Spend the money on getting rid of gray floors, and the back splash.......please?

They fairly scream out loud for a re do. Both.

The cabinets are not the issue. The flooring was a mistake of biblical proportion, as were all the gray "wood" floors ......everywhere.

Light, wall words and then back splash. The floors were an unfortunate choice but one you will live with no doubt. Painting the cupboards why??? If you need to follow trends hit the island with a dark blue. EVERYTIME you are tempted to get on the TRENDS bus look at your floors and back splash!!! You need CLASSIC choices for rooms of this expense and permanence.

Cookie, you made me laugh so hard: bacon ceiling light!

Backsplash and wall letters indeed. And i'm not a fan of offset heights, so i'd remove the cabinet, cut off the excess and place it back as open shelf.

...or go hood with the raised cupboard....

what color do you like.....paint that wall with the words......perfect accent wall. .....then change the backsplash.......all the things that are unique like stools/light fixture are fine.....if you can afford new flooring okay but part time use I wouldnt do that first as it looks in good shape..what you need is a couple areas to shift focus away from floor. ...splash and your side wall are perfect spots.....

find a color for that wall.....what do you like on the color wheel....

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then you can intersperse color in the backsplash..or get an all over color tile but the long straight run will be fantastic with some sort of color depending on your creative input. Your kitchen will be easy to make a change and keep it light / not fussy / definitely more enjoyable with color

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Thanks everyone. We just closed on this home last week - so I definitely didn’t make any of the EXISTING design choices. I agree they are awful! I hate the floors too. But, have to work with them for now! I’ll definitely redo backsplash, lighting, and the hideous word art and bar stools etc. I’ll try to remember to send an updated pic when I’m all done.

The countertops are busy too - don’t know what the builder was thinking.

So, I’ll either replace with black/simple backsplash or off-white penny tiles.

(Current countertop and backsplash)

Countertops may be busy but they work and are not the worst, in my opinion. Backsplash, he probably had the tile laying around and wanted to use it up. A simple subway tile would work well. How close is the fridge to the counter top on the right, it is tough to tell from the pics?

The fridge is annoyingly close. The right door of it opens just enough to open the drawers but just barely.

A different backsplash and wall color would make a big difference. The color they used in the picture below is BM Mount Saint Anne. I love the way it looks with the white cabinets. I used BM Camouflage (more green, less blue) in my white kitchen in my previous house. SW Sea Salt or any blue-green-gray would look good. If the kitchen is open to the living area you have to also think about what will work with the furniture there.

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Here it is with the backsplash and words blanked out. Already an improvement. And a range hood instead of the bumped up cabinet and microwave.

I might do a colored backsplash here. It almost looks like a BW photo as it is.

I don't think the countertops and backsplash are working well together. It's probably most affordable to swap out the backsplash for something else. But you could also swap out both. (I imagine trying to replace countertops without changing the backsplash could be really difficult.) I actually like the floors, but maybe that's just me. I would also swap out the light fixture above the island. And of course, replace the word art with some actual art. A new wall color would bring some fun into the space if you like color.

Agree with changing the backsplash and island lighting - I would also get some rugs down, they will make a big difference.

Loving a lot of these ideas. Thanks everybody

You luckily have a rather non offensive space that could go in so many different stylistic directions. Keep the white cabinets and grey floor as a neutral base. Bacon removal, new art, new stools, new backsplash can make the space feel completely new.

While I'd never pick out the counter myself, it is far from the worst granite I've seen and with the right splash it could work. I'd be concerned that penny tiles would look too busy against the counters.

Congrats on your new home.