I would start with updated appliances and possibly a focus over stove. The counter tops and splash could be upgraded to a more current material and look.if you are going for a contemporary look glass tiles would look great. It would be helpful to have a plan so you could execute a cohesive look and do it in stages. I would suggest talking to a professional kitchen designer even if it is at a big box store.

There are many examples on houzz of contrasting counters for perimeter and island. For example butcher block on island and stone on perimeter or a solid color on one and something with movement on another. I would only mix two stones if one had movement and one was fairly solid. The stainless on perimeter and something else on island sounds good to me. Here is a pic of stainless counters with what looks like a stone breakfast bar. (I hope I understood your question right). http://houzz.com/photos/3137660

Yes, I understand. My own kitchen is similar.. What I like best about your kitch is that there are essentially no upper cabinets. This is a very modern concept, and although your kitchen is not new, it has a progressive design. You are constrained on placement of appliances because of the windows and walls, but that is all right,. I believe that the best outcome for your kitchen would be to swap out your old cabinets for new ones of good quality. I like the timber floor. I would use a simple countertop of thin material (not with a built up edge), keeping the overall feeling light.

~$400 including expedited shipping. My GC just had his regular countertop guy do them, which wasn't great.... he had trouble making clean cuts. If I were going to do it again I would have pressed for someone with expertise to cut them. You can see in the image that the facing is not made of the stone peak, because too much was broken during the cutting to make the mitered edge. I'm a little bummed, but mostly pleased with the surface (which is the important part) thus far.