Doesn't look bad to me. Going more modern would make it dated quicker I think. What I would do different is the microwave oven, I'd move it in the island (maybe get the island a bit bigger?) and put a chimney hood and subway tiles. You'll have a 'class'ic kitchen from my point of view.

What's the story with the window? Will you replace it? If so, I'd consider moving the window to the left, to give you more prep space between fridge and range. Run the uppers to the ceiling, or at least keep them all the same height.

I think a bigger island, with seating on two sides, would make a big difference. You certainly seem to have room for it.

This is almost exactly the plan greenhaven has (she's been posting regularly about her facelift). She moved the fridge to the opposite end of the L, to greatly improve the prep space around the range.

For me, I would switch the appliances to white to blend better with the white cabinets. And I would run all the cabinets to the ceiling. I'm not a huge fan of the staggered height cabinets and I think they are likely to look dated.

And since you feel like the space is boring as designed, I would look for a WOW backsplash.

How about IKEA Abstrakt glossy white?

or maybe a two-tone kitchen with semihandmade doors

Here is a link that might be useful: White IKEA and Semihandmade

If it were me (and it kinda was), I would definitely consider moving the fridge to the far left as you suggest. I had a very, very similar layout in my old kitchen and really found that counter area outside of the work triangle to be a serious no manâÂÂs land/junk collector. I see you have seating at your island--will you also have a table over where you propose moving the fridge? Our new kitchen will and I felt that in addition to eliminating that no manâÂÂs land (and improving the prep area as annkh notes) it would be nice to have the fridge close by to get drinks etc.