I like your kitchen :) removing the uppers over the peninsula is a great idea. Painting the backsplash is a bad idea. Replace the splash when you can, until theN it looks fine.

Well then, you have a couple problems here. One, is that you have two countertops and also brick/tile on the wall. Replace the counters with a single type of countertop that compliments the wall tile, not the white/green mismatch.

The other major issue here in my opinion is that you have hardwood floors and cabinets that do not match but are much too close to each other in color. Not sure what to tell you to do about that. It would be a shame to paint the cabinets. You could maybe have a light but slightly different color stain done on them so they clearly are distinct from the floors.

Honestly if it was my house I'd be thinking: wall tile out, leave the cabinets but remove the hardwood floors in kitchen and replace with tile or luxury vinyl, and all new countertops. That is quite a project though. The plank ceiling is contributing to the problem but it would probably look okay if everything else was fixed.

Oh and don't paint the wall tile. Take the time to remove it. I have never seen painted wall tile that looked good. It looks like a band-aide, because it is.

Is the brick a paver or just a tile that looks brickish? Either way, you can absolutely paint it, especially on a backsplash that doesn’t get much wear. Go to the paint store and ask for a high adhesive primer that will work on tile. Or you could replace it, but that’s a bigger job. If you replace countertops, you would need to replace backsplash most likely. Not sure I would use revere Pewter for the color, I’d probably go white or cream to coordinate with your counters or cabinets. Same with cabinets. Just because they’re wood, doesn’t mean you can’t paint them. Birch is a nice wood to paint. Grain won’t get in the way like oak. Also agree taking down the peninsula cabs is a good idea.

Hi. My opinion is... take down all the uppers on the dining room wall. Including the large one on the left. Put up some floating shelves on the brick wall. Do not paint the brick for now. If you replace your countertops at a later date, then replace the brick with a complementary backsplash and paint the wall over the sink a nice light color. Kitchen is dark. Anything you can do to lighten it
Would help.

Yes to everything you plan in your list and then reasses. I would sample many different colors for painting the backsplash; paint large foam board samples that you can prop under the upper cabs. If painting the brick does not work well, you can always replace the backsplash.

I see a possible issue with the angled upper cab. If it stays, will it look okay; and is the covered side completely finished;....if it goes, there will probably not be brick behind it.

I love your kitchen. Can I trade with you? I'd take down the glassed cabinets, get a rug and shade for the windows that tie all the colors together, add some colorful accessories and live with it for 6 months before I do anything costly.

I like your kitchen, too! I would not paint those beautiful cabinets! If it were me, I'd remove the uppers over the peninsula and get new countertops, replace the brick with a nice backsplash when the new countertops go in. No way would I touch the floor - I think it's beautiful! I'd probably put down a couple throw rugs to break up all the wood, though.

I think your ideas are good, especially to remove the overhead cabinets on the dining side. I have painted tile for a quick fix. But it was just that, a short term quick fix until I had the money to re do it as it does look painted..not sure what to say about all that wood that is so close in color except that it’s too much. I see you do have whit cabinets in the living area by the window, are they built in? If so, You may want to paint all cabinetry the same cream white and that would all the brick backsplash to remain. The color would have to coordinate with your counters of course. The view looks nice!

This post on timeless wood kitchens from Maria Killiam might help you with your decisions.

You have gotten some excellent advice. I am thrown off by your vent hood. It looks like it is not connected to any ductwork to carry the air away. Also why would they put it behind glass doors? Would any of those glass doors fit other cabinets in your kitchen?

Too. Much. Wood. If you want to maintain the rustic vibe, paint the base cabinets, only, so you at least break up the all-wood look between the floor and the cabinets. I might also consider removing the cabinets above the cooktop and just have the chimney hood exposed. Will make the kitchen feel more open.

I am also puzzled by the vent hood. If you remove those cabinets you need to come up with a plan for the vent hood. (Even if you don’t remove the cabinets, something should be done with it.)

Thanks everyone for your very helpful feedback. The previous owner spent a lot of money on this kitchen and it pains me to replace a lot of his work, it has hardly been used.

I have attached a couple more pictures to tell more of the story. The house dates to about 1900 and is located on the New England shore in a village setting, not beachy. My aesthetic is Danish modern meets New England county. We would like to have a simple, low key, less-is-more vibe.

My thoughts:

* Yes, the paneled ceiling is a problem and will be removed and replaced with a simple white sheet rock ceiling.

* The uppers on the breakfront in the dining area will be removed.

* The ornate corbels at the bar will be replaced.

* The pendant lights at the bar will be replaced by white pendant globes.

* The backsplash is tile that looks like brick, it is smooth and vitrified. I'll have to give more thought to the tile painting idea.

* If we were to paint it, I think that Sandra Martin is correct to go more with a lighter ivory color for the backsplash . We have more of that tile as a surround for a small propane stove in the adjacent living room. It is really not to our liking. But we are unlikely to take it out at this time. At some point, yes to replacing the stove. I must research that.

* We have to live with the floor because it is radiant.

Your suggestions and ideas are very helpful to me, so many thanks!

Another thought, if you remove the uppers around to the sink, you might as well replace the backsplash.

Look at the style and color choices on Devol's website. They are masters at simple, clean lined yet often moody looking spaces. If the wood cabinetry doesn't suit your needs as it is then do not sweat painting it. Removing the glass uppers will do a lot to help see what to do next as the space will feel so much more open and wide.

Be as bold and daring as you want to be! Best of luck, this is a very interesting space.

Totally agree with removing the overhead cabinets on the dining side. Whatever else you do, must be in accordance with the adjacent room that the kitchen open to. I can glimpse white cabinetry, greenish walls and bricks under the window that are the same as backplash...

Oh, I just read your last comment!

Don't paint the cabinets. They are beautiful and they will never last long with a paint job.

Your idea: I think taking out the overhead cabinets is a very very good idea. I think it would very nice towards a simplistic visual if you took those cabinets I pointed at and then replace them with 2 pendant lights to go over that counter.

Cabinets: for the cabinets if you like simple I would make them a white color, that makes the room look more open... and a lot of people are doing that now days to get a simpler look :) if you would like white cabinets it would last longer to put a special coating over the pint so it won’t chip off... or you could just keep it because that birch wood is very pretty!!

Backsplash: for this I would get a new backsplash instead of painting it. But if you really want to paint the back splash I would paint it light blue or a blueish gray. Light blue in my opinion gives things this fresh simple look. Light blue with white cabinets is also a very good combination. Also blue is said to be be the best color to help people relax when they enter a room... which also simplifies things... It is definitely your choice but in my opinion grey is not as calming. Or you could do a blueish grey maybe? But I would choose light blue. Fresh flowers (the finishing touches) look very vibrant and fresh against all of that also. Another reason why I would pick a relaxing color because In my experience if you have all white cabinets( which are very pretty) you definitely need a relaxing color to balance it out... and grey is not really a color( or it’s more the same time as white)

Finishing touches: When your done I know you’ll do this last but greenery is so important to a kitchen it is those finishing touches that complete the room and make it feel like home!!!:)

Tint not time

I wish you good luck with your kitchen! :)

For the area I just circled to simplify I would take those cabinets out and put a greenery wall/ wall garden there. (A tall one that possibly goes from the floor to the ceiling.) it would definitely make things look simple and provide a gorgeous balance and contrast if you chose to go with white cabinets. If this is to your taste, I would definitely do it! Greenery provides a filter which also creates a greater sense of well being! And I don’t know if your a cook but you can even grown herbs for cooking on there!!!

Here is a wall garden example:

The wall garden could be purchased or it can be hand made (which is a lot less expensive) ... you could hire someone or even do it yourself! And then stain the wood. There is a lot of helpful videos online on how to DIY a wall garden yourself, if you are on a budget!!

From what I can see, your house and your view are both gorgeous. I wouldn’t take out that paneled ceiling, it looks like it adds a lot of character. We moved a few months ago and I agonized about chanigingwhat the previous owner did. Fortunately, since it was a By Owner and not even on the market yet when we bought it, we were able to stop them from buying things that we weren’t going to like, even if they were “new.” All but the master vanity, which I’m kind of stuck with even though it isn’t my taste at all.

It‘s your house now, change what works for you!

:)

I hope my comments were helpful for you!

https://freshome.com/room-color-and-how-it-affects-your-mood/

The cabinets look good and the cabinet style is good. You have brick AND tile on the backsplash area. Replacing the backsplash may be more expensive than painting it but will give you a better look. Corian is pretty good stuff for now. For color, you could put down an interesting rug and add a few accent pieces in a color from the rug: a ceramic pot for cooking utensils, towels and potholders. If it’s a bit dark in the kitchen, increase the bulb wattage in the current light fixtures.

Remove the uppers over the island and the cabinets on the breakfront, fix the ceiling, then reassess before painting the backsplash. You may find you don't mind it once the space is opened up and you get some light in there. OTOH, once you get light on it, you may hate it even more. ;-)

For the brick backsplash you may want to consider a bit of whitewashing on the bricks like Joanna Gaines does on Fixer Upper. Not sure how it fits with your modern sensibility but might work better than completely painting the brick and give you some time to think about other options and live with that tile for awhile.

Look into BRICK STAINING! for that brick backsplash, and do that before you remove anything on the upper. Brick staining is better for the brick and will calm down the business in the speckled pattern by bringing it closer to one hue. It is definitely the easiest thing you can do.. than reasses if you still see too much pattern in the kitchen. What a quality construction product you have. Change a few simple things before you spends thousands of dollars on it...

I love your quirky space....we live on the water in Maine in an old hunting shack built in Maybe the 1880’s, with a much bigger house built kinda sorta over it in the 1980’s...we are all about quirky. I love the look of your white furniture against the traditional wood. And I actually don’t mind the way they tiled around the wood stove.
Definitely take down the cabinets over the bar. By all means paint the backsplash, as you already don’t like it....but maybe not grey...our experience living on the water is that on a grey day, the sky and the water together make for a depressingly grey environment.
You might have to immediately address the ceiling when you take down the cabinets.
Hubbardton Forge makes really beautiful light fixtures in Vermont.
They are pricey, but good to look at for ideas.
Spicher and Company make cool vinyl area rugs, in stock and custom sizes, which could be a nice way of breaking up all that wood. I’ve attached a picture of our vinyl rug...ignore the garden furniture! And boxes.

I think just removing those upper cabinets over the bar area and to the right of the sink (the taller one) will open the kitchen up and let a lot more light in. I prefer a countertop all one level, but if it is too big a project to omit the bar, I’d at least change out the green to match the rest. If your backsplash is real brick then I think it would look fine to paint it. If it’s tile, I would replace it rather than paint it. If you end up replacing both backsplash and countertop, have the backsplash come right down to the countertop surface (omitting the backsplash piece attached to the counter). I also like the idea of open shelves just to the right of the sink.

FissFiss: Thanks for posting about the vinyl floorcloths - that gives me a great idea for what to do with a problem spot!

More wonderful suggestions. Thank you everyone!!

fissfiss, I love my white furniture. It is from Fritz Hansen, I got the table on CraigsList, and chairs from DWR. We plan to furnish the rest of the house with family pieces of Danish modern, mixed with some New England country, and a bit of Room and Board such as a curved sectional sofa oriented to take in the views.

But for now we are focusing on the renovations. I met with my contractor yesterday and discussed:

* taking down the wall tile and just plasterboard and paint the area over the sink.

* we'll take down the overhead cabinets, as discuss previously, and have a stainless hood over the cook top.

* I'm thinking that I don't like that wall of ovens in the corner. We don't microwave and I doubt that we will use a warming drawer. So the idea is to move the Wolf wall stove to under my Wolf cooktop at the center counter.

* then I will have to fill the wall area when the oven had been cabinets for a unified look.

* with the overhead cabinets coming down, plaster boarding the ceiling will be necessary. And I think the space will look much nicer.

fissfiss, I love those vinyl floor cloths. What a good idea! They look great and will provide relief from all that wood. Also, they are easy care and more hygienic than wool rugs. Yay!

Thanks again for sharing your thoughts everyone. I'll post photos when I have them, but it won't be for a few months.

Figure out how low the oven will be when installed below the cook top, and if that is workable for you.

My only advice is to think twice about the ovens on the wall. I didn't think I wanted that in my new kitchen until I started looking at them and talked to a couple of people that had them and then wished I had a wall to put them on instead of the regular oven. While you think you might not use a warming drawer I have one in my new one piece stove and use it a ton - even when just making bacon and pancakes let alone keeping chickens from the grocery store hot until dinner :).

My wall oven and microwave stack is one of my favorite things in my remodeled kitchen...didn’t know how nice not bending so low for an oven was until I did not have to.

Thanks for the feedback on the wall ovens, micro wave and warming drawer. I may have to rethink that. I just came back from the plumbing supply and fixtures store in our area and all all being featured. I better live in the kitchen for a while to understand what works best. Thanks again!

I hope I am not being repetitive ( didn't read all the comments ).

The cabinets are beautiful and of decent quality since they are inset doors - that type of style is not available typically through cheap cabinet companies. Also you live basically on the water. Painted cabinets do not do well in properties close tot he water unless you keep the windows closed and regulate the humidity.

You should start slow. Just remove the short cabinets hanging form the ceiling. Then live with it for a while.

You can absolutely paint brick and tile - how long it will last depends.

I would put a nice carpet or runners down to break up the similar wood tones. Depending on the condition of the wood floors, you could refinish them if they need it and change the color slightly.

I have even seen folks get some toekick material and stain it darker or paint it and just tack it in place to give a break between the floor and cabinet ( you can test this idea with some paper- tape it and see what you think)

I actually like the hardware. Love the ceiling.

I agree about replacing the corbels maybe with something wrought iron?

You can change the pendants but I'm not feeling the white globe idea... maybe a clear glass or bubbled glass would look nice...

Good luck - take your time....

Let me know if my posts were helpful!!:)

@ fmDesignergirl - I love that wall garden!!!