The happy kitchen, part 1

Our kitchen currently is fairly dark. I'd like to open it up a bit and make it more dinner friendly.
Here is what the kitchen currently looks like:

Now, here are some improvements I'd like to make here:
I'd like this alongside our main wall. Instead of a wine cabinet, I just want a side table for drinks and to help with any extra plates needed.

I'd like the kitchen dining area to look like this, with the wood table, and the chalkboard frame in a shade of blue. The Chairs will likely be a shade of blue also:

 I like this pegboard idea alongside a wall. It eliminate the hassle of having to search for your pots and pans, and getting knocked about by your pots and pans.

 This is a great re-purposed cabinet that I'd love to make for the kitchen, note the casters. I'd love to use this as a sous-chef area for cutting and chopping.

Above it the Kitchen That Inspired Me. I don't necessarily like the color, but I like that the cabinets are bright, colorful and cozy. I want to prime and repaint our cabinets like this. I also like the idea of the island being a different, but complimentary color.

This is what I'd like to do with the top shelves. I like the open nature of it, and the extra lighting. It really opens up the kitchen and you can see all your dishes. I love this idea. I think it would make the kitchen more welcoming and great for family holidays.

I got the photos of the kitchen from here:http://www.lifeingraceblog.com/2009/04/the-retro-cottage-kitchen-and-a-painted-wood-is-pretty-linky-party/

Here are the kitchen colors we're thinking of:
Valspar Cicada Song

Valspar Silver Thistle Down
Valspar French Blue

We'd also like to replace the broken sliding glass doors with these:

They just seem nice. Seems like they'd add to the comfy farmhouse look I'm going for. I'll post more next month after I've bought paint and primer and started in on this.