I have been reading and learning so much from all of you that I was hoping you would give me some thoughts on a Kitchen Refresh I am kicking around.

Goals: Lighten up the space, replace leaking fixtures, update cost effective materials such as backsplash, light fixtures, door / drawer hardware. Keep appliances (except DW), keep dakota mahogany granite counters (not my favorite but looking to make it work). Need refresh to last 7-10 years until I can pull it all out and really do what I want.

Background: House is a 10 year old farmhouse cape on 6.5 acres in New England. Entire living area is open. House has a very casual relaxed feel which I love. I would say my style is casual traditional with a little glam thrown in for things like light fixtures. It is important to me that the space is in keeping of the house, the property setting, I don't want people to see the kitchen from the front door and say, "huh, that's interesting!"

Thoughts:
1. Paint existing Cabinets a very light neutral gray, so far BM gray owl is in the lead to pick up the larger gray stone "jewels" the counter has in it.
2. Replace sink, leaking faucet, and broken dishwasher.
3.Replace hardware with mixture of bright chrome pulls and glass/crome knobs.
4. Replace backsplash with a Carrara basket weave gray dot mosaic tile
5. Add new lighting above window (this is a task heavy area and current lighting casts many shadows)
6. New lighting above dining table - seriously considering having 2 chandeliers instead of just one. Existing table is being replaced with a longer farmhouse table.
7. Painting wood trim and doors, not the beams - a shade of white.

Everything else sounds good, but hard to tell with the photo. There is a sense of dark and dreary in the space. I'd probably put down a long rug or two to break up the wood tones. Look for something that brings in lightness and color. Maybe a new dining room rug too?

I like the idea about painting the cabinets a light gray. Have you tried holding a poster board with the Gray Owl up to the floor? The floor looks somewhat orangey to me. The Gray Owl has a slight greenish tinge to it and I wonder how they would look together. Always hard to tell from pictures but in real life I'm sure you can tell if they work well together.

Have you searched Houzz and Pinterest for "Gray Kitchens"? You will be amazed at the ideas for paint colors to consider.

Chandeliers over the table... without knowing the new table's length I can't comment, but a rectangular light fixture would be nice over a long table. I have seen three chandeliers hung over some long tables, sort of close together to make quite a statement. (I have a thing for odd numbers...)

I would do something about that orangy backsplash and maybe repaint the walls a brighter color.

I have more pictures but can't seem to upload more than one at a time.

It is nice to hear that at least the cabinets look good from afar. They are not solid cherry if they were solid cherry fronts, I agree I would not be so quick to paint them, they are just a cherry veneer. I included a close up of the cabinets to give you an idea they aren't in great shape.

Bee - your kitchen is amazing! thanks for the thoughts. I never noticed the orangey floors but you are right they do look that way and now that I am looking at it, it is overcast from the cabinets. Good idea of painting up a couple of boards, I have little swatches taped all over the space because we get a lot of sun movement in the space throughout the day.
The table is 108 inches long, I am drooling over James Moder florale chandelier but need two of them. I don't think I could get DH to agree to three! LOL.

A couple of responders noticed the island, the island is a just big box, open box deal, I don't think we paid $300 bucks for it, its a dark stain. Not worth refinishing.

I would love to replace the counters, but with the sq ft we need it would be double that of a professional painting the cabinets, and I am really afraid that they would just look worse!