I had a similar situation in a house I moved into years ago. I did a quick fix of painting all of the walls, woodword and the cupboards the same shade of cream. Sounds a bit OTT but it really knocked back the cupboards, which in all honesty are not something you want to make a feature out of, and created a calmness to the whole space. In your case, I would go for an off white so that the gang plug wires, radiator pipes and covers hiding the wires for the extractor fan etc., are disguised as much as possible -- that will tie in with the palest of the tiles in the splash back, and then you will have a pretty basic colour scheme of a very place colour and the dark worktop, fireplace and floor, which will stand out more. I think you need more storage with doors -- that bookshelf isn't doing anything for the kitchen. If you could get something in there that could hide lots of clutter -- even if just something cheap from IKEA, that would help greatly. Or work something around the filing cabinet that you have? A huge cheap mirror over the fireplace would bounce some light around too. If you don't want to go for undercupboard lighting, and if you have enough plug points, how about some lamps on the worktop, especially at the FF end with a floor standing lamp at the end with the chair. For the table, I would go for a table cloth and reupholster the chairs if they are not to your taste. A new blind in a much fresher colour would be great. Depending on the colour of your filing cabinet (if you use it), I think a petrol blue could add a nice vintage vibe to the chimney breast, and make more of a feature of it. I would try and go down a vintage/slightly industrial route rather than country. You may have some stuff lurking around that you could use, once you have got the base colours right -- currently it just feels a little cluttered and a bit of a mish mash. Best of luck. Looking forward to seeing some after shots :)

Hi, I agree that trims don't look good. If you opt for a porcelain tile then it is possible to cut a tile and then re polish the cut edge with a stone polishing kit. The same way that they polish the edge on a granite work surface. You can buy a kit from the likes of screw fix, you also need a grinder. This then allows you to have a neat finished edge. Having said all that I would look into a smoked mirror splash back as it's much more contemporary and easy clean.

I'll be able to get one in a few weeks as the whole house has been renovated and the decorator has his pasting table and paints etc in there at the moment. I think the kitchen is beautiful but 'safe.' If it were me I would bust the budget on designer lights over the seating area, change the stools to Kartell Ghost/Masters/One More/ More Please stools and hang a large canvas on the wall directly behind the stools. She probably won't be able to match a colour to the units - the designer who designed my kitchen informed me post installation that the company purposely makes their colours virtually impossible to match up so that nothing can be mixed and matched from other companies! If you want a colour to match, match up with the handles - chrome and maybe think about a silver or very light grey blind. Its truly worth going to a professional interior design studio as their range of fabrics is phenomenal and they would be able to make the perfect window covering that would work a treat. In my home city there are dozens of places which offer this service and have a wonderful rage of blinds. I'm writing this presuming you want contemporary - if you have a bigger budget you could tile the wall opposite the sink with modern marble or slate tiles etc. If you want boutique - roman blind, crystal pendants and art and keep the current stools. Paint all white and make your art stunning (think the way art is displayed in a gallery on bright white walls.) I think you are looking for the 'wow' factor and that takes time - I have redesigned my bedroom 3 times and I posted on here for advice on my wall colours in my lounge - it's frustrating but worth it when you know you have the look!

Love the Quartz, personally I'd just go for upstands rather than metro tiles. I would change the floor to limestone for something classical and the neutral tones will work with the cherry. Revere pewter could be a great choice depending on the light. Just avoid any paint with green unless you want the cherry to pop even more. I'd paint the upper cabinets on the fridge freezer run in the wall colour and also the door to the pantry (?) so they blend in. If you're changing the worktop then I'd also change the legs on the island as they're quite dated. I would also paint the island, something like BM Chelsea gray could work. Agree with changing the stools and adding a pendant light/s over the island. Add herbs and stems such as eucalyptus to add some life. It's hard to give shopping ideas for accessories as you're in the US but try and add different textures for accessories. Have a look at images of deVOL and Plain English kitchens as they're normally accessoried really well