A long time ago (in my youth), a wise person told me to do the hardest task first as a way of re-motivating myself or picking up where I left off. I found it crazy at the time, but then started using this technique and it has done me well over the years. I've tried to teach it too my kids.

Should you wish to try it, pick the one task left you dread the most, and see if you can come up with a time frame and materials to get just it done. Maybe the floors; Marmoleum seems to be pretty durable and popular, and wood floors are hard to keep up. Perhaps it will be just enough to get you over the hump.

Alternatively, live in the moment and enjoy every bite. Your kitchen sounds wonderful, you have each other and your toddler, and life has a way of working itself out one way or the other.

A good refinish should last way more than 4 years. My brother has a rental that he refinished 12 years ago and it's still going strong, looking great. He said he had the refinishers do 3 coats of poly instead of the usual two, and he thinks that's why it's held up so well. I think if you get skilled refinishers (consider joining Angie's List to find them) and emphasize your interest in having this be a long-lasting job, they should be able to suggest doing it in the most durable way possible (for instance there may be types of poly that are more durable than others but take longer to dry or are more of a pain to apply, and thus are more expensive... but it's certainly worth it to avoid having to refinish frequently).

If you get Marmoleum, make sure your installers know what they are doing. Lots of good ones, just make sure they are versed in residential installs. Mine weren't. :(

My DH likes to say to me, "Endeavor to Persevere!" Not sure he likes it as much when I say it to him ;)

Pick something and go! You can do it!

Going to add some pics maybe bounce some ideas off you all???

Your kitchen looks beautiful. I mean, I totally get why you might have said "good enough for now, let's rest". Of course, I also totally get why those are dangerous words, in my house, anyway.

I do agree with you on the lighter hardware.

Nice job, though! It's great!

SparklingWater, that is excellent advice. I figured that out 20 years ago in my work. Do the worst parts early in the day when you are fresh and the rest of the day goes so much better. I'm approaching our multi-year whole-house remodel the same way and it's working. Every six-month phase is easier than the previous and more fun.

Your kitchen is very pretty! I like the choice of cabinets and your counter. I would do a creamy colored backsplash to go with the Colonial cream. Is there a slight bit of gray in the granite? Maybe you can do a very very light gray tile.

With regard to re-motivating, I agree with spaklingwater. Read this:
http://www.appleseeds.org/Big-Rocks_Covey.htm

Do your big rocks first!!!

Thank you all for the comments! I am thinking an ivory/cream/gray subway tile (there is a lot of gray/peach tones in the Colonial Cream granite). Maybe with a row of accent tiles the tiny glass ones of 4 tiles or so.

Do you think we should look at under cabinet lighting, I originally had stacked cabinets on top of the corner near dining room and the set between kitchen and family room, but I took them out because I needed the counterspace for drop space and daily use appliances.

Another problem is that the faucet handle for the larger sink hits the wall where the backsplash is supposed to me, the counter overlaps it a bit. When we put a backsplash it may not even turn the whole way to hot which would be unacceptable. Can it be adjusted so that the area to adjust the temperate is more pushed forward (i.e. do not have to push it back just up), should we consider another faucet style?

I got so much design layout advice from this group it was so helpful, I wanted to post some in process photos!

Thanks!
Roberta

I had that same problem with my Moen faucet handle hitting the backsplash. I just rotated mine 45 degrees. Some people put the handle straight front, which looks great. It might seem odd but believe me, after it's like that a while you don't even notice it. You probably need a basin wrench to loosen, then rotate, then retighten the faucet. Here's what mine looks like.