We purchased our home with this brand new kitchen and it's just not our style! It's dark and we are not crazy about the granite. However, we really don't want to waste perfectly good materials, so we're hoping to find a solution to brighten it up that doesn't require complete rework. So - keeping the cabinets and the granite. I would really like to add a tile backsplash. I go back and forth about painting the cabinets white. I love the white & black kitchen look, but the countertops don't seem like they would work in that scenario (too orange?) I don't mind the wood cabinets - they are nice quality and it seems a shame to paint them and have to maintain white cabinets, but if it makes the room a lot brighter and there was a good solution for tile that ties it in with the granite, we would consider that. The rest of our house is neutral (grays and beiges) with blue/green/orange/yellow accents, contemporary with a bit of traditional and worldly accents thrown in.

Any ideas? I'd love specific tile recommendations if you have them!

I'm sharing the other side of the room - the dining room - so that you can see the strange desk area installed there. If we painted the cabinets, what would you do with these extra built-ins?