Samantha B I just completed my kitchen Reno in Perth. My pantry was also bricked up like yours. Literally doubled the space by getting rid of it but we found out after that the pantry was structural & we had to put an extra support beam in the roof instead ($800) so be careful of that! We completely moved the plumbing, gas & electrics & it only cost a few hundred! So don't be afraid to do that as long as u know decent priced tradies! We ended up doing nearly everything ourselves & went with a masters flat packed kitchen & sourced our own stone benchtops dirt cheap ($2500 installed for a 2m bench & a 1.5m island each with one waterfall edge.). Heres before & after pics.

Fantastic makeover that proves you don't need to spend a fortune to achieve something fabulous! I admire the fact that you have done it yourself(ves) as I can imagine how busy you must be with little kids.

I like your kitchen:) If it were mine I would change the countertop to light colored quartz with farmhouse sink - just me - I like light countertops and farmhouse sinks. There is nothing wrong with the dark counters. The microwave is too high for short me so I would put it on the counter below and turn microwave shelf into plate rail shelf - did that to my own microwave shelf. If the wood is in need of refinishing you may do so - hard work but worth it. However, the "orange" wood thing is really over done by people - wood is various shades of brown and has different undertones in different light. I never heard about the "orange" wood concern except on HGTV - where the intention is to get you to buy new products - and here. Try changing light bulbs to different kind or understand that the whole "orange" wood thing is a mare's nest and probably part marketing tool to get people to change out their cabinets. I would paint the walls. I would not paint the cabinets. You have a pretty and unique kitchen. I would hate to see it look like everyone else's. (Grey and white - see it over and over.) I like the cabinets, but if your are open to the dusting, a small area of open shelving would make a nice area to display items - give it your personality. You can also do that with the glass. Neither wood or granite is dated in my area of the country - see many new houses with both. Wood is probably also popular in Oregon. Also I was surfing Carmel Ca. on Zillow and most of the kitchens were wood - some Spanish or French country - very pretty and million plus dollar homes. I like the brushed bronze hardware like in this picture: Carmel kitchen:

We installed a Zip system during our kitchen renovation- the filtered boiling, chilled and soda. We LOVE it! Having the hot water at a moments notice is amazing. Not only do we find we're drinking more tea (great thing for health), but we use it to soak things, heat up cooking quicker, etc. I probably use it 10x a day! We start our day off with hot lemon water w/ apple cider vinegar- it's so nice to have it at our fingertips! I saw the comment about being too hot... the beauty is that you have the chilled water with the push of a button. So I know that I fill my Yeti just under 2/3 with the boiling water and then flip the function and top it off with chilled water. I can drink it instantly. The chilled filtered water is a bit noisy, but in a house with kids, dog, lots of activity... it doesn't bother us. I also saw the comment about filling Britas... with kids that play sports, filling up water bottles constantly is so much easier right from the tap. And they want cold water. They did need to reorganize the plans for the cabinet to make room for it under the sink, but it really wasn't a big deal. I also had to adjust the bubbles to get a higher volume b/c we like our soda water fizzy- it was not difficult. We were avid Soda Stream users... this is SO much easier. We used to plow through Co2 cartridges so fast with the Soda Stream. And then you have to send them back to recycle them. The tech for Zip said we'll probably have to change out the Co2 on this unit once a year. I would say that if you're going to use it- it's definitely worth the money, space and noise.