Here's a visual of a few suggestions. Paint the walls a warm white. Style your coffee bar hutch. Paint the table legs and chairs in black, add cushions to the chairs. Place a roman shade on the window. Replace the light fixture with a farmhouse lantern-style black fixture. Install black hardware on the cabinets. A white beadboard would give character as a backsplash.

Note: the light fixture should be lower than shown in the picture (30" to 32" above table surface).

paint the ceiling beams. Paint the hutch . Leave the cabinets as is...are they in good enough condition to plan to leave them for a while so spending on counters makes sense?? the cafe stain on oak is a good look and your kitchen is large enough to handle the darker tone.....anyway.....then shop for the new counters.

heres much smaller kitchen w darker cabs.....your oak is fine...the hutch looks like a refresh is in order...too much " granny's old dining piece" you want a fresher look w that.

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pale blue hutch?

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I guess I'm a contrarian. I like the dark beams, and I think leaving the table light at that height makes sense, actually - it is ambient light for the whole room not just table lighting. Also the table is positioned in the middle of the room and lowering it would place bare bulbs right at eye level, wrecking havoc on eyeballs. It doesn't seem to be an adjustable height anyway.

I wouldn't do anything with the cabinets, unless you'd like to change the hardware.

your formica is light, good as is, unless it is damaged. Formica laminate is back in style.

No to beadboard backsplash. shiplap either, you'd have to do the whole wall, and the fitting around the doors would add other issues with existing trim.

a single panel behind the stove would be interesting, ETSY has all sorts of great decorative panels for behind a stove top.

simple blinds (inside mount on each window separately) for the window(s) if you need light control or privacy.

I would paint the chairs a color you love, even the base of the table,(a mattte black, would be my choice) but leave the table top as is. I would paint the hutch. And definitely paint the ceiling and beams all white. They are so dark, they make the ceiling feel much lower than it actually is.

The lights should be 30" - 36" off the table top.

The whole room would look great in a clean white, walls and ceiling BM Chantilly Lace.

a nice contrast to the rich wood floors.

@lisedv Wow! How did you get an exact picture of her hutch from a front view she didn't post? AI?

I like the beadboard idea. I would get cute chairs that can be mismatched but farmhouse/traditional styles for the ends of the table once you no longer need the adjustable chairs for kids. You could paint the chairs different colors. I would definitely paint the hutch a fun blue or green and leave the cabinets as-is. I do agree with lowering the table light a lot. Maybe a valance on the window and some cute canisters on the counter.

I think the dark beams would be OK if there were about half as many of them. Either paint all of them or remove every other one. If you do think you will end up getting new cabinets in the not too distant future, you could leave them alone and see what works once everything else is chosen. Do you have extra pieces of flooring to fill in gaps for when you do replace your cabinets? New ones may not align 100% with the old ones.

@Nova

I looked at what was visible from the pictures posted, found a hutch on internet that was similar which I re-worked on PowerPoint, then sent it to AI for styling with description of items I wanted, then added a few items since I couldn't be bothered to send it to AI again.

Love your new floors. The whole kitchen is great and needs very little. I can tell from a peek into the other room that you are not going for country cute. Save your money for new cabinets in the future and do little now.

- Hutch - Remove the bobbin ledge, the wavy trim, and the cross hatch door. Paint the whole piece the color of your walls. Too many wood tones in here and the hutch is an obvious one to change. Your table and chairs are too nice to paint.

- Bead board is a bitch to clean as a backsplash. Your sink wall already had great backsplash, the pics hung on either side of the range are great. Just get something for behind your range and that is all. I'd look for tiles that are a similar color to your fireplace stone.

Or get delft tiles.

(Also the hood seems way too high.)

- Do you need blinds for privacy or light control? I'd avoid them if you don't truly need them. If you do need them, can you do cafe curtains?

- I love your ceiling. Don't change a thing. The light height, while not standard, makes sense for your space.

Want GREAT countryside kitchen inspiration? This is my kind of porn!

https://www.houseandgarden.co.uk/gallery/kitchen-ideas

An assembled kitchen made up of randam parts and pieces could be very interesting. Not typical.........artistic if you have the skill to pull it together.

• Right now the cabinets and flooring are two safe elements in the space. DO NOT PAINT THEM
• Consider the butcherblock countertops from IKEA for your space. They will work well with your wood finishes
• Keep the beams on the ceiling, they add a nice texture but your light fixtures focus too much light on illuminating the ceiling and that's a problem. Also I think the ceiling paint color might also be an issue but you might be able to skate on that after you tone down the up lights.
• Not sure I would consider bead board for backsplash. As you can se above I got rid of that cheap looking SS hood over the range. Build a larger box around the existing hood, face it with drywall, add a piece of matching wood trim at the bottom and the room changes. Your current hood looks out of proportion on that wall. It's an element that needs to be beefed up.
• Those yellow walls have to to the first thing to go. That color fights with everything in the room.

You could consider removing every other beam if they are not structural.

I think this room is well on its way to the desired vibe you're describing. It's large enough that the dark cabinets don't drag down the room IMO. The high contrast ceiling with espresso and stark white stripes is the most distracting element to me. I'd paint it all a softer white, or if you don't want to paint the beams, repaint the stark white to a much softer creamier beigey-white, possibly the same color as the walls?? What is happening with the chewed up toekick area, I would like to know - should be the same color as the cabinets, even if you have to paint it brown.

The current counters appear to be fine, unless they're falling apart - it's nice to have light counters on dark cabinets for sure. I would not put anything expensive on these old cabinets - would replace with more formica if the current surface is gone or the undertone of it fights with your decorating.

Backsplash?-- Leave it as paint which is plenty wipeable these days - I've been able to get off pomegranate juice and tomato sauce with no problem in my 15 years of untiled kitchen walls..

Window treatments for the bay windows above the sink? -- depends on your needs a bit. Roman shades in a soft color, if it were me.

Color on the table chairs? -- Paint them a midtone accent color that you would like to use around your house, most likely a denim blue or sage green as these go nicely with stained wood.

Saw these pics today and thought of your ceiling and kitchen.

@Julie S Thanks for your feedback! We love the beams and couldn't bear to paint them, but doing a soft white on the ceiling is an easy fix. I'd also happily remove half of them if it were in our budget. Since you asked, the chewed up toekick area is from putting down new floors and rearranging the cabients (the cabinets around the stove were actually part of a peninsula that we removed to accommodate a kitchen table). We will definitely fix!

@lisedv Thanks for all your suggestions! We will definitely be repainting the walls to a warm white. So funny--I agonized over the choice of wall color (BM Montgomery White), and it's gotten nothing but hate here! Also, it's amazing how you got the hutch to reflect the modifications we made, which was removing a row of drawers to accommodate the countertop appliances.

@BeverlyFLADeziner Thanks for the mockups! The green you chose is very similar to what we have in our bathroom right next door, and I really like the ceiling with half the beams removed. Absolutely will lower the light and paint the walls and ceiling a soft white (I agonized over the choice of wall color--BM Montgomery White--but it seems the universal opinion is that it doesn't work one bit!).

@Kendrah Thanks for the pictures! The first one you posted is the exact vibe we're going for!

@NotAPro

Funny you say you removed the drawers that's also what I had to do as the hutch I found on internet also had drawers. I went from this

to this

to this

Just a note if you need something behind your range there are pretty great glass and brass panels on Etsy -

lots of good advice already, I also think there are lots of smaller items scattered about and/or hung - culling as well as grouping them together can make a room feel a little more restful & refined

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I looked up your wall color, Montgomery White, and it seems to be quite peachy, yet in your photos the walls have a sour yellow tinge. I've had wall colors photograph very "off" before, so it may be that, or it may be you have a huge amount of green reflection from outside (but a peachy cream would typically counteract that- strange). Anyway, some less pigmented/peach creams from BM would be things like Natural Wicker, Natural Cream, Indian White, Manchester Tan, Ballet White. Still warm and soft like a muted white but not "colorful" if that's what you're aiming for. You could do a lovely English color of course!

UPDATE: I sampled a warm white as suggested. I used Benjamin Moore's Linen White (not one of the specific colors suggested, but one that works well in an adjacent room with similar lighting).

Wondering if there's a preference between the yellow (Montgomery White) or white (Linen White), or if I need a different white. My goal right now is to choose the best paint color for the floor/beams as well as the existing cabinets & countertops (to be replaced eventually). Try, if you can, to ignore the holes in the wall, which is being repaired and painted next week.

(Also wondering if there's any feedback on the art--whether it makes sense to have art there, or if it needs bigger art, or if I should do shelves instead, or if I should leave it bare...)

Thanks in advance for any feedback and suggestions!!

Morning--

Midday

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After the repair of the holes is finished, prime that wall with white primer, then sample your paints again.

Have you decided to paint the ceiling beams? Are they structural or decorative?

@apple_pie_order We don't plan to paint the beams, and they're structural. We will do a softer white on the ceiling and lower the light to help soften the overall look.

We had summerproject..needed ceiling paint for new ceiling planks ...2 rooms w knotty pine on all walls....used PPG PAINT color (queen annes lace ) w BEN moore eggshell / not matte or flat .....looks better w wood panelling i think....one coat....yellow tint on card but ceilings have shadows and your beams will make shadows so get a crisp paint shade..it ends up simply warm and pleasing/ not stark .. dont fear the yellow undertone. But for WALLS .maybe less saturated color They can lighten it 20 or 30%.