Falcon Ridge Kitchen

Dark cherry cabinets and a tile-topped island replaced with cream shaker cabinetry and a quartz-topped island, a vented hood and stainless appliances.

Going from cherry to cream is the change that does the most work here — the old cabinets absorbed what light the room had, and the new ones hand it back. The island is the other half of it: squaring off the old angled one opened the walkway, and one uninterrupted slab across the top gives the room a single clean working edge instead of a corner to walk around. Pendants over the island rather than a central fixture put the light where you actually prepare food.