My Boring Kitchen

My kitchen is very boring. The home we live in is, in part, nearly 100 years old but not in a cool architecturally designed 100 years old. It's more of a small square built to function 100 years old. However, there are small bits of charm. We have new wood floors and an arch that leads into the small dining space. I'd really like to play up the small bits of charm to detract from the basic builder grade cabinets and plain laminate counter tops.

I've been looking for a black? chandelier to hang above my table. This is proving to be a somewhat hard task since I need one that has a plug and can swag versus a hardwired one. An alternative would be a decorative piece that looks like a chandelier but is not electrical; some hold candles.

One of the biggest problem spots, in my opinion, is the space above the stove/range. We don't have a hood or a mounted microwave so it's just a big empty space. Lately I've been thinking that some decorative shelves that can also be used as storage would be a good thing. Maybe something like this:

I do have the fabric for the curtains, yay! It's a black and white damask pattern and I lurve it! The only thing that I can't decide on is the accent color. The kitchen in my mind is mostly black and white - a sort of baroque style - with accents of.... DEEP LUSCIOUS RED? RICH VELVETY PURPLE? Can't decide.

Leave me a comment and let me know what you think: Red or purple?