and a warm white for beadboard. Also love the idea of woven/bamboo shades for your windows.

Thank you guys so much!!! Sounds like you guys believe we can make an improvement with some very doable upgrades: paint, blinds, redecorating shelves and extending the beadboard. (I agree with extending the box too! Husband said making that was a PITA but he’s going to add it to his honey-do list) I appreciate everyone taking the time To comment and help us out. And The picture of that kitchen above is gorgeous, too thank you for that. Hopefully will be making some changes very soon and can come back and post a pic and see if I was able to make some of these visions come true. If not we’ve decided that when we eventually extend the kitchen left around the window to wrap around other side of room, we’re going to go with cabinets and replace the coating shelves since we will probably need to use them for functional storage instead of decor . I think that will also help it look more complete. Thanks again to all of you !