SFGate

Natalie Hi---great space. If the wood floor is going to carry into the kitchen I recommend painting the cabs lighter for contrast---otherwise, do the floor with real stone. If hubby wants a different counter-consider granite on the counter and backsplash... Pics for inspiration. Good Luck!
[houzz=Deborah Leamann 1][houzz=Deborah Leamann 2]

sealedesign Really cute space. Yes, get rid of wallpaper. An interesting color maybe in the muted burnt red family? Usually the floor and countertop are matched in color. You can have dark floor and dark cabinets and a white countertop. I don't think. Also, if you are in a hot area, I can see lots of dark because it will feel cooler. On second thought, it seems the paint should be last after you decide on flooring and countertops since paint is so easy.
There is no white granite I know of but quartz are pretty stain resistant and I would also add undercabinet lighting.

christinesherriff Definitely paint the wood beams and get rid of wallpaper. Even that will make the space much more delightful. You could paint one of these colors. Such a beautiful space.

Fini Design Pat I really like that you are removing the wallpaper. I think you will find the space lightens up right there since the wall will be so much calmer.

In regard to the cabinets, you and your husband are probably both right. The cabinets may be cherry with a dark stain. How old are the cabinet? Would you be willing to paint them?

Here is what I see if you paint the ceiling: warm colored teak flooring sitting next to dark cabinets. That will still weigh the room down a good bit . Your wood ceiling is so beautiful.

My suggestion is to bring that lovely teak flooring in and paint the cabinets a softer, soothing color like light gray, soft green, misty blue even a rich beige. These colors are still very neutral and easy to live with for a long time. You can now keep your counter top - which is sooo expensive to replace, and the ceiling as well.
It looks like you have 4 can lights for your lighting needs which are not adequate. You can replace them with smaller, more numerous lights. LED lights are perfect for this. They are small, bright and last forever. You can hide the cords along the beams with a painted cord cover. Natalie shows a photo with hurricane lights hanging over a counter that would be wonderful in your space. Under cabinet lighting is available from Ikea for a small price.
I am attaching my little kitchen with cabinets I painted because I couldn't stand them anymore!

Hope this helps. Jean

Fini Design I have to chuckle a bit about painting wood, either the cabinets or ceiling. Anyone notice women are so much more comfortable painting wood than men are? Is your husband OK with painting wood? I hesitate on the ceiling because once it is done, there is no going back. Cabinets can always be replaced.

gdodd22 Lots of potential! We've flipped a few houses, so I get the budget + looks need. Ideal is to go light-dark-light in the floor/cabinet/countertop scheme, or dark-light-dark. Since the room seems pretty dark, and you are continuing the wood (great choice!), I'd definitely paint the cabinets and change the counters to something a little darker. My husband is a GC and always recommends Silestone if not granite as it's very durable and there are a lot of options (but I still like granite). Popular these days for the wall color is a cool grey which is soothing and often still very neutral. Our last house had the same beams and we just painted them and ceiling white. I think it'd be beautiful to do that, especially with the style of your ceilings--and it would really open up the space!
What a great kitchen to work with!

Natalie Very nice transformation Jean... Just a whisper of color on those cabinets-do you recall the paint color-I ♥ it!

gdodd22 At Fini, YES! It's like painting wood means they must turn in their man-card. :/

sealedesign Men don't like the detail work. I think they want to see accomplishment in 2x4 construction. Women are better at the detailed work and it's easier for us, plus we're so damn picky that we better do it ourselves so the guys don't get in trouble. I'm just not sure about painting the wood. It's so durable with wood and painted wood is not durable, it chips and gets fingerprints and you can see brush strokes unless you get them sprayed.

onthefence Clynchy, you've got some great things to work with there.

I've got what looks like a similar ceiling. The only option available to us was track lighting. We couldn't add new fixtures. The photo below is what we have. It's great because you get 6 fixtures on each track to aim whichever direction you need. I know on some tracks you can use the small spots and pendants together. I think you need a different fixture over the sink and probably under cabinet lighting as well.

Depending on your storage needs, if you could get rid of either of the upper cabinets on either side of the sink I think it would help to open that area up. Or, possibly even have the center panels removed and put in a patterned glass.

Once you get the wallpaper down and better lighting installed then re-evaluate the countertop and potential painting of the beams. Personally, I think painting the cherry cabinets would be the last thing I'd consider. I'm looking for some photos - but you've already got the beginnings of a beautiful mixed light/dark cabinet kitchen. Perhaps painting one of the cherry cabinets (or reworking it then painting it) would make it all very cohesive.

gdodd22 What if they painted JUST the island and added knew drawer pulls? I like the updated track lighting too. Very nice. If the drawer pulls were stainless, the appliances and the refrigerator, it would pull the look together. The ceiling and cabinets would be fine painted, but you have to use an oil based paint or a hybrid latex paint because its resistant to the chips and nicks and it's scrubbable (is that a word?). :)

sjkingston Gorgeous room elements to work with. Start with the new base floor coloring as that's permanent and most expense. If the floor color is compatible with the ceiling wood color and you like inspiration rooms with wood ceilings, consider painting the beams in the same wood color (faux it) it to match so it's not as busy. Another option is paint the beams faux wood to match the floor color and do a white/ivory ceiling between the beams. With that and the wall paper down, you'll know if you want to keep the wood cabinets or paint in white/ivory or another color. You may be able to salvage the counter tops (Corian?) if the undertones are the same family as your cabinets as the solid surface look is back in style. If the edges are dated shape, a Corian expert may be able to rework them for you. Or put a matching wood trim around to continue a slightly nautical look. Good luck.

mveasey You have a beautiful space, great size as well. Good call on the wallpaper. That will make a huge impact.
Personally, I would invest a lighter tile floor and a beautiful light backsplash, perhaps something more modern and sparkling.
I would keep the cabinets as they are and the countertops. Since your ceiling seems to be two different types of wood and I'm still undecided on painting in this case, could you keep the beams the way they are and professionally attach drywall(?) to cover up the teak for now, in case you do something drastic and want the wooden ceiling back? I love the ceiling, but have to admit, does not go too well with your current kitchen.
I hope you find a happy solution!

mveasey On a little decorating note, once the wallpaper has gone, i would keep the area above the cabinets clear and perhaps move the microwave, breadbox and coffemaker into your nook on the right and perhaps make that area into a breakfast spot. If you would get some doors for that space you could close it off (and store all sorts of stuff in it when unexpected visitors come by ;).
I would also fill the space to the left of the fridge full with books only.
I don't know your style preference and if you need the fan or have downdrafts for your cooktop, but a nice size chandelier of sorts might make the place a little more magical...

ajacksonbird I think you should definitely paint the ceiling to let the beams show off! Then take off the paper and paint a fun light blue, grey, soft green. Take it from there because your cabinets and counters are still very nice !

Susanna I could not paint that ceiling. I love your kitchen and only see minor issues. Change the door pulls to a more substantial silver look. Replace the fan with a glorious, sparkly chandelier and lose the canned lights. if you can't get rid of the fan, then change the track light cans to black so they disappear and add more. Remove items from on top of cabinets.
Paint the kitchen Ralph Lauren Lilac purple (stronger than it sounds-not a pastel but still light and beautiful). It is a Gorgeous color with black, silver and deep brown woods. Think lilac flowers on a chocolate pie. Sigh....
I hope you do not paint the ceiling as I think the darkness or heaviness you feel is from the lack of lighting and color; not because of the wood. Good Luck. Love it!

JWinteriors Do the wood floor...leave the ceiling...remove wallpaper...clear out all clutter (desk area,above cabinets, counters) ..put doors on recessed nook to the right of island and use as food pantry...paint island same white as woodwork..change out island countertop only to a darker granite or stone...add track lights and under cabinet lights. Switch out 2upper cabinet doors to glass. Paint walls light cream.

onthefence One other thought - on my monitor it looks like the cabinet doors on the end of the island are different. Are they? If so, could you remove them and do open shelving there?

cohoek Hi, We had here in Holland the same problem with our 17th century wooden ceiling. The ceiling gets darker and darker with age. Our paint store advised us to use a clear varnish and put some white in it. The ceiling looks like its covered in thin milk.You can still see the wood through it. This will lighten everything up. We also put in Velux ceiling windows, I don't know what they are called in english. My advice would be to try get the most affect with your lighting first before trying anything drastic. Maybe you should first choose your style, do you want a more barnlike feel to your kitchen considering the beams? If you do I would paint the cabinets a very light color. I have no trouble painting kitchen cabinets except if they are real cherry wood. Try looking at alot of Houzz pictures to find your style first, then it won't be so hard to choose. And have fun!

Ramona You have a lot to work with here. Listen to cohoek and try 'whitewashing' your ceiling between the beams. This ceiling exists throughout main floor? Give us some pictures of what the kitchen looks onto and retake the pictures during daylight as the darkness makes it hard to see and advise you.

Do not trash expensive Corian when you are on a budget. Its is now more expensive than granite in my area, and it can last beyond your lifetime and be refabricated. It can be sanded to look absolutely new.

Your cabinets are darker than cherry. As someone above said, they may be cherry with a darker than usual stain.

Put the lighting in first with the help of a lighting consultant because I think planning it correctly will be hard. The track lighting described above sounds like the way to go.

I do not agree with the idea that the ceiling should not be painted. Soon you will be living with black over your head. That is just too depressing in such a large space. Is there somewhere you could try the whitewash on areas between the beams before you commit, inside a closet? I agree with the advice above: pull down the wallpaper first, install new lighting so you can see what everything looks like, see if you can test out what the ceiling will look like whitewashed or painted.

It is true that if you paint the cabinets you are not permanently altering the structural design of the home as new wood grained cabinets can always be reinstalled. And it is true that painted cabinets will lighten up the space tremendously. You might have the guts to go with a beautiful color which would look good against your white counter tops.

Then and only then, decide on your floors and cabinet color. Wall color should come last along with back splash. I think you can have a lot of fun here and get a good result, but you need to look at all your options and give yourself time to make decisions.

Consider skylights, but they won't do much to give you an open feeling at night.

Plan carefully before you spend money on a kitchen. Buying the wrong size fridge was an expensive mistake.

hotrod396 I would start by just doing the celling first, how about Skip Trowel Texture? I really this when it's done very light on the cellings and walls...for one it hides a lot and you can do many things with it..and any body can do it......check out some Utube video's, also you would need all the high dollar tools most use..plastic bucket and a 6 towel will work just fine.
mix it so it's like a cake mix..and put it on in light coats..

clynchy Thank you all for your wonderful suggestions, so much to digest.

I was so busy removing wallpaper last weekend that I did not get to post. I have painted one small wall with Valspar Autumn Fog, a little dark but I think I like it, its hard to tell as it is just one small wall and not next to the cabinets. I bought some sample silver door pulls and should have those replaced by the weekend

I cannot post new pictures until the weekend as I am not home in the daylight!! The room is not really that dark as it opens to a large family room with same wood/beam ceiling lots of light.

This may be a slow process as I only have a few weekends free, but will keep you updated.