Are you wanting to work on the interior first or the exterior - since these are all exterior shots? Do you like a particular style? I like country/ cottage / vintage and find it to be a less expensive style, but if it is not what you like then we need to move on to what you do like:)

With your burnout and budget, it might be helpful for you to hire a local design professional to assist you, or at least, get you feeling more excited/creative about the home.

What a lovely property with great potential. I love the style of the house. I agree with fiddleandco - the Houzz community is a great source of ideas, but it doesn't replace a local designer who can come and see it in person and give you professional advice. But in the meantime, if you posted some photos of the interior I'm sure you would get a ton of feedback!

You could just do the flooring for now. Paint the walls if needed. You can live with the old kitchen while you think about what you want. Marriage is a chore on it's own. I think you need a little rest.

I am going to post pics of interior. We are both older and this is not our first marriage.. we have a waited a year to start this project so I knew it was coming, I just want to make the best use of space

Believe it or not I have done a temp fix on this room, it was like the room above dark paneling etc.. painted the p[paneling white and the fireplace gray.. etc..put new neutral carpet down

Kitchen all very dated I will also submit layout "as is" and how we "See It"

dark hallway

dark master bedroom

bed off mater in the room very small and dark I did redo the hall bath that I use to al least brighten up a bit all this work was done knowing a year later we would rip out so not a lot of money put int
current layout of house

my vision????? extend front bedroom out to make a new master bath... that will also put a second gable out front to balance it out, on the exterior , put a porch off the den to enjoy the beautiful views.. also blow out walls in kitchen to open up kitchen to den area one big room>?>:? turn small bath into Washer Dryer area in the master and then kind of make a master suite area in the back of house etc.. my biggest problem in the narrow hallway..the ceiling can't be raise without taking off the entire roof which would kill my budget. it is just the two of us so we don't need anymore space... just a reconfiguring of what we got,...new windows that open the house up more ..landscaping

My first thought was I think it may be time to hire a designer. I hear a lot of compelling reasons to do so. You seem to have a reasonable budget. Wouldn't it be wise to have a plan and know you are spending $$$$ wisely?

I would take out the walls in the small living room, using columns to support the ceiling, and make that the dining room. Expand the present kitchen into to the dining nook and have an eat-at bar on the island. Then you could open up the wall between the family room and the kitchen. Since you have such a large budget, you should be able to handle structual problems with ease (finding you need to add a lam beam to replace a wall, for instance.) Since you are an older couple, do you really NEED three bedrooms? Or could you expand the master bath into the existing hall bath, and use part of the smaller bedroom for the guest bath and a bigger closet for the other bedroom?

My first thought is to tackle an easier project first, so you will both see that change is good. Choose your color schemes, and try to finish one section or room that you can relax and be comfortable in when the stress of major renovation makes you question what you got yourself into.
Be honest with yourselves about what you can do yourself and what is more time and cost effective to hire others to do.

Would you post daytime photos with all the lights on and the curtains wide open? Have you considered adding more lighting to each room as a temporary expedient?

Your ideabooks show that you were able to achieve quite a change in the rental apartment by adding lighting.

In looking at your plan I see you are considering an addition for the MBR ensuite. Alternatively you could reorder the plan in this fashion. The grey area would be the MBR. The small BR could double as a den.

This would create a kitchen somewhat like this.

Thank you all for responding

Your doctored room looks fabulous!

I think for now you should remove the family room/ kitchen wall, the kitchen /dining room wall and the hall/kitchen/dining room wall. Fix this area into one modern big beautiful area, now. This is the space where you will live and renew your batteries and in a new marriage you need a project that will make your life easier now.

This is pretty and fresh and a contractor can take our the walls and you can do the rest thru Lowe's and Home Depot and guard your budget. Open concept is the way to go these days to give your home a wonderful new vision. Best of luck.

If you need inspiration check out some model homes in your area to get ideas, find contractors and interior designers that might be of assistance? It isn't a difficult project but it will take time.