I will wait for the pics of the space . I will however sya that things done in haste in a new to you home are often a mistake . Wait at least 3-6 months before doing anything costly it rarely works out for the best ,. The big issue is how the kitchen functions the how to make it look nice .

Here are some photos

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@Patricia I appreciate what you said, however warm is just not our style and doesn’t go with our furniture which is why we want to paint and update. This is what the home we built looked like.

The cabinets are about the warmest hue of all woods. knotty pine that have an amber undertone or perhsps have some yellowing. you dont want warm elements you say well changing the counters wont accomplish anything . wait and figure things out better… besides the cabs and floor dont harmonize very well.

I understand, it isnt your taste, but, it is in good condition. Your floors and your cabinets do not go well together, so, if anything changes, it should be one of them first. Its always a good thing, to live with what you have, if its in good condition, for at least 6 months, and the house itself, will tell you what it needs.

I would have issues with the layout of this kitchen, so I wouldn't rush to put any 'lipstick" on it before coming up with a whole design plan for the kitchen and rest of the house. In the kitchen I would want to switch sink with stove, have all drawers, have cabinets to the ceiling, and maybe remove the corner pantry. Carpet in the family room would have to go too!

Thanks for the feedback we are not wanting to make any major changes to the layout more of just a freshening up. if we had the budget to rework the layout we would because i agree with the suggestions, but thats not in the cards

given the one level counter at the peninsula I would leave the tile counter and get some stools with backs. it looks like a nice and generous sized place to sit.....so what if its tile ? get some floormats a runner and maybe new hardware and use the space for a while.

Paint the walls a warm green. Unless you want to spend a couple of hundred thousand completely redoing all the floors, walls, kitchen, baths, and every thing else. Cheaper to paint your furniture to go with the fabulous and nicely warm house you bought. Cold prison gray is cold and dead. Living in Covid confinement killed it, as it was just too cold and depressing to live with.

Your kitchen would look great with soapstone countertops. It definitely gives off a warm vibe. Find a place that lets you bring home samples.

Jesse - after looking at the photos of the house you built, I understand why you are feeling the "need" to change some things right away. Obviously, you have good design sense - I love your former kitchen!!

Your new home appears to be in good condition. Also, the kitchen looks like it's a good size (based upon the photos). I do think that spending money to replace the countertops immediately is not the best idea - UNLESS you replace the tile countertop with an inexpensive countertop option (example, laminate). At some point, you will want to change the configuration of the kitchen = new countertops needed.

You also could use a gel stain to change the color of your wood cabinets (tone down the yellow). Gel stain is pretty simple to use - I helped my sister use it at her house to update her powder room vanity + her island. You also could paint the cabinets DIY - but it is a lot of work to do them properly based upon many comments that I've read on this forum (however, it can be done and look nice + be durable).

If you painted the cabinets, you could do prefab wood countertops that wouldn't be that expensive + can be added DIY.

FYI - I love soapstone countertops (as suggested by RedRyder) - but if you think you will change your cabinets within the next few years, I wouldn't want to spend the $$ on installing them.

I agree with others, the mismatch of your cabinets and floor is the biggest issue right now; I don't think you can update successfully without changing one or the other. The easiest fix would be a gel stain to make the cabinets (and pantry door) less orange, more gray. Then you can choose a countertop to go with the new cabinet color. Since your taste appears to be modern, I would suggest solid surface with a simple, squared-off edge and little to no pattern, since the floor and cabinets could look too busy if you add a third pattern.

The best gel stain I'm familiar with is General Finishes.