Such great ideas. Heading to Home Depot to look at Silverstein (sp) quartz countertops. I want a nice size island in the kitchen. The DEN needs painting, and wood flooring.

September. Might be too late for my 2 cents. The wood scrolling is very unique. Never saw it around where I live. I like it. I also recently moved into a 1940's house and my kitchen came with heavy, chunky wood cabinets that go all the way up to the ceiling. I love them as they are. At some point in time the cabinet doors were replaced by cheap painted over stock doors and those I hate.The old doors and gum wood trim through out the house were painted over white. I bought the house I could afford. Same sized houses in my area with fewer bathrooms and smaller yards but original wood work left alone went for about 25% more than what I paid. Please think twice about painting the cabinets or any of the original wood in your house if in good shape. I'd spend the money on replacing the floors first. See what's under it and go from there. Window toppers, light fixtures and throw rugs are fast and easy updates too, and you can change them later guilt free. Undoing some fashion trends can be difficult if not impossible.

Sonya, a decent inexpensive flooring material would be LVT, luxury vinyl, commercial grade. Some of the better brands such as Karndean or DuChateau can be had for $3.25 a square foot to $5 a square foot. They are easy to install if the floor is level and reasonably smooth and are very durable.durable The available patterns and the look is incredible. These are not your mothers vinyls.

Very intrinsic of the period, those cabinets and the paneling are fantastic, please please please don't paint or replace them. If you want to update I'd go with newer hardware on the cabinets, the black is not a bad color but maybe something less ornate and more streamlined. Counter tops and flooring, get some contrast in there. I think a dark stone or ceramic tile would look great with the wood.

a great way to preserve the retro style while adding color would be to paint the cabinet frames and the doors different colors. I would recommend white for the frame and a creamy yellow or pastel green for the doors, as these colors were popular at the time.

Try Some Original Color... Maple has become well-loved for the little to no grain facade that it has. This fine texture makes up for versatility that complements well with a good variety of kitchen designs from traditional, to country. Spice Maple cabinetry keeps the heart of your home aglow with a distinctly welcoming look and feel.

Yes that does have a very warm look and feel to it. Thanks for sharing ..such great ideas.

add colorful window treatments and maybe an area rug, resurface the countertops, should do nicely and not to pricey

I would not paint the cabinets white if u have three kids go with a bolder color or even stain them

a new stain and wax sealer on every single wood surface, sand and polish all hardware, sand and refinish floor.... so far only paying for stain, sealer, metal polish, and sandpaper.... plus you get to bring all that beautiful
wood to life by making the light dance along the grains in the wood.... lucky....

Congratulations on your new-to-you home! I agree with above posters on live in it before you spend money renovating EXCEPT for urgent issues for health reasons. That being said, your flooring in the kitchen you want AC-4 wear rated or higher. This is actually a light commercial wear rating, which is great for kids and dogs. Many places (Home Depot, Lowe's and flooring stores) have samples. Take your keys and run them across the sample and see how it survives (think dog nails, kid skates or toy trucks and doll carraiges rolling across them). Before you change any flooring though, think it through because you'll want the kitchen floor that meets up with other rooms to go well and those rooms have to go well with whatever they meet up with. Too many different types of flooring that connect will end up looking hodge podge.

As to your cabinets -- clean them good with some Murphy's Orange Oil Wood Soap (exact name I can't think of and mine is packed at the moment for moving). Then see how you like them. If the place hasn't been cleaned for awhile, the cabinets are probably dry and will look different after moisture is put back in them. You can always use a MinWax stain to refinish and I think that is much easier and less expensive than paint (my own personal opinion). You appear to want an island, so check out KitchenResourcesDirect.com. I custom built a home using these and they are very reasonably priced, solid wood, Blum hardware, etc. They offer maple or cherry, but in so many styles and colors it is amazing. You might build your own island with colored cabinets and put it on wheels even to make it moveable!

IKEA is a great resource if there is one in your state because they don't ship out-of-state (could always rent a truck once you look online). There's a company called Granite Transformations that puts a granite countertop right over the existing counters. I, personally, prefer my laminate counters. There are some gorgeous ones now.

I had a ceiling fan in my last kitchen and never liked having it on, but I loved the fan. It has moved into my new home into my bedroom. The exact same fan in the great room of the old house moved into my new living room. So move your fan!

The HardwareHut.com has more stuff than you can imagine at different price ranges for your home . . . towel bars to light fixtures!

I don't know what was done to that brick in your den, but it would be one of the first items I would "fix". It looks almost pinky red in the picture. I would be seriously tempted to paint it or reface it somehow.

I would seriously spend some time looking at various HOUZZ articles and create idea books of the things you like. During your shopping trips, pick up samples that you like. After a few months of living there, go through your idea books and samples and see what the re-occuring themes are. Cull the ones that no longer excite you. Doing this will point you in a direction and save you money and labor and aggravation from having rushed into doing things you later regret.

By the way, subway tiles are elongated rectangular tiles. You'll find many examples of them on HOUZZ (they aren't my cup of tea). Make the house to your wants, likes, and desires and don't worry about resale value because if you ever sell, the new buyer will do the same! There's always a buyer for every house (you were the buyer for yours)!

Again, congratulations! Start by adding Holiday Decorations for now!

Thank you. I got 30 years to get it right.

Also I would recommend you buy a nice slim long table to create an island effect to really bring your kitchen together so you don't have so much space to optimize.

Get rid of the curleycue trim between cabinets, get new hinges and pulls, new countertp, new floor and paint it white

@rk2this - I don't know how you were able to do that photo (identical look), but that was awesome. I may need for you to do this for me for my tiny master bathroom. LOL

Eco relics in downtown Jacksonville is a great resource for used or surplus building material. They had some kitchen door fronts the last time I was there for like 10 15 dollars each

Awesome! Going right now to find it. Anyone know how to save these pictures to my tablet? No option comes up.

Darn I'm in Jacksonville North Carolina

Dang sorry wrong Jacksonville

I disagree about not using laminate flooring in a kitchen. I had Pergo in my last kitchen (20 years) and it held up beautifully. Besides being super easy to clean, it is much more comfortable than hard tile/stone and doesn't show the wear and traffic patterns of wood floors. Laminate flooring has come a long way and there are gorgeous wood and tile look options to choose from. No, I am not a Pergo sales person, lol, but believe in their product.

YIKES !!!!! 1948 is "antique"? Woe is me : > )

Judy G- I prefer to think of 1948 as "classic", not antique.

Sonya: First, I hope your closing went well. You have a great house -- and so much good advice here.
Having redone many kitchens and worked for the first refacing company decades ago, I agree you should live with your kitchen for a while, as suggested. Collect ideas on Houzz, as suggested. Then research, research and do more research. SOOOO many good things out there - from paint to new doors to staining to just cleaning the cabinets with Murphy oil. (Personally, I'd start with the cleaning idea since you want it clean for your family and also don't want to rush into the re-do.)
If you are considering painting the cabinets, think about a soft color that might be more consistent with keeping the "old feel" of the house but will make the room brighter. A soft creamy ivory (rather than white) or a pale green or super soft blue can seem more old fashioned. Houzz has tons of gorgeous ideas on painted cabinet colors. Consider white appliances (which are often cheaper) since stainless is so modern and may clash with your wish to keep the house "older" in feel.
For flooring, see if there is a Lumber Liquidators in your area. They have GREAT prices on wood floors. Do NOT buy engineered wood if you are worried about kids and dogs. The finish may not hold up well and can't be redone multiple times.
Laminate is another strong substance but can be slippery. If you ever have a flood, it'll be totally ruined.
To see if an island will work, build one out of cardboard boxes and tape to your floor. You may ultimately find it is more of a pain than a help. But doing the boxes will give you a better sense of "real space" and how it works for you.
Good luck. And yes, you have tons of time. As I was told by a wise friend "Do it once and do it right."

The closing went well. We closed on the 17th of November. And so far I love the knotty pine wood in the kitchen. But the old paneling in the den and stairwell will be painted. It's not like the wood in the kitchen. I brought some hardware from the other house that's brass, white with single rose in the center for the cabinets. The floor in the kitchen is some kind of poured flooring similar to cement. It's dead on solid. But still may add some kind of wood look flooring. Im even loving the old stove. Man it gets hot faster than my glasstop stove I had at the other house. So you're right about living with it a while. The entire house is 3620 sqft. So part need updating and others are fine. Ive been spending the last few days using a germicidal bleach to clean everything then come back with the Murphy's Oil soap. It does make a difference. Im looking for 2 dressers to make an island also. Thinking quartz countertop possibly with a taller faucett.

I would add dark hardwood floor. Don't repaint

I love lucidos' photo examples! I'd also recommend a large colorful rug.

Lucidos thanks for the suggestion. Makes a big difference!!!

Step by step ...and yes that is a big improvement. I suggest sanding very small bits of the surface with black emery in the areas that had the blacker brick to give the look more dimension and depth.

Hope you have a wonderful holiday in your beautiful new house. Every change you make small and large will make it feel more like home but in the end nothing beats the pleasure of enjoying the family.

Thank you. I was wondering about not making it look to plain, and giving more depth to it.

Someone mentioned a Chambers stove here. I have two from my mom in my barn. Are they valuable ? One is white, one yellow. Have built in griddles and deep wells for baking potatos which is pretty cool. Sadly, I have no use for either. Should I sell them?

Now starting on the paneling in the room..First we are caulking the seams for a more unified look

Sonya, congratulations. the knotty pine you want to keep is the wall paneling or the cabinets?

If it were my house I would leave the walls in the kitchen alone. then paint the cabinets white. add an island in burgundy. or buy unfinished and do it yourself. leave the flooring alone for now at least. schoolhouse lighting. have fun

If you need laminated panels check out http://www.web-don.com/our-products/laminated-panels/ Laminate combines a number of advantages - it is a multi-layer synthetic product that is manufactured primarily from melamine resin and fiber board material and are crafted to be strong and durable. It's cost effective and it cost far less to install.

Thank you. The knotty pine is only on the kitchen walls. Its a pretty redish-brown. We did run into a slight problem though. We were going to change the hardware out to a bronze and white door pulls that has a couple small roses on it. No problem. But the hinges on the doors dont match up to anything in Lowes Hardware. The doors are slightly thicker which makes the hinge wider.

So that means taking down the hinges and painting them. Hope they'll look alright.

Spray paint the hinges using several light coats and allowing ample drying time in between coats. Alternatively, check other resources for new hinges such as Lee Valley Hardware.

Do dining rooms have to flow off the kitchen?

I cant seem to find a metal paint that would match the bronze on this. The hingess are shaped differently so may have to caulk and add new hinges. Notice how the hinge wraps around the edge of the door.

Perhaps....tape off the porcelain and spray both the same color?

The new handles' finish may be closer to "antique brass" than "bronze". Try the Rustoleum line. Or maybe a black pull with a white porcelain center very similar to the flowered ones you picked out already: http://www.pullsdirect.com/laurey-15565-3-inch-center-to-center-handle-pull/p468598

You need to search 3/8-inch Offset H Hinges http://www.amazon.com/Liberty-H09060C-AB-C5-8-Inch-Offset-Hinge/dp/B0086DUO22/ref=pd_sxp_f_pt

Good idea about taping and painting both!

i think its ok if they are not the same color. especially with the feel of the house.

Be very mindful of asbestos during your remodeling. I wonder about the ceiling tiles and old linoleum flooring.

Thank you. I plan on covering the floor and ceilings most likely. Definitely cant dealmwith asbestos. Im 1 year stage 2 breast cancer free as of May. Dont want tontravel that road again.

Stage 3 breast cancer.

Saw these on Amazon. $85 for about 30 packs to do entire kitchen. Anyone know where these can be purchased at a bulk discount rate?

Congrats from Cape Cod, MA on your home! Its beautiful already and anything you do will be stunning. I have family that lives in Jacksonville! Prayers to you as you keep kicking the breast cancer battle!

You could update the countertops using VT Dimensions, its seamless laminate that gives the look of stone. Check out our webpage and play around with our kitchen simulator tool. You can try out different countertops with floor, cabinet and wall colors. Good luck! www.vtindustries.com

Thank you Imasson. Tell them to come visit anytime.