Cute house! Cute kitchen! Personally, I'd keep the cabinet doors and give everything a good coat of paint. And I'd try cleaning the brick and see how it looks before painting it. Once done, it's tough to undo.

Since you're on a budget I'd focus on a beautiful mantle and a good stove. Maybe some light fixtures. Once everything is cleaned and painted, you can add color and personality with rugs, curtains and decorative pottery. It's going to be great.

P.S. Can you lose or replace the louvre door?

Thank you, and thanks for your feedback. We have a new SS appliances that are now in place, unfortunately I don't have pictures. The louver door is open in this photo, it is flush with the wall to the right when closed, it's the opening to the laundry room it will be painted, I'm not sure about replacing it at this time. I'm not fond of it myself, but I can live with it.

I want to get a small wood burning stove to put in the kitchen where the original one was removed. I like the brick just as it is in the kitchen with the exception of a good cleaning.

I have two large oriental rugs and a long oriental runner for the main room and dining area. I collect pottery and I was thinking if I remove the upper doors then paint an accent color inside the cabinets for pop I could display my pottery...what do you think?

Any suggestions on lighting, the house was stripped down by thieves and the lights were taken. Would you go with an old beam for the mantel?

If you are brave enough I would paint them out black...remove upper cabinet doors and paint out too! Add some rustic dark stained baskets to add to the more rustic cabin feeling...by painting them black you can use existing hardware. Replace faucets chrome or brushed nickel...they have some very inexpensive faucets at lowes or home depot. You can do an expensive vinyl flooring in a light colored tile design...some can look very real.

You can paint out all doors in black and continue with white trim throughout..it is a really stunning look. Pick out your favorite color and choose it in a very light level and paint all walls. Have Fun you have such a wonderful space!

It's seems dark in there now, I love the idea and the pictures I'm just not sure if it would work in my space.

You have high ceilings so keep all the walls very light and your lighting is very important in this space. If you stain the concrete floors do it in a very light whitewashed effect..stunning contrast against the black cabinets. Also nothing more beautiful than white walls in contrast to the black. you have the perfect space for it!

Thank you zz, any suggestions on the lighting?

With a very limited budget...IKEA if you have one in your area has some amazing lighting.

Will you be able to add more electrical boxes above island?

I would remove the soffits above the cabinets. We did that without removing the cabinets. You can then use it for storage. Even if you don't use it for storage, it makes the kitchen feel more spacious. You can also put lighting up there too. You will probably have to do drywall and electrical work to remove the soffits

Also, grab this book for kitchen cabinet painting ideas. I think I got it use on half.com for under $10. There are also many other books on painting and stencils get surfaces

In this case I really like the soffits....if you remove them it will make the upper cabinets look smaller..I think the soffits give the illusion of large upper cabinets...?

The cabinets might look smaller, but the room might feel larger. In our case, we our ceilings also went from 7ft to 8 ft so it was more than just the soffits. I have since replaced the original kitchen since my cabinets with the ones shown in the pictures... But we decided to use a mix of talk and low. Cabinets so that we could store items on top (since we loved that about our previous kitchen. The uppers and soffits could also be removed and replaced with shelves.

Super cute! I like the kitchen! Keep it! Think about a simple colour for the walls instead. I would paint the bricks by the fireplace too. Either white or something dark like eggplant that you can incorporate in depending on your tastes

Your cabin has a lot of charm. I would give the cabinets a fresh coat of paint. I think the lower half of the wall leading to the dining room will look best if painted white. I would leave that brick as is. It has a lot of warmth and adds charm.

I like your kitchen and your plans for it, but I am not crazy about the hardware. It is so black against the white paint. Can you replace it when you paint the cupboards? Or could you spray paint them in something like a brushed nickel?

And I like the idea of polished concrete floors.

Oh, and maybe a slab of red oak for the mantle, and just clean the brick.

You asked about lighting and open cabinets. For tight budgets, I suggest choosing unobtrusive lighting from a big box store- there are some good options in the multi-fixture builder packs. Spend a bit more on a fixture over the dining table after you move in full time. For showing pottery, I suggest a glass front china, hutch or bookcase. If the pottery is displayed in open cabinets the kitchen without a good exhaust vent over the stove, it will collect a greasy film.

Please post again as you go along.

Cyn Hudson.....how high are your ceilings? From your images it looks very high..I'm Iooking at it correctly?

The only thing I would add is a question...why are there electrical outlets on the brick chimney and can they be moved?

zz...Ceilings are 10" possibly 11'.

mramsey...The brick in the kitchen houses a flue for a wood burning stove, it's not a fireplace. The fire place is in the great room. Yes, we can move the electrical if we want to spend a bunch of money. The house is over 30 yrs old and the electrical switches have never been an issue as far as I know.

Wow that is wonderful! More reason not to touch the soffits you need them to keep the upper cabinets from looking like they are hanging in mid air. I wouldn't paint your brick..it really adds to the cabin feeling. If electric boxes Can be installed on the pillar running into your island...it would be a wonderful place to add more lighting (sconces). Lighting is where you need to use your budget in the space.