what's cookin' in the kitchen?

Let's turn this frown of a room upside down!

It's very common in Germany to move into a rental that has a room for a kitchen, but no cabinets, sink, etc. So even though it's a rental, we're spending several thousand Euro just to have a kitchen ready by move in date. The plumbing and electrical hookups are already here (see the wires on the walls and ceiling?), we just have to supply all the rest. The current floor looks like the janitorial closet from a school in the 1950's, complete with random stains, so that's the first to go. The new floor will be laid in 3 days - hooray! I can't wait to post pictures. Until then, it's not looking too pretty:

Since we don't own this place, and since we hope to one day sell the kitchen to the next renter, (and b/c we don't own a money tree) we're trying to go as cheap as possible. In comes our 'buddy' Ikea. We're getting white cabinets with some kind of sleek handles. The countertop has yet to be determined. The current backsplash, the row of tiles in the picture above, will have to stay. Here's what we hope to order tomorrow:

So currently we're looking at white walls, a white-ish tiled backsplash, white cabinets, and ?? countertops. The floor will look similar to a medium dark hardwood. I've decided that I cannot cope with three different shades of white, oh - and a white fridge too! so I need to incorporate some color here. Some options are:

• Paint the walls
• Rig some kind of colored/patterned backsplash cover
• Slipcover the 4 chairs at the table

I'm feeling kind of iffy about saying a backsplash cover will happen soon. I know slipcovering the chairs will take time because I don't even currently own a sewing machine (but I'm on the lookout for a used one!) and am not what you'd call a sewer, although I'm a determined learner! I'm actually really determined to get a sewing machine soon because I feel the need to bring in some pattern all over our house. The kitchen has one skylight, so slipcovering chairs seems to be the best way to bring in some pattern and softness.

Any ideas?