As much as I like wood, I think you have too much in that area. You don't mention a budget limit, but to modernize the look, I would recommend replacing any louvered doors with solid doors. Painting the pantry's wood, trim, doors and your cabinets a color would lend it an updated look.

Flooring should be light. I'm not sure how a bamboo floor would work. Did you end up going ahead with the kitchen plans? What did you go with?

Your layout for you kitchen looks really good and would fit well with the mixture of black and white cabinetry. With the lament bench top, we would suggest melamine (entry level cabinetry) or acrylic bench top, which can come in high gloss feature or matt. The matt surface would go lovely with your choice of bench top, and acrylic is also a affordable cabinetry material. Below are some examples of how Reno4u has incorporated both black and white cabinetry together, without making it to dominantly dark. We feel as if these examples would be perfect for your layout, and depending on if you want more black cabinetry or white you can go either way. This design above is an example with more black than white, can be made matt or gloss with different handles/splash back and wallpaper. With a u shaped kitchen similar to yours, however from the pictures you provided your style may include different design below the island bench. Another kitchen designed by us which shows more white than black, with a bar built in which may suit your design better. We hope this helps you, please feel free to call us on 03 423 9067 and we can provide a free quote for materials and kitchen design, and help you finalise your design further. :)

Thanks courtney. it's all finished and we love it. We chose a white glass back splash which really helps to brighten up the space. On a sunny day it's so bright I pull the blinds down lol! the photo looks alot colder than it is too. It's taken on my phone so not the best.