Actually, the cabinets look fine to me (other than the hardware, which you're fixing). Nothing offensive. Perhaps a little boring, but messing with them is a big job. The main thing wrong with the counters is that you hate them and want a different sink. And they're a sad color.

What's missing is color! It sounds like you'd like a solid surface like Corian, quartz (e.g., Ceasarstone), or slab rock (e.g., granite). All of these come in all kinds of exciting colors. You can go further afield with concrete (if it's made really well) though it's porous and can etch, recycled something, wood, or some other material. Add a backsplash with a lot of movement and life, and some paint color, and you have a whole new kitchen! If there's a little more in the budget, add more lighting, and some pretty light fixtures.

Re a secondary sink, where would you put it? From what I can tell your layout doesn't really call for it. So...what would you use your extra sink for? That's something that can sometimes be addressed by looking at work habits. For instance, if you're accustomed to putting dirty dishes in the sink and hate finding them there when you need to clean veg, you can get a deep dishpan that you can put in an unused counter location with a little soapy water in it, when you're getting ready to start cooking, and drop all your dirties in it, freeing the sink until you're ready for clean-up. If you want more two person access to water, you can do it the old fashioned way: Fill a mixing bowl 3/4 full with water, and put it next to a smaller dry mixing bowl on the counter or table, away from the sink. That becomes a prep station for someone preparing vegetables and fruit. Rinse in the water. Put peelings in the dry bowl.

As to the floor, it sounds functional for the moment. Add a couple of Gel Pro mats to cushion your steps and insulate you from the cold. Or a painted floor cloth (with a good rubber pad underneath to keep it from slipping). Or any other temporary and easy to mop covering. That way you can throw most of your budget into the things that bother you most.

Changing the countertop is a must, since you don't like it.

But the cabinets dominate the kitchen visually, and if you don't like light shiny oak (you didn't say that, but it was sort of implied) it would be important to change their look too.

Painting the cabinets, if DIY, will cost very little. And can look awesome. There was a thread here, a couple months ago, showing off a farmhouse kitchen where the GW'er had repainted her cabinets with skill and great taste, and her kitchen was beautiful. Maybe someone can find it.

If you did countertops and cabinets, you could completely transform the look.

Now, that leaves the appliances. They are black. Personally I would plan on replacing them over time, but it is what you like that matters. If you like them, maybe consider black counters?

Your island is big enough for a prep sink, if you want to go to that trouble.

Thanks for your ideas!

Re: the secondary sink - most of the time, the one sink is fine. The only real issue comes when I'm cooking dinner, and dh is doing dishes or preping something for one of the kids. It seems like it never fails that the very instant that I need to add a cup of water to something, etc., he's in front of the sink. It's not a huge deal, just a minor annoyance. I don't think I really can fit another sink in with this layout since I don't really intend to remove the flooring and the island isn't plumbed (is that a verb?). Your idea re: the bowl of water might really help to solve that problem.

If you're not on a slab, plumbing the island should not be a big problem. If you are, then need to wait for flooring to be redone.

Do you see yourself doing a major tear-out remodel within the next several years, because the layout is bad, the cabinet design is bad, or otherwise? Or does this kitchen just need some cosmetic updating, maybe some new appliances, maybe a second sink if you can find room?

Also, does your flooring run under the cabinets, or does it stop at the cabinets?

Having geled (surely that isn't a verb?) my cabinets, I can attest it is a lot of work. I was good with my layout over the long run, but you sound like you are looking for an interim fix. And your finish appears to be in good condition. Might be best to work with the cabinets as is and concentrate on the counters/sink and a color plan.

DH and I do the corner sink dance too, so I totally get that problem. Introducing a pleasant touch, a hug or squeeze or kiss on the neck as part of the ritual helps offset how annoying it can be. But not always. Grrrr.

Since you want to replace the sink anyway, would it help if the faucet were mounted to one side corner rather than centered on the sink? If you can figure out a pattern to the logjam, that might help: e.g. if he's at the sink and you are usually coming from the right, put the faucet on the right side corner. Might make the sharing/reaching easier. That would likely have helped here but I didn't think of it when I changed out the sink/faucet.

A color plan would change everything. I think the right counter and paint color would make a huge difference in the visuals of the room. I'm no designer (frankly some of my paint choices to 'fix' preoblems have been atrocious), but maybe others could help with ideas that would make the cabinets, flooring and black appliances really click.

Good luck!

I'm thinking that at some point, in the distant future, we may do a full scale remodel, including ripping out the wall between the kitchen and the dining room, enlarging the kitchen a little bit, replacing the flooring with hardwood, getting new cabinets with taller upper cabinets (I think our current "standard" height ones look silly with the super-high ceiling) and changing many of the base cabinets to drawers.

On face, I don't mind the light oak. I do think I'm a little overwhelmed with brown though, between the oak cabs, the oak trim (hate!) on the counters, and the light tan-ish tile floors. All the carpeting in my house is brown, all doors, trim, etc. is light oak...and brown is not my most favorite of colors.

As an aside, I browsed at a local granite place today and drooled over the Silver Pearl granite they had there. The Uba Tuba caught my eye too. I don't care for (in my kitchen anyway) granites with a lot of brown/cream/taupe in them (beautiful in others' kitchens though.)

I actually kind of like the black appliances, and in any event, they will be staying as they all are fairly new (5 year old fridge and DW, 2 year old range, brand new Advantium). Personally, I only like SS appliances when they really are high end, which I don't have room or budget for right now. The next appliance I get will likely be the DW, which is still working fine for now but I don't like it enough to sink a lot of $ into repairs for it should it break.

My goal is to make the kitchen more interesting, while still being "tasteful" (in case we sell instead of remodeling).

I've been kind of kicking around the idea of doing black gel staining on the island, putting in black/dark gray counters (silver pearl/uba tuba granite/soapstone?) on the perimeter, and putting light gray/white (marble?) or on the island. I'm not sure how that would look though - I'm having a hard time visualizing it. I would hate to have it look silly, like I'm trying too hard and wound up with some poser of a kitchen.

Thank you all for your ideas! I really appreciate them!

Paint!

Maybe restain the cabinets darker? You can go right over the top of the old stuff (no strip and sand) if you use an urethane-based gel stain.

New curtains?

Here is a link that might be useful: Gel Stain

I think the island would look great in a dark gel stain. Since your island is separate you could do two different tops, but it would also look good with the same on both. The thing I notice most is the heavy looking curtains with blinds on the sides. If you do all the windows in the same blinds, the windows would blend.

You have a couple of options here...to go ahead and do a facelift now or save the $$ you have now and put it toward a full remodel in a few years (you mention 5 or 6 years). If you can change it enough with some paint, new window treatments, maybe an inexpensive backsplash, and a few decorative touches, could you wait? That way you won't be tearing out in a few short years what you're spending $$ on today.

If not, then...

How expensive are granite & quartz in your area? I'm asking b/c replacing all your counters w/granite or quartz can be quite expensive...it depends on the "color", the amount you need, the number of "special" cuts (like rounded edges or diagonal on the island and at the corner sink), and the # of cutouts (which wouldn't be many b/c you have a range & only one sink...at least right now).

If you plan on replacing your cabinets in 5 or 6 years, do you want to spend several thousand dollars now on counters you will probably not be able re-use? Or if you re-use them, you'll be forcing yourself into the exact same kitchen setup you have now...and you sound like you plan to move things around. (Your plans sound pretty good, btw.)

Normally, I would suggest going with a mid-range laminate in your situation...to tide you over until you're ready for a full-blown remodel. However, you want an undermount sink and I seem to recall reading that undermounting a sink w/laminate counters is not cheap...correct me if I'm wrong someone!

Sink...I don't think the reason you're having a logjam at the sink is b/c of faucet location, it's b/c the sink is in the corner & it's tough (if not impossible) to have two people at a corner sink...especially if it's a 36" corner sink base instead of 42" or 48" (I can't tell from your pics b/c there's no clear pic of the sink cabinet front-on). I'm not even sure the basin idea will help...yes, it will give you a place for dirty dishes, but it won't help if two of you are trying to both use the sink for prepping/cleaning up/etc. at the same time.

It also looks like you have a 2-bowl sink, which normally should help the logjam situation in a single-sink kitchen (there is the single faucet issue, of course). Again, it's the sink's location and lack of frontage for standing that's the issue.

I can definitely see how a second sink would help you greatly. If there's any way you can do it, I would recommend trying to do it. However, keep in mind that it will require modifying an existing cabinet to not only accommodate a sink but to also be able to structurally support it + basin(s) full of water.

(Your situation is similar to what ours was in our old kitchen. The separation of the Prep & Cooking Zones from the Cleanup Zone and adding a prep sink in the Prep Zone in our new kitchen made a huge difference in our kitchen functionally.)

I would also try replacing some of the brown carpeting and painting the rooms around the kitchen...you might be surprised the difference it will make when you don't have so much brown around you!

Good luck!

If there is any chance you might sell in the next 5-6 years, then it would be unwise to put anything but a very modest amount of $$ into the kitchen during the interim. There is still a lot of 'shadow inventory' being held at banks (homes foreclosed but not on the market) and it's generally agreed that it will take years for RE prices to recover to any great extent. Therefore, anything you put into your home for your own pleasure - your kitchen is workable 'as is', just not your ideal - is basically a loss.

buehl raises some very good points in that replacing the countertops now means a double expenditure if in the future you replace the cabs and change the layout. Perhaps your money might best be spent 'getting the brown out' of the surrounding rooms and just using paint to liven things up.

BTW, you can in fact paint your tile backsplash. It takes a bit of prep - sanding, then priming, but the area in sum is so small, it's totally workable. You might be surprised at how big a change it might make.

Uba Tuba is a beautiful granite and would look very nice with your cabs, but because it is dark you might have to up your lighting wattage to compensate. Always keep that 'domino' effect in mind when making changes to a room!

If I were for sure going to rip the kitchen out in 5 years, I wouldn't spend very much money now. I would paint the cabinets celadon, white, grey, taupe, red, robins egg blue, black, something totally different. It is possible to paint laminate counters so depending on the cabinet color, I might paint the counters black or faux soapstone, or something else. It is also possible to paint tile. Paint is very inexpensive. If I wanted to spend some more money I might redo the counters in laminate without undermount and I might relocate the faucet to the side. I might also hire a mural painter to do a rooster or mural or some other focal point or buy a metal wall ornament focal point etc. I might buy some new hardware, and those can be colored, be in the shape of animals or twigs, be crystal or even colored crystal, there are so many different looks to choose from. Then I would save for a massive remodel.

Well, dh and I have talked some more and I think we've come to more of a consensus. He was (and maybe still is, a little) resistant to changing anything in the kitchen (or really anywhere else - he isn't big on change.) However, he understands that I'm getting unappy with it, and that when we agreed to buy this house, I wasn't agreeing that its current state of decor/color/etc. was something I was willing to live with forever.

I think that we decided that we'll do the mini-update now, and we won't even begin talking about the full-blown remodel for 10 years or more. That way, I can get what I would need to feel more content, and he can put off the disruption and choices, etc. that a full remodel will entail. Win/win, yes?

I am thinking now that I will leave the cabinets as is, get new countertops (maybe the silver pearl) and change the backsplash. Then I'll go after a new paint scheme - maybe blues and silvery grays instead of cubicle gray and tan. I was thinking about replacing the track lighting with a chandelier (just for fun!), and getting undercab lights too.

I have about 54 sq ft of counter, including the island. Granite around here starts at $30/sq ft (all in except cut outs and special edging) for the least expensive kinds and goes up from there. However, if I want the Silver Pearl, that's more like $48/ sq ft. I'm guessing that I would spend somewhere around $3500 for new counters, sink, faucet, and backsplash (assuming I DIY the tiling and demo).

I will investigate to find out how much the undermount laminate sink options are. I would be fine with laminate for now, but I really want the undermounted sink. I don't want to spend "granite" money on laminate though.

As far as selling, I mostly meant that I always consider "what if we sell" in my decisions. I don't have any firm plans to sell, and assuming that the school district doesn't take a massive dive or anything, I would be quite happy with raising both of my children in this house. I think there's some part of me that always expects to sell - I moved every 2 to 3 years as a child.

10 years is quite a long time.

If the choice is (a) mini cosmetic-only update now and nothing else for 10 years, versus (b) nothing now and full remodel in 5 years, that might be a tough choice. Personally, for me it would depend on whether the kitchen has any functionality issues that are more than minor.

Check out that black kitchen that was just posted. I think it was painted.

Undermount has issues. I was told mildew can collect in undermount sinks too, just in a different place that topmount. I also learned undermount sinks can give way.

Consider trying out a new faucet location for the next 10 yrs to see if it improve the function of the kitchen.