Have you thought about leaving the ceilings and painting the brick walls instead? See if it is still too dark but I think those ceilings would then look modern and architectural, especially if you put mid-century pieces in there.

If you are going to completely redo the kitchen cabinets, make the wall hung units go to the ceiling. Or better yet, have open shelves over there. Do you have any other photos of the kitchen and breakfast area? It would be nice to see some other angles.

I would have flat cabinets, with no panelling. Here are a couple of examples, but none are quite right!

Too country:

Too sleek:

This is good for style of cabinets that you could do in wood instead:

I think this is the best I've found:

Yes yes on the white bricks. I use a vacuum on my walls. And if you have flat cabinets and cabinets to the ceiling, there'll be nothing to dust there, so you'll have extra time to do the walls :)

Yipeee!

Sjkingston's idea of installing plasterboard between the cross beams and installing lighting in there is great. Also, good mid-century examples of this abound. Here are a couple:


(although I actually hate the colour and type of veneer they used in that
kitchen)


Some people have painted out the beams, too, but I think that this is a bit of a missed opportunity.

Wine. I love wine! Holding area - as in about to drink it - is a good idea. Storage, not so good - too many temperature extremes.

Looking forward to seeing more photos.

My comment may be a little too late but I have designed many kitchens where it improvement in isolation would solve nothing so I would alwYs recommend thinking about and addressing the entire open space you are in when wanting to improve it.
Your comments lead me to think perhaps you want to spend as little as possible while getting he biggest impact possible. I agree with many comments and think
Ain't it the first answer. The kitchen cabinetry call all be painted easily as they are timber, the oven drew my attention, and would need to be a priority upgrade if ever to sell, it looks very old. So if nothing else, take. It out and the under cabinet and replace it with a freestanding, source online auctions, eBay or clearance warehouses you will find many to choose from, and a 900mm oven will make life easier, it will also give you an in line bench top height and expose some more backsplash, which is my next point of consideration. The brick here dominates your eyeliner, so using adhesive, apply fibre cement sheeting to the splash back and tile it in a light tile, if you use led lighting, under the top cupboards would be great as they would illuminate the bench top and splash back instantly making your kitchen feel brighter and ambient.
Secondly, this new brightness your kitchen will have will contrast with the darker adjoining room, which will only make the dark seem darker, so you need to gradually address the adjoining room with something from the kitchen, and horizontal surfaces are a great place to start as the cover the entire area like a blanket, so the floor is tile, and difficult to change without major time or money, so on the ceiling, your beams are a beautiful feature and every room has a part of the architecture that will work to your advantage, here are yours, although th ceiling in between agreed is not great. You can buy timber battens from hardware stores very cheaply per mtr, the pine 45mm x 18mm will do, fix them to the inside of the beams along the longest sides, and then either nail to those lining boards, which I would paint white or the same as the kitchen cabinets. Or you can buy lining board sheets, it may be the single biggest cost, but will be the single biggest improvement thT you Nd future buyers will appreciate. Leave the beams timber to work with what you have.
Lastly, the brick wall that comes from th kitchen onto the lounge area, I would paint them also, not in a white again the contrast will be too strong, perhaps in a warmer shade, like a coffee tone.
This cladding I mention would also look great along the back of the kitchen breakfast bar, and you will double the size with these improvements.
I know it involves cost, but with structural elements and big spaces, it always will cost you, just choose where improving will have the biggest impact and go for it.
These are things you can do yourself, or use a handy person, so no real trades are needed to complete- save that for later!
Good luck. ML Design

If you are interested in some bolder looks you could check our websites for some different ideas. We are an Italian company and we have kitchen designs there were painted in the Ferrari factory, with the Ferrari red. Here are some pictures that may give you some new ideas. Hope it helps you!