You also don't have nearly enough lighting. A central fixture creates glare casts lots of shadows, and I don't see any task lighting under the upper cabinets for the counter tops.

I would invest in an electrician to come up with a lighting design that included some recessed lighting and under cabinet task lighting, and then with whatever you have left over maybe you could do a lighter countertop, if you still don't like what you have.

I like these cabinets a lot. Could you maybe replace some upper doors with glass doors, perhaps add a shiny backsplash that reflects more light.
Some chrome/nickel hardware, and if all else fails, a lighter countertop.

Do you have the same peninsula? Could you put open shelves or glass door cabinets there?

You might try painting the walls white as well. That, combined with better lighting, a cheerful flower arrangement, and other brightly colored accessories, might be sufficient.

You might also explore the possibility of making at least one of your light sources full spectrum to combat SAD.

nosoccermom's photos are great. I think your kitchen could look more like photo 2 give your cabinets. If photo 2 doesn't appeal, I'd paint your cabinets (dark navy blue bottoms, white tops? I'm partial to navy). With your budget, I'd skip granite and do laminate counter tops. I'd look at apartment therapy & the kitchn for budget remodeling inspiration to make sure your getting the biggest bang for your buck.

Personally, I'd keep the cabinets (painting would eat up your budget) as is. I'd do white/light modern laminate countertops; white tile backsplash and definitely paint the kitchen a white. The yellowy color isn't very cheerful. I'd get rid of the counter top that extends 1-2" up as a back splash. Silver hardware would also lighten things up. I completely agree that lots of recessed lighting would be a good investment if this hasn't been done (maybe 6 lights for the space shown - you can see 4 in nosoccermom's picture #2). Maybe silly, but add a houseplant - they make spaces feel more alive.

Or I'd save more, paint the cabinets and do everything else too!

Add more artificial light. Thats the primary need even if the kitchen was white. Then learn to DIY paint them yourself. See what's left over budgetwise, and maybe splurge on a backsplash.

Agree with Hollysprings. Light first. Then cabinets. You can paint them yourself and there must be ten or twenty threads here on GW about painting cabs, which paint to use, etc.

I agree with what everyone is saying. Here's what I would do for 5k
1. Hire a lighting designer for a few hundred dollars (electricians aren't designers) -have electrician install them.
2. Shiny glass backsplash
3. Hardware in nickel like pic by nosoccermom above
4. New high neck polished nickel faucet
5. Light countertop

I think I'd either paint the uppers and/or replace several upper doors with glass. If you could swing a granite like the island in nosoccermom's picture that would tie two tone cabinets together. Look at Majra's two tone kitchen, one of my favorites on GW.
You said you already upgraded lighting, but I wonder if you could add a solatube, or real skylight?

Here is a link that might be useful: Majra's two tone kitchen

Hmmm.
I'd start with the lighting.
Then, #2.
If that's not enough, try the open shelving look.
If that's not enough, paint the uppers white.
Then you could try and put the doors back on if you decide you don't like the open shelving thing.

So see, you can try this in stages rather than jumping out of the frying pan into the fire.

And have one of those lights put in that helps with seasonal depression. Got nuttin' to lose with that!

I would keep the cabinets and the counterops as is. They are stylish, contemporary and expensive to replace.

I would stain/paint the grey door to the other room to match/coordinate with the cabinets. You could stain only the kitchen side if the other side matches the other room.

You need more lighting - undercounter and overhead. If you want to bring in another color, you can have coordinating decorator pendant lights. If your taste is modern, Bright orange or cobalt blue Italian glass pendant lights and a coordinating fruit bowl would be striking.

A nice backsplash - ceramic or glass tile - in a light color would be nice. Pick something either timeless or something you really love because tilework is difficult to change. The glass tiles are very trendy, but may also scream 2010-2015. If you love glass, go for it. If you like tile, do that. There are so many nice tiles in the stores. I have also seen nice kitchens with stainless tile.

You can update the look with accessories - a new gooseneck or spray/goose neck combo faucet, coordinating door pulls, handles on the door...

Is your local water good? If not, perhaps you would want an undercounter reverse osmosis water system from culligan or ionpure. They need undercounter space and a faucet in the sink. Theycan be drilled into an existing sink, but it may be something to keep in mind if you are changing things around.

Finally, you can add plants or personal items to give your kitchen personality. You have a great neutral kitchen. You can accent it with any color you like!

Get a lighter counter that has some reflective characteristics, repaint the walls with a lighter colored paint, and live with it for a while before doing the backsplash.

We have medium dark cherry perimeter cabinets in our kitchen that faces SE, but there is a 10' deep front porch with an 11' roof including overhang that darkens the kitchen. It has a triple window over 7' wide and 4' high, and two 10" SunTunnels. The counters are a medium green granite. The center square island has creme painted cabinets and a medium light limestone/marble top. My walls look like they are about the same color as yours appear in your picture, and the floor is cream colored cork. The kitchen feels too dark to me.

Our lower level galley kitchen has similar medium dark cherry cabinets with a light semi-shiny patterned laminate, and the paint is a lighter shade of the paint that is upstairs. The triple window 7' wide by 4' high is 24' across the room from it. This kitchen should feel darker than the one upstairs, but doesn't, no matter what time of day or night it is. Both kitchens are well lit.

I am going to paint the upstairs kitchen a lighter better color that makes both the cabinets and counter top have a little more umph. If I could change to a lighter counter top in the upstairs kitchen, I would. There is no doubt in my mind that these 2 changes would make my upstairs kitchen feel lighter, based on how much lighter the lower level kitchen feels.

Anne

Do you have an actual picture of your kitchen with appliances. I think that makes a big difference to looks at. I agree about lighting and we added can lights for around 500.

This appears to be an attractive well designed kitchen so it would be really hard for me to emotionally and financially justify changing the cabinets and countertops etc.
If the light is really the only issue, is it possible to put in a real skylight (not just a solar tube)?
If your kitchen is painted in the same colors as in the photo you attached then what it really looks to me is bland. Too much of the same brownish hue, just lighter (wall) to medium (countertops) or darker (cabinets).
If I truly hated the dark cabinets I would change everything to the white cabinets that I really wanted.
Otherwise I would start by deciding what other color you would like to introduce into the mix. Then I would buy towels and things that go on the kitchen counters in that color (and see if any of the ceiling lights can also be introduced into that color) and if that doesn't bring sufficient visual relief, I would redo the counters and the backsplash (perhaps with glass or metallic metal or other highly reflective tiles running through the backsplash so that it reflects the light). If you cannot figure out what color you want to introduce, it's a hint that you need to change the cabinets to white.
Good luck.

You've received many great suggestions already.

Here's mine. If you have enough storage, remove some or all of the uppers on the sink wall and enlarge the window over the sink. That will flood your space with more light during the day. Having fewer dark upper cabs will help the space feel lighter at night. Then do what others have suggested: add more and better lighting and install new, lighter counters and backsplash.

I think you'd be better off with a light counter with warm tones, not cool. Check out Kompy's Silestone Lagoon counters (see link). It's light but the gray is warm, not cool. I've seen Lagoon in person and it's really lovely. Not sure if quartz counters are in your budget, though.

Here is a link that might be useful: Kompy UPDATE: My Plain & Fancy Kitchen in Progress

I had a bunch of ideas. You could use some/all -- whatever combination you prefer. You could end up with a light kitchen without spending anywhere near $5,000.

Wow! Thank you all for the great advice!
Every one of you has given me something to consider and I am so glad I asked.
As much as I want a white kitchen right now, my gut is telling me not to paint these cabinets. We are thinking about moving in about 5 years and the dark cabinets seem to appeal to the buyers in our area who are in their 20's and 30's, which would probably be our target market at that time. I will definetly get my white kitchen next time though!
For now, I am going to look in to improving the lighting first. I had looked in to it before and was told it would be a problem to add recessed lights or pendants over the peninsula because we have a second floor above the kitchen and there is a bathroom directy above it. It kind of seemed like the electrician didn't want to deal with it, so I will check with a lighting designer to see what can be done.
I'm going to work on getting a lighter counter and light reflective backsplash too. It is so helpful to see the altered pictures that Jillius posted. I really like the one with the light counter, reflective backsplash and light blue paint. The brighter paint really provides a lot of contrast and perks the space up. The Silestone Lagoon counters are beautiful too and really appeal to me if I decide to up my budget.
You all have given me lots to think about. Thanks!

I think you've gotten some great ideas. Others have suggested a glass backsplash, and I highly recommend one also for upping the brightness in a dark kitchen. If you need to do more to your space after investigating better lighting, look into adding one. We rented a house this summer (we're remodeling and moved out till it's done). The kitchen had black cabinets, black appliances, one small north facing window, and light wood counters. The backsplash was red glass tile. Also there were red pendant lights along with recessed overhead lights and undercounter lights. I was amazed how much light the glass tiles reflected. The lighting was pretty good I must say, but the glow at night from the glass tile was surprisingly nice. More reflective than I ever would have thought. Definitely a nice thing to have in a darker kitchen.

Although the 2nd story and a bath may complicate things (more holes or new drywall), you should still be able to fix the lighting. Another potential addition/alternative is uplighting on the uppers (using LED tape lighting). Your local lighting specialty store may be able to give you a good design as part of your purchase.

How about some lighting above the cabinets? A similar concept to undercabinet lighting, but installed on the top of the cabs. Or, remove some of the panels and install glass, then add lighting in the glass cabs. How about a couple of pendant lights over the peninsula? (Your counters don't look all that dark, but if they're too dark for you, change them to a light or off white laminate, without the laminate backsplash. Do a light backsplash as well, maybe a glossy subway tile, that will reflect the undercabinet lighting. I prefer off whites and ivorys rather than pure white with the dark brown cabinets myself. I really like those cabinets, I wouldn't paint them, but with dark cabinets, you do more light.

No doubt a handsome kitchen and beautiful cabinets. I would upgrade the lighting first and add cheerful accessories to see how it affects you. But if you don't like dark, you don't like dark. Cabinets are always in your face, you can't escape them or the mood they create. Five years could turn into 10 or forever, and often does. So I would live for today and change the cabinet color to something that makes me happy and feel good while in there. It sounds like the $ aspect is very important though, so you have to prioritize what is more important to you. I would choose how I feel each day, so $5000 would be worth it, but that is me. (And I would probably tackle the job myself to ensure a thorough and well done job).