You have all the reasons to redo the house, its very lifeless and looks worn out. I feel creating a separation will terminate the spaciousness of the room. Adding colours will surely help, Since you have a tan color sofa,I suggest grey, white or light blue color on one of the walls. Add some art works of the color you chose for the wall. This room needs some fillers like , books, throws, candle stands tall and lean. YES DON FORGET 1. Mount the tv on the wall make some space on the floor and Fix a large size mirror ( Wooden Frame if you can afford).

thank you very much to everyone who responded! I'll look into espresso and charcoal grays. As well as the steel backplash. Emmarenes, I'm living abroad in India, and the only granites in my budget are the local ones. I was advised against the gray and white local ones because i was told that they would not hold up well in the kitchen. I could have gone with a black galaxy as well but i have that granite now and despise it because of the way it hides ants and bugs so well. we live in a tropical area and there are always critters here and there. My first choice was a Brazilian white granite but it was triple the price. This granite is called Shiva pink, so it has a pink salmon and gray look to it. Im really hoping I don't hate it once it's installed. The stoneyard was a 9 hour trip up and down and i was just pressured to make a choice after several undecided trips. And I'm getting new cabinets put in. but I think I can wait for them to put the slab before staining the wood. Thanks for that idea :)

Visual below is similar case like your preference of using wooden texture laminate with black counter top & lighter floor. Check out misty oak, pine, birch... in laminates!

Many thanks for your valuable comments. 1. My intention of raised cabinets was to clean it daily, as cabinets that touch floor accumulate lot of dust and food particles below. If we rule out steel legs, any inputs on raised floor only of cabinet area and then cabinets?(Just like plinth in modular cabinets- but this will be permanent and of tiles) I have not seen such structure anywhere, so curious if it will work. Otherwise I will go with traditional ones. 2. Moving pooja out of kitchen is very difficult as other rooms are just enough for their function. Currently a small Mandir is attached on wall where Fridge is shown in layout. I thought the new area could be little extra for all pooja related things. Will like to know the reason of your recommendation, is it odd in whole design, or not suitable in area .. or anything else? How about moving it to corner of dining area?