Definitely a much lighter paint color on the walls, white, cream, light gray, etc. .... and a if you painted a med gray, blue, or sage green... it would make the area brighter and more cheerful. you could also make the lower cabinets a darker color than the uppers.... but i would not go darker than a medium tone.
Paint the cabinets & the ceiling beams, perhaps add can lights to the drop ceiling. The problem you're going to have is matching to the wood paneling in the eat in dining area. If you are open to painting all of it, you can go with a nice rustic painted look that would go well with your rustic wall decor. Or you could even paper over it. They make a wallpaper liner that is supposed to fill in the gaps between paneling to paper over.
Then add some coloured items to your wall decor, if you are keeping it. Mason jars with flowers or a mix of flowers and string lights (battery operated) to brighten the walls. Add curtains that have colour or patterns, rather than just white.
The beams and stone backsplash are visually the "stars" in your kitchen. I agree that painting the walls would lighten up the kitchen overall. I'd pick the lightest color in your stone backsplash as a guide. If your budget allows, I would also agree that painting the cabinets would increase the brightness. I'd use the stone again as a guide, picking a color that is a medium tone that compliments the stone. Since you have white appliances, you might consider repainting your stove hood to match the stove. Once that is all done, you may elect to update your area rug, curtains, towels and other objects to bring in added color.
I don't like the rugged look of my cabinets and can't afford new ones. The molding you see in the photo is wood and the cabinets are dark although it looks light. Wha...
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I really think I would paint maybe the cupboards
paint the cabinets, replace the hardware, and add some decor with pops of color for starters
Definitely a much lighter paint color on the walls, white, cream, light gray, etc. .... and a if you painted a med gray, blue, or sage green... it would make the area brighter and more cheerful. you could also make the lower cabinets a darker color than the uppers.... but i would not go darker than a medium tone.
Paint the cabinets & the ceiling beams, perhaps add can lights to the drop ceiling. The problem you're going to have is matching to the wood paneling in the eat in dining area. If you are open to painting all of it, you can go with a nice rustic painted look that would go well with your rustic wall decor. Or you could even paper over it. They make a wallpaper liner that is supposed to fill in the gaps between paneling to paper over.
Then add some coloured items to your wall decor, if you are keeping it. Mason jars with flowers or a mix of flowers and string lights (battery operated) to brighten the walls. Add curtains that have colour or patterns, rather than just white.
Paint the walls a lighter and leave the beams natural. Using the same color scheme, paint the cabinets darker than the walls.
The beams and stone backsplash are visually the "stars" in your kitchen. I agree that painting the walls would lighten up the kitchen overall. I'd pick the lightest color in your stone backsplash as a guide. If your budget allows, I would also agree that painting the cabinets would increase the brightness. I'd use the stone again as a guide, picking a color that is a medium tone that compliments the stone. Since you have white appliances, you might consider repainting your stove hood to match the stove. Once that is all done, you may elect to update your area rug, curtains, towels and other objects to bring in added color.