The cabinets look lovely, even if they are a bit ornate. I'd paint your kitchen blue, get a new blue backsplash and the look will be quite different. I'd change the light over the island, too. the hood over the stove goes really well with the cabs, so I'd keep that.

Can you spend a lot or a little?

Tuscan kitchens are not easily modernized.

Do you want to paint the heavily detailed cabinet doors?

What is your budget for this redo?

Please show the entire space all four sides. Is the photo of the previous owner's furnishings? If so, that white arched bookcase doesn't say "update." There are some cosmetic things you can do:

--declutter all countertops

--change to more modern counter stools with straight lines and ivory color to match background color of countertops.

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--transitional style pendants over the island.

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Your budget will dictate what you can do. It’s worth getting a quote to reface the cabinets, remove the backsplash + countertop, and lower the two-step sink area. I did all of that to my current kitchen since the cabinets were sturdy but I didn’t want a quarter-sawn oak kitchen. I also extended my sink countertop area out into the great room to allow seating.

Before

After

I would not paint the cabinets. I think without the backsplash and with less beige, they won't read as Tuscan.

Using just paint for a facelift, go cream (try to match the floor) for cabinets in gloss finish and the walls, including the abutting room, in eggshell finish. Some of the cabinets go to ceiling and some do not. Painting the entire area one color (even though in different finishes) should disguise the differences in height.

The hood over the stove screams Tuscon. You could try painting it cream, too. Otherwise invest in a new one.

the hood and backsplash are the features w that tilt. The residence looks fairly traditional so Id leave the cabinets...... a clean light simple subway tile with a stainless hood and simple metal handles for now ..... later... something w 2 level island and the pendants if you desire Good Luck the cabinets are traditional and nice looking.....a nice durable traditional space minus Tuscan can be really desirable and easy . You would have a taker for the hood out there in the world of "pickers and finders"

The stove hood and the barstools would be the first thing I would update.

I would change the back splash to a solid color, along with changing the hood over the stove and the light fixtures. Maybe changing the knobs on the cabinet door to match the back splash. I would not change the cabinet color. It's beautiful!

Bigger pictures first ( will enlarge on a click )

Second.......

"we moved in a house"

Recently , we assume? The chances of making a Tuscan flavor kitchen with high/low cabinetry, routing details, and heavily detailed cabinetry faces feel current or modern are exactly zero.

You can make it lighter, spend a fortune painting cabinets. You can change out a speckled granite....a HI'LO breakfast bar, and you still will not have the kitchen you really want.

I won't add to concepts of putting a band aid on this because:

You live with it a bit. .......a year even.

You consider there's a tile floor sandwiched between two hardwood.floors

You consider the layout, the storage, and conveniences or lack of those when you are working in that kitchen.

You consider that the kitchen , its age, its style, right down to the pendants over the breakfast bar.......are probably a minimum of 25 years old as of today.....about the maximum life in any kitchen.

You consider do you want to throw 25/30 k in the somewhat futile attempt to remake all these details, ( paint cabinetry, counter tops, backsplash, lighting, , hardware. .....a new hood.

Or would you prefer a new kitchen......after you save more money: )

This kitchen, no matter your locale, was a factor in the pricing of the home you purchased. If the house had the kitchen of your dreams, or the flavor or whatever you loved here?

what MIGHT you have paid for the house?

If what you want is this

you will likely need to redo the kitchen. What is your budget for this?

What you have now is not that in pic above - but you have some very nice classic elements in the space.

New pendants or a chandelier. New counter stools. Removing the backsplash and just painting the wall area in an eggshell finish (which makes it cleanable/wipeable) or alternatively installing a very simple tile. These things would ”update” what you have.

Your floor is lighter in color and much simpler than the flooring in most of these - but I just put a few visuals together to give you the general idea:

The only Tuscan influence is the backsplash and hood, as your kitchen overall is not. Decisions really comes down to budget/interest and what the adjoing room feels like. Changing or keeping granite should also be the first decision.

Create a wish list/get quotes:

Lighter paint/new hardware, simple backsplash, new or plastered hood, lighting and if possible reconfigure the island without the second level and change the stools.

I agree the backsplash and the hood are the issues and all the clutter on the counters will need to go if going modern is the aim. I would aslo look at a change in stool style maybe even in a color. The space next to this does not read modern to me so maybe show us that space too. Modern usually is simple not a bunch of eye clutter so I would start by decuttering all spaces next to this one and remove and replace the backsplash maybe a bit larger format subway tile with matching grout . The hood will be a bigger issuebut a nice stainless one would for sure help.

My 2 cents… and if someone has already mentioned this, then consider my comment a second.

The biggest problem is the cabinet space wasted with molding. You essentially have 24” drawers in a 30” drawer base. Unless there is a lot more kitchen somewhere else, your kitchen doesn’t have enough drawers to waste that type of space. I would recommend saving up for cabinet replacement and avoid spending any money modernizing these.

Good luck.

Purge, declutter, clean, andd save for a kitchen makeover, all mentioned before.

Have you posted the budget for your makeover?

New kitchen stools and remove 1-2. these look really cramped. Consider removing pendant lights also.

Is your dream a dark kitchen? Seems not.

So I will ask:

If you pay for the magnificent paint job and begin with the idea that will take no less than 12k ,done by a pro......

Do you get a buzz? : ) Fluted trims noted, and they bother you not.

or you still yearn for this:

Don't paint your way further from the dream...

I would not paint those kitchen cabinets either...they are nice cabinets. Those are not builder grade by any means. If you paint them, without a high end paint, the finish won't hold up as well as factory painted. I would live with the cabinets and redo the countertops in an off-white/beige quartz. And redo the backsplash in a 3x6 almond subway tile. Calm it down a bit.

Here's a kitchen I did for a client a few years ago. They retired and downsized. There weren't many homes on the market so they bought this house and got immediate buyers remorse. They decided to do a mini-makeover on the kitchen and sell the house. Here are before and after pics. I replaced their green Corian countertops with formerly Zodiaq (now corianquartz) quartz in the color called VENETIA CREAM. Then we did Daltile subway tile in MATTE ALMOND. I forget which grout they used. We also added undercabinet lighting.

OR.....

.......keep it until you can redo your dream kitchen.

BEFORE KITCHEN

AFTER KITCHEN

Looks traditional too me…with paint , new lighting and backsplash..modern stools you could make it more transitional for sure…its that backsplash that has got to go!

We would like to update our kitchen to make it more modern.

With that goal, then there is nothing salvageable. Full tear out to the walls and start over.

With the fluting on the cabinets, that kitchen will never look ”modern” but I’m not sure that’s what the OP meant. Some of the heaviness can be reduced, starting with that behemoth range hood. Replacing it can be very expensive… I would consider painting it.

The Economical Plan’ Start by removing the backsplash. Paint the walls a cream-ivory-whatever color works with the countertop. Then see how much you like it.

Second step- price out new countertops and include dropping the two-level down to one. If you are now happy with your kitchen, you literally saved thousands.

Or save your money, as Jan said, and do a true “new kitchen”.

The op..@ HAM, as not returned in the three days since posting, so guess she got answers : )