Brighten up the kitchen with lighting, not by painting the cabinets. Add under cabinet lights, over cabinet lights, recessed lights, and something brighter and less fuddy duddy as pendants.

I saw that reply coming from a mile away! After you upgrade your lighting, if you still want to change cabinet colors why don't you consider changing only your uppers? Leave your lowers, island and fridge wall dark (which looks great!) and go with a color that is not grey that will work with your countertops and backsplash. I would not try to match the white, I would go a medium tone. What do adjacent rooms look like? Often when we see lots of additional photos, we see the fireplace stone is a great source of inspiration (for an example).

DeWayne- ah yes we will definitely change our kitchen light pendant. Thank you!

Jenny- great idea! Thank you!

This website (which I found reading here on Houzz) will give you a quick masters class in lighting. Be sure you find the "older posts" button at the bottom, there are several articles on kitchen lighting. Now every time I see a can light lighting the floor, I think "I don't prepare my meals there! I need light on my hands."

Oops, the link: https://languageoflight.blog/

You have plenty of light in the photo so I don't think it's a useful recommendation. Sure, if it's dark at night get better lighting. But you want to brighten the atmosphere of the room, right?

Do you intend to PAINT the existing cabinets or replace them? I would paint them yellow. Most people hate that. How about the color of your toaster? Can't imagine a brighter, cheerier color for a kitchen. But if it's open to the rest of the house, you have to look at the neighboring spaces. It's a great color for a kitchen, but not always so great in a living room.

Fori- we would like to replace the cabinet. How about the pendant lights above the countertop? Thinking of changing to this one. Does this pendant work?

This is our living room.

Those lights are beautiful. Some people do not like the glare of a bare bulb or needing to clean the glass very frequently.

What if you went to a light wood upper cabinet, similar to your coffee table and the natural tone on the reclaimed wood wall?