Fresh Modern Kitchen & Dining Interior Design

My Kitchen

Neutral

Mid-day light

Cramped space, lack of storage, functionality, limited food prep space, dishwasher needs replacing sink leaking, want larger refrigerator/more freezer space. Would like more functional eating space. Sliding door takes up a lot of potential wall and counter space (although we are not looking to replace this necessarily). No pantry/food storage.

Everything can go! Would like new appliances, new flooring, new lights, new counters, new table/chairs--thinking a bench seat would be cute/functional for storage perhaps!

Yes

Open to both

Yes, Tile, Stone, Concrete

We cook nearly every day in the kitchen together so maximizing workspaces so we can do that at the same time without bumping into each other too much is ideal. I make a smoothie nearly every morning with frozen ingredients, mason jar ingredients and refrigerated items so having a station/set up for this is ideal. We have no food/pantry space currently so it ends up on the counter. My husband makes coffee with a French press and electric kettle so another station/set up for this is ideal. We would love a more functional space for eating in the kitchen with potentially a bench seat along the wall adjacent to the sliding door. We like cool tones blues and grays for accent colors. We would like more neutral counters, leaning white or light cabinets and hesitant about but open to dark counter tops (the material must be easy to keep clean! Black granite, for example, will not stay clean/streak free!). All white kitchens feel sterile to me so a fun backsplash with maybe a pop of color would be nice. Would love some ideas/inspiration for what to decorate the cut out/half wall space between kitchen and living room with. I have some sad plants now, but would love to incorporate more greenery!