Cannot see photos very well. Looks like a wood floor, wood table, beige walls, beige drapes,white cabinets, white counter top, black bar stools and black chairs (some fabric and some black wood).. Cannot see chairs well enough to make suggestions. Cannot see blinds nor "slats" well enough to make suggestions. A white ceiling might make it seem higher. Tulip art is colorful and fun, I'd hang it in the entry or living room.

Hello Marcelle, I am an interior designer . I can tell you a simple inexpensive way to change the look of your kitchen. Looking at the photo you sent the different cabinet heights , and all the objects on the stove wall are very busy . Your modern house is wanting a cleaner , simple look. I would lower the small cabinets so that the top is at the same height as the others in the room. And put doors on , that will hide the clutter. Next I would do a tile backsplash above the stove , up to the same height. The whole kitchen will be pulled together by the continuous top line. There is a small light wood cabinet with baskets in the foreground . I would paint it white , or the same dark accent color of the cabinets you have. I don't think you would need to change the beams then , they would add interest and drama once everything else was subdued. Lisa

Wow, that was awesome Mark, thanks for that and everyone else. I thought about the desk facing the other way actually, to avoid feeling enclosed I do have really great views there so I thought about a small couch and maybe a bookshelf on the back, but having the dining table in front is probably not the best either.... complicated :( Here are a couple more pics, today was a beautiful day so I managed to get more of the views

Your suggestions are really greatly appreciated. My town house unit is under complete exterior re-cladding works, prompting quite substantial interior makeover (i.e installtion of ducted air con, replacing wall to wall carpet with timber upstairs, and tiles in open space downstaris, replacing creamy wall paper will be replaced with neutral white paint. So my green kitchen with creamy formica counter (bench) top should go. I don't hate green simply had egounh of it after long 15 yeras! My small U shape kitchen is due for complete makeover, I think! I'll probably go with new cabinets (lower one for microwave) up to the ceiling, when move fridge at the end I'll go with panel with matching colour up to the ceiling, expanding counter top on the other side to the fridge. I guess that removal of the cupboard can be compesated with extension of the counter top so we can fit 3x drawer underneath and cabinets up to the ceiling can provide some useful storage space. Backsplash in same white palette or darker in contrast? Your kind ideas please!