Maybe you could try some sort of "wash" treatment on the cabinets to give them a more rustic feel without making them completely white. Adding bamboo blinds and baskets might also help. Not sure about the appliances--wait and see how light the cabinets turn out to be.
Good luck! Is that opening the space for the refrigerator, or the stove?
What's on the other side?

I think if you don't like white, you shouldn't go to a lot of trouble to get it. If you google beach kitchen, a lot of painted kitchens come up that aren't white -- grays, blues, greens.

I'd suggest doing that instead and swapping out the counter for butcher block -- painted cabinets + butcher block is relatively inexpensive and very cottage. White appliances would go well with that if you don't want stainless.

Also, I would take down some or all of these upper cabinets. If you look at cottage kitchens, a lot of the cottage feel comes from the sort of home-grown-looking uppers. There is a lot of open shelving, kitschy glass cabs, stuff like that. The custom, solid, built-in look of your uppers is a big part of why the room doesn't feel beachy. You might look around for a cheap antique cabinet on craigslist to hang on the wall instead.

Also, you asked about wall color, and I thought it was cool how they split the wall color here:

Don't think white sandy beach. Thing rugged cliff sides coming down to the ocean with giant boulders of all colors of rocks and no real sand. All of those earth tones with the blue green of the ocean and the steel gray of a sky just about to burst open with a thunderstorm. It's a more masculine and less trite interpretation of beachy. But it will work with all of the existing brown. The other Disney beach version would require a heck of a lot more changes than just some white paint.

I was looking up wood bleaching for you as another option, inspired by this kitchen:

I was thinking if you could get the base cabinets (which get the real beating/scratches) light enough, then maybe you'd only have to paint the upper white, and you wouldn't mind that so much.

Anyway, I came across this, which has a TON of options for lighter, more beachy-looking wood finishes:

http://anurbancottage.blogspot.com/2013/11/testing-floor-finishes.html

Here is a link that might be useful: Various Light Wood Finishes

I agree with PPs ... if you don't like white cabinets, DON'T go to the trouble of painting them white!

You could bring in a lot of light without painting the cabs at all... a better (and more interesting) ceiling light fixture, under-cabinet lights, a sparkly backsplash in a lighter color, maybe removing some of the upper cabs or swapping out some of their doors for glass (or taking the doors off and using baskets on 'open' shelves)... add texture with woven bamboo blinds, baskets, and in chairs/stools, etc...

Here is a link that might be useful: [Link to Pic[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/rustic-chic-kitchen-and-dining-room-eclectic-kitchen-boise-phvw-vp~920720)

What about looking into Feisty's idea with Monocoat to make wood look gray? There are plenty of other colors, too.

Here is a link that might be useful: how to get gray wood cabinets

To be able to alter the wood tones of the cabinets by any form of stain, you would need to sand them down to bare wood so that the stain could penetrate the wood fibers. Painting would be much easier, as you would only need to scuff sand the doors, prime, and paint with good quality products. The floor is a sandy beige, so it could work for beachy, but I see the countertops being replaced by Wilsonart Sea Glass or Bottle Glass counters.

Bumping to the top because of duplicate post.

Ugh! My link to picture just started working :P I will delete the other thread---WOW! lots of great ideas here!!! I would love to not have to paint those cabs ;) so working around them with a different countertop, backsplash, lighting and wallpaper or paint would be perfect! Thank you all SO much for the wonderful advise!