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?

Thanks Robandlyn. The house in presently under renovation, and the kitchen cabinets need to be painted as well. The rest of the walls are in a cream tone, hence I decided on earthy tone. Attached is a picture of the splash back colour, which might help with chosing the cabinet colours as well.

I chose a bench first then cabinets as I could only afford laminate and didn't want to see a black edge on benches, so needed to be dark. If you can afford stone etc you have an easier ride! Flooring last. Bench should match floor, cabinets should match splashback ( light/ dark/ tones etc ) so I heard !