What kind of look do you want? Have you looked at ideabooks?

I would paint the kitchen walls white as feature walls. The rest of the room can remain beige.

It's the cabinets blending into the floors that's the real issue of the sea of sameness. Consider painting the cabinets or relacing the floor. Same with the carpet and wall. I'd replace the floors with a darker wood to provide more contrast since that's the issue in both rooms. Changing the wall color is way down on the list of things to address after the fooring and lighting is taken care of.

I agree with Sophie! The cabinets could be stained a darker colour to contrast the floor. Changing the floor is not in my budget, lol. Is it easy to re-stain maple cabinets? TIA

Hi! I have much the same kitchen with maple floors, maple cabinets and dark granite counters so painted the walls charcoal and trim white and changed the cabinet hardware to black....and love it! Also changed the seat covers to charcoal. It's probably not designer perfect but the contrast in color works and gives a very contemporary feel with minimum investment.