This most immediate change will come from paint in all the rooms, absolutely. I'd suggest Ben Moore's Simply White on the walls, and on the ceiling. You will probably need to hire a pro to do the ceiling, but it could look fantastic painted; it will open up immediately into a bright lighter space. I would keep the beautiful horizontal boards in the family room as they are. They will add interest and warm it up just a bit. In the Kitchen, you may want to consider having the cabinets painted as well, (maybe a soft warm grey) but that can be pricey. . . however you will see a difference in how you react to the existing cabinets just by lightening up the surrounding space with paint for the present time. At the least, think about changing out the cabinet hardware if you can for a newer feeling. Not sure what is going on with the flooring in the rooms pictured, but I can say that if there are hardwoods under the carpet and flooring, I'd strongly suggest removing them if you can. The result will be a much more open and lighter vibe. Hope this helps, and good luck. . . it's sometimes so hard to know where to begin, but you can do it! Baby steps.

Since the carpet is awful (I also hate carpet) I’ve been looking into flooring and I want a nice neutral floor. I love dark floors but I’m afraid with the dark wood everywhere it wouldn’t be bright enough for me. The cabinets are actually in beautiful shape so we would like to paint those as well. I have found this flooring and it’s within the budget for the living space. I’m trying to decide on kitchen tile.

If you leave the horizontal boards in the living area natural as I suggest, you might want to go with a wood floor that continues that same color on the flooring you choose. Then it will be cohesive. Dark floorboards are beautiful, but they should work with existing permanent elements. My above suggestions are based on painting ALL the walls however. It would brighten up the entire first floor living area. So I'd definitely PAINT walls first, and then take it from there. One thing at a time and you will get there!

So your house looks exactly like the house we just bought . We have the same wood paneling , we are going with Alabaster white, in the main area , and possibly do like a grey accident wall ..Our floors are hardwood but need some love , so we will try and bring them back to life . I’ll post some photos this week and keep in touch bc I would love to know what works for you , and what doesn’t .. I think with our kitchen we are going for painting the cabinets , new doors and hardware .My husband is a GC so another option is to just take down the wood paneling and dry wall . That’s a lot of work.