You probably already know you can get liquid sander or primer that will stick to cabinets so you can paint them. But do you want to do something modern or more cottage-y? I see in your other picture you have modern pictures but a barley-twist table, so I wasn't sure. You could keep the kitchen walls themselves bright and neutral and then match cheap pine shelving to the cabinets in a bright colour. Here's an example of coloured shelves http://colorfulhomes.tumblr.com/post/22117531933/via-miluccia-chez-julie-ansiau

On the windowsill, you might consider a tall terrarium under a cloche or even made out of any large, lidded jar, with a grouping of other complementary objects, to distract from the wall behind.

Hi JacJacJac. Thanks so much for the comment. I like the idea of the coloured shelves. We actually wanted to add green to the room but I thought painting the wall might be a bit much. So shelving would add that nice pop of colour without being over the top. Would you recommend matching the cupboards to the shelves (ie green?). We were thinking of either white or a light grey with a strip of dark grey on the top wooden handles for them?

I should say that the kitchen looks quite dark in the pic but in reality it's not. It's probably as light as the other pic I have with the fireplace.

We don't want a cottage feel. The barley twist table is just temporary until we find a table that fits the space we have.

Ps - I didn't know about the cabinet sanders/ primers :)
I also had to Google what a terrarium was!! Lol

I am glad that you took down the upper cabs, as I believe that future design will move away from the standard upper cab approach. They do block light and add visual clutter, as you found.
On a shoestring, you might cut back the wooden countertop on the peninsula to add space to the kitchen (it is projecting into the center of the kitchen for some reason..)
Paint cabs and walls in quiet tones to harmonize. I like the steel shelving idea also, which will be both functional and modern.
The simpler the appearance, the better. If you end up needing more storage, you might consider a section of the room devoted to floor-to-ceiling pantry units (see my profile for examples of this approach).
Cheers, S*

HI -- Rebecca -- Are you keeping those appliances and does the floor plan work for you . Did you want to change any of the structure or windows . If you could show the left wall of the kitchen and or more pictures of the room and around . What seating do you need and what do you want to add . Nice touch with the toilet paper -- too funny !!

Hi PCmom, sstarr and lefty47. Thanks a million for the comments and views. I'm taking it all on board. PCmom I like the frosted glass idea but I think it will block too much light. We are actually thinking of doing this though in our front sitting room as the window is floor to ceiling. Love the recycled lumber idea and it looks great in the photo - think my husband is hell bent on steel shelving though.
sstarr - I'm gonna have a look at your profile pics now but I don't think we will have enough wall space for floor to ceiling pantry.
lefty47 we are keeping the appliances for now. It is only the oven - its not the prettiest but its functional and we will most definitely get a new fitted one in the future. There are a few other pictures there of the room around and the left wall - can you not see them? If not I can try and add them again. I'm glad you liked the toilet paper. It took me ages to decide where to place that!
What does everyone think about colours of the cabinets? I think we might go for a neutral tone on the wall (unless anyone can visualise anything better?) and either with the steel shelving or possibly the recycles ,lumber idea from PCmom? Thanks for your time guys :)

I also like the green colour of the wall in my idea book

- do you think it would work on maybe one wall in the kitchen then with some green cushions and accessories in the living space? could do the grey cabinets then and metal shelving. There is a dark wood worktop though......

If you don't want a green wall, or haven't decided, you could always try the cabinets. Maybe you could prime the cabinets and just paint one cabinet door green using a tester pot, to see if you can stand it? It depends if you want a bold green effect or green as an accent throughout the room, I guess? Keep us updated, I'd love to see how you get on. I've been researching with a mind to painting my horrible (B&Q) cupboards. I'm starting with the walls & trim and then deciding whether the cabinets need doing...

Hi - will definitely keep you updated. We have pretty much decided that we were going to do a bright citrus green on the walls and stainless steel shelving (with maybe some wood picture frames dotted around to soften it). Our worktop at the moment is a horrible dark brown veneer so we are going to tint that in a rich brown colour (no idea yet how to do the tint, so I'll have tor research that). We are then going to paint our cabinets in a white colour and tint the wood handles the same colour as the worktop. FIngers crossed it works out. I will post some pictures when it's done. If anyone has any little gems of wisdom or words of warning please do share (quickly though!) :)

Hi guys, here's the updated green walls we have gone with :)
We r taking down the white vent or covering it so that won't be there. The water heater is also coming off the wall.