Hi allismarie. You didn't mention budget or materials, so I'm going to assume you're open to everything. Before I start on materials, let me request that you post your layout even if you're not planning to replace cabinets. You might be able to move one or two of them to get a better work flow.

Walls. I love Farrow and Ball colors. They can be color matched at any paint store. For light green, I really like cooking apple green (left) and green ground:

Counters: You can go light or dark, natural or faux, but I love the look of soapstone with white cabinets. It would be great if you could arrange an overhang for the stools. your backsplash could either be soapstone or tile.

Cabinets: I know you're not changing these, but how about removing the OTR microhood and the cabinet above it and installing some real ventillation for the cooktop?

Pulls: I love the traditional pulls in the image above.

Floors: I see you're planning to keep them white, but if you're ever going to change them now would be the time. It would be lovely if you pulled the hardwood all the way through the space,and much kinder to your knees.

Island: It's shaped oddly. They cut it off to mirror the shape of the perimeter cabinets. by replacing a cabinet there you could achieve a better look and more functionality, but I think the whole thing could be replaced by a baker's table with a marble top, something colorful and see-thru.

Lighting: It would be great if you could install some retrofit LED can lights for task lighting over the island, peninsula and work zones. If you prefer the look of pendants, perhaps a few over the peninsula might be nice.

Enjoy your new home!

This post was edited by EAM44 on Sun, May 18, 14 at 9:45

Costa Smerelda is not an in-your-face green, non-speckly granite. Almost a neutral. If you leave the cabs and floors white, you might want contast up there on the countertops. Nice space... are you buying the house?

This is costa smerelda in a white kitchen-

The barrier island keeps this kitchen from having good workflow. It needs to go. The cabinets look like thermofoil, so I be looking at leaving the counters alone until you do a more thorough remodel. You may want to create a more functional layout than just ditching the island can give you. There's no point in $pending dollar$ in putting $tone on top of $omething that $houldn't be $et in $tone.

Another pic of Costa against white. A very classic look. Are your cabs able to take a stone?

Do you currently live in this kitchen? If not, live with it for a while. Then, Focus on the layout first.

I think warming it up with wood floors would help a lot, if you can swing it. If not, make sure you choose a warm accent color and sprinkle it throughout the kitchen. I might consider painting the island cabs a gray or something if you keep the island. It's just so white right now

I agree that the island should go, it seems like it would get in the way. But, by removing it, that would mean replacing the floor and the original post said the floor stays I think. You don't mention a budget, if you are open to anything the above suggestions are all great ideas. If, however, you have a small budget, I would live with it for a while if it were me. Remove the grapevine and paint, that's an inexpensive update that will make a difference. If you can afford to update the counters that would really help too. If you can't afford stone, there are some nice laminates out there. That would be a budget friendly update, until such time as your budget permits you to do more.

I know that photos can give strange impressions, but I'm guessing the lighting could be improved a lot! Beautiful lighting may change the whole look of the kitchen. Please don't pick any colours until changing the lighting if you are considering doing so.

I'd go with paint and new knobs for now. I wouldn't replace the countertops just yet. You may decide you'd rather wait until you are ready to remodel the whole thing.

I apologize this is a little off topic, but EAM, would you happen to have a source for that baker's table? Thanks!

Wow - that is a really white kitchen! I second all of EAM44's suggestions.

Soapstone or Jet Mist/Virginia Mist counters would be a nice contrast to the white kitchen but if you wanted to stay with light counters and also warm up the space then River White granite might work for you. I have this in my bathroom and it works really well with the pale celery green walls. It's a bit warmer than some of the other white granites I've seen.

Bringing in the wood floors from the adjoining dining room would also bring some contrast and warmth into the kitchen

River white granite with pale green walls:

Thank you so much for the responses. I hadn't really considered removing the island, but I can see where it would be of benefit to do so. I'm in love with the Costa Esmeralda granite, and the idea of warming the cabinets with re-doing the floors in hardwood. All in all, great advice!
Thank you!

We should close on this house in June, sometime. I think we will probably paint over the grapes and then just live in the kitchen for a while to figure out exactly what we want to do.

Cooking, the bakers table is from a store called Nadeau. They don't have a big web presence but you can find them at the link below.

Judd, thanks!

Here is a link that might be useful: Nadeau

modern furniture, get rid of the late 80's table and chairs. go for wooden/industrial table. paint the kitchen in sherwin williams dovetail (from livable luxe collection - get the freebie book from a SW store) to make the white stand out. get stainless appliances that you can see using when you have money for a total redo. I don't see the island as a major issue here, it does not impede the workflow.

if you are going to do a 50K redo, fine, but if you are looking to refresh the look, you can do that with paint, and removal of the very dated furnishings.

there also appears to be a large fluorescent fixture in the ceiling that is casting a green glow on everything. it should be replaced with a drum shade fixutre, perhaps.

I agree with the suggestions about island removal, changing the floors to hardwood or something similar, and soapstone or Costa Smerelda for the counters. After having lived with similar white tile for several years (and getting really annoyed with the fact it only looked clean for about 5 seconds after I mopped it), getting rid of that would be one of my first priorities. I think the space has great potential--it's big, and bright, and the eat-in area is really cute.