Changes that can be made for free: remove curtains from window, take down jars from top of cabinets, get rid of clutter on counters, remove pot rack, and take items off front of refrigerator.

Take out the wallpaper at any cost. And hurry!

Don't worry about messing up the cabinets, paint them. My first thought was white but then I realized the counter is whit-ish....so paint them grey. Leave the cabinet in the foreground white for now. Paint is cheap, select carefully and if it doesn't work, try again in a month or two. ALWAYS use two coats, and in the kitchen use high-gloss for durability and easy cleaning.

I really like the butcher block on the island. Islands are often painted a different color to complement the surround cabinets, but in this case I suggest matching the surround since the existing white cabinet already complements and you don't want too many cabinet colors in the space.

Black appliances is a good start. Now you need to complete the set by replacing pulls along with the hinges. Pulls are surprisingly expensive just because you always need so many of them - five bucks a pop adds up quick. So keep that in mind, it may take time to gather them all.

Kitchen can be done on a budget, just not in a weekend. Rather than thinking about a fixed budget, think about time - you will have more money to spend a few paychecks down the road. Prepare yourself to live with a partially-complete kitchen, and make sure you have somewhere to plug in your coffeemaker at the end of each day. Doing that, along with careful planning, allows you to work marvels on a tight budget.

Very important final point: get excited! Your updated kitchen is going to be awesome :) Eventually....

Hi Sue. I see you made changes from picture 1 to picture 2 on top of the cabinets and got a new fridge and stove hood. Additionally you altered the cabinet above the fridge. You are lucky, you have good wood cabinets even though they are dated and a wonderful sized kitchen.

I'm confused as it looks like you have 2 islands. Can you take a better image of that area?

I would not touch the cabinets as far as staining or painting them unless there are issues...then spot attend to the issues.

There are some very inexpensive things you can do.

1. Add trim and crown molding also molding to the bottom of the top cabinets..It's inexpensive and will make the cabinets look taller.
2. See if you can reverse the cabinet doors. If they are solid wood they will look like shaker panels if you reverse them.
3. Add wainscoting to the island and treat the other cabinet/island the same way.
4. Removing wallpaper is pretty easy. Score the paper with a tool that you can find in the home improvement stores. Then fill a spray bottle with 1/8 fabric softener and HOT water. work in 3 x 3 foot sections. Wait a few minutes and then scrape. If the water gets cool unscrew the bottle and toss in the microwave for 30 seconds. You should be able to get all the wallpaper off in about 2 or 3 hours without hurting the wall.
5. Check IKEA for wood countertops they run about $ 120.00per 8 feet and you would need 2 lengths.
6. Pick a color out of your dishware and run with it in the room.
7. A backsplash should be neutral so you can alter the color of the kitchen at whim.
8. Consider a faux granite finish on your existing counter tops...Giani https://gianigranite.com/

Check this link http://garagesalesrus.blogspot.ca/2012/06/kitchen-cabinets-and-chandelier.html

Do the easy changes first, as posted above. Paint will not do anything for these cabinets. Clean them really well. Orange Glo is a good product and the effects will last for 6-8 months. Eventually, the repairs you've had to make re water heater etc... will be in the past. Start planning a kitchen reno now.

The first picture is before we moved in. The pot rack is staying, because we don't have enough space for our pots and pans. The cabinets are very shallow.

The new hinges arrived yesterday; they're black. My husband doesn't want black pulls, though.

As for the wallpaper, I've got 3/4 of one tiny wall done so far... I'm using my garment steamer and there's SO MUCH GLUE! If I don't go very slowly, it messes up the drywall underneath. I only have a couple hours a week to work on it for now, though.

I HAVE to have curtains, though, because I have neighbors that sit on their back porch and smoke at all hours, staring right into my kitchen. It's freaking creepy. They need a TV or something.

Don't we have to strip and sand the cabinets first? That's where I'm intimidated.

The second area isn't an island; it's a bar area that we use for my daughter's computer and homework station. The finish on that counter is sticky, though. I'd like to redo that, too.

We got orders to move to this state while we were renovating our last kitchen in our last house; we can't afford another $30-60k anytime soon. This is just getting done one little bit at a time, without hiring anybody.

We don't have an IKEA within 4 hours of us; their shipping is INSANE. I paid $20 to get one little shelf here. Not doing that again.

I started with a scoring tool on the wallpaper and it put dents in the wall behind it. So now I just steam it for a few minutes until it gets hot and scrape it away with a putty knife. Takes forever, though.

We did have to hire someone to move the island out a little bit and move the cabinet above the fridge, because there was a tiny little fridge in here when we bought the place, original to the house (built in the mid-80s) and it didn't keep things cold enough. That set us back about $1200.

My new dishware is just white.

I never thought of reversing the panels. Interesting. I'm not in love with the color at all, but I mostly just need to get this kitchen out of 1985 because it's making me crazy. My grandma's kitchen is more contemporary than this.

I have one cabinet door off (a hinge broke, which is what spurred me to get going on this project), and the shaker look is interesting, but the fronts are beveled. I'm not sure they'll be flush if I reverse them.

Thought Lucida gave you a comprehensive plan that is economical and creative...love the idea of bead board on base of islands..and the wood countertops sound like a bargain worth driving for..IKEA has so many affordable and stylish options for cabinet pulls,towel bars and additional storage options..it is definitely worth the trip.

#Lucidos

Hi, great ideas above, for some inspirational ideas for your backsplash, feel free to read my blog : http://bitly.com/1reZQPD

Looks like future storage potential under the counter where place settings are...check out the area for salvage dealers...these places can be an amazing resource for new things not used on construction projects...I once got eight cabinet doors for 3 dollars each and in the process met a man shopping there who worked for a cabinet business who did my job as side work for $125...my cabinet maker quoted $850 for the job

Get rid of the wall paper fast.
Paint the walls in a neutral color
Home dept and lowes have a boxed paint cabinet kit that you should look at and change pulls
Get rid of curtains and shutters

I feel badly for you in a been there done that kinda way.

The wallpaper kind of has the satisfaction when you are peeling sunburn and get a good sized piece. Do try the fabric softener and hot water if anything it will make the kitchen smell great!

Until you are ready to plunge into new cabinets that kitchen will be 1985. You can bring it up to 2000 with the trim. The trim will run you about $ 100.00 and make a huge difference.

Because the cabinets are cathedral style painting them will not yield a newer look - just painted cathedral style cabinets - You can however stain them darker. To turn the doors you would need to reroute the edges then use a wood filler. I would ask a local carpenter what he would charge for that. My guess is you would be looking at around $300.00

New Formica counters would run you about $ 500.00 for the counters and islands that I am seeing. The new style Formica is awesome. They even have all the new edgings. Putting in a new countertop allows you to make the island tops overhang. Nothing works better then a larger counter area. This also would allow you to add legs to the island for a finished more contemporary look.

I personally do not have an issue with stuff on the top of the cabinets, window treatments or hanging pots. I love the french country kitchen look you are emerging into. I would suggest a more tailored valance over the window though.

As far as color. I would go with a country palette. Then get a few large ceramic items to display that correspond.

When I compare the two photos, I notice how the black appliances and white counter top break up the space -- I think a dark counter top on the perimeter would unify things a bit. I would replace the light above the window with something decorative - possibly a pendant that could partially obscure the top of the window. Or a surface-mount light with a colorful patterned roman shade at the window would add interest. I also like the idea of a butcher block island top - especially if it could be double depth and overhang the cabinet more.

I'm confused about your 'shallow cabinets'. They look to be the usual 24-in. deep base cabinet and 12-in. deep upper cabinet. I would think that the pots and pans would fit. The new pot rack, while useful, I don't think adds to the aesthetics.

The bottom cabinets vary in depth; the deepest has some built-in lazy susans that currently hold canned goods. The island has a weird shelving thing going on inside that I hope to redo eventually, but the bottom is the only place I can fit pots and pans. It currently houses the crock pot, roasting pans, food processor, blender, etc. The upper shelves in there hold Tupperware for lunchboxes and other small things, as the shelves are only about 11.5 inches wide.

The only other cabinet that can fit pots and pans is under the oven, which has some more baking stuff and all the cast iron cookware.

The window valance is definitely on its way out as soon as I find something that works there.

I see some very promising colors on that palette. One of them even has the name of my housing area. Very amusing!

I'm wondering if I should paint the walls only one color, or do different colors for the dinette and computer area, or one colorful accent wall and the rest neutral?

We can definitely manage the trim, but the cabinet color possibilities are a point of contention here, still. Ideally, I'd turn the stain into more of a red oak finish, to warm it up in there, but my husband likes it where it's at because he likes the darker color.

I will see if I can find a carpenter that would reshape the doors. The last one who was here to make room from the fridge was absolutely scandalized that I wanted to change the cabinets at all.

One way to get a scooch more room in the kitchen...When you have the counters redone is to add more storage space to the island. Even something as simple as a small bookcase at the end of the island now would give you some additional storage.

Some more food for thought would be to join both the eating area and the island.

Sue this is an easy fix. I would not hesitate in painting the cabinets. First sand them. Then get a good primer and paint in one. I would paint the cabinets a light taupe or white. The island I would paint black or red. Both colors will look good with the butcher block. It will look so fabulous. It will change the look of the kitchen completely. I would de cluttered. You will not believe how much impact that will have. Also look for pulls on eBay.
Don't be afraid. It just take your time. You will love the results.

We kept our 1980s cabinets but took the dated trim off top and off the panels. We updated our cabinet trim to a contemporary style and painted a nice gray (we paid for a carpenter but could have done it ourselves after seeing how easy it was). We had the old pulls already removed before painting. Put putty in their spots so the paint would be seamless. Our cabinets look great! We got a few sections of small backsplash tiles and trim-tiles. We tiled 4 inches up from counters and then put on the trim. It looks good for the 60-70 bucks spent on tile supplies. Our kitchen before was hideous. I'd like to post a before/after pic of our 80s kitchen on the discussions today.

Oh and we had the same drawer and pots and pan space issue. I'm going to buy and install drawers from a big box store in a couple of months! I cannot wait!