First impressions....not bad.

OF PRIMARY IMPORTANCE, and I cannot stress this enough. You need to rip up ALL the carpets. You don't want to know what is on them. Just get rid of them.

Question: When was the house built?

So, no chance of hardwoods under there...

Do you have a Floor and Decor near you? They have a great selection and I would look into laminate. It's come a long way the past few years. I would snag some clearance and diy. Probably cost around 600-700 or so for the livng/dining however that's a very loose guestimate.

Sink...start looking on Craigslist. On mine they're 30 dollars and up (just saw a new one for 50).

Appliances...I like AJ madison because there seach tool is great...plus I found the best buys there. Make sure you know what you want...in other words go visit the appliance at a local store first.

I also have Sears scratch and dent (they're online, too so you can sort out what you want and see pics of the actual "damage" before you go. Warning about Sears...don't look at anything that's been "reconditioned". 9 times out of 10 it's a return for some reason...and you don't want to find out the reason...stick with the appliances that have maybe a scratch that will be hidden by a wall, etc.

I wouldn't invest in a suite. You'll want the best fridge for your money, but maybe a different brand oven has better reviews than the one that matches the fridge...

Cabinets, get some Howards Restore a Finish. Words great. Don't get the lightest for the oak, go a shade darker. https://www.amazon.com/Howard-RF7016-Restor-Finish-16-Ounce/dp/B01EVX5DDK/ref=sr_1_2_sspa?crid=3U0RM58K8H2WH&keywords=howard+restore+a+finish&qid=1554836795&s=hi&sprefix=howard+rest%2Ctools%2C184&sr=1-2-spons&psc=1&smid=AYSI9CNL93O4X

I would get rid of the counter because I don't like tiles either...But you can paint them. Never done it so can't comment on it, but Google it and see if you want to do that temporarily.

Basically my priority would be the flooring for my diy project. Depending on your budget, I would look at counters next.

Why are you replacing the ceramic with vinyl? What's there is not offensive in any way...and it's more durable than anything else...

There is nothing wrong with the current ceramic tile, but there is carpet under the dining table area that has to go. It leads into the living/front room as well so I was thinking of continuing the floor from the kitchen into the dining area and using vinyl because it is cheaper and easier than tile. Should I get rid of the carpet in the front room as well and continue the new flooring into the living area? I was thinking about leaving carpet in the living area for a place for my baby to play and roll around?

And why would someone chose laminate over vinyl or vise versa?

Carpet in the living room would be nice with a child in the house. You keep saying "leaving" the carpet, but I hope you mean replacing the carpet in the living room :-)

Hopefully you're taking out all the current carpet as I said in my first post...

Laminate now is a pretty decent alternative to hardwood. Vinyl will always look like vinyl to me. Obviously it's a personal preference. And I can't lay vinyl...but I can lay laminate. I guess I'm speaking from personal experience, is all. And you can always put down a rug in the living area..and change it easily when it gets...old.

When you take up that carpet and see what's under there (YUCK) you'll understand why the above posts recommend to remove not replacing the carpet. I prefer engineered wood flooring to laminate if you can't afford real hardwoods.

Andi I laughed out loud at the house pics wondering how on earth you went back in time to my son's college rental to take them! Some things never change....

Start watching local flooring retailer's ads for clearance and "warehouse" sales. That is a good way to snag good quality flooring at discounted prices -- the catch is they might not have as much as you need in exactly the pattern/style you hoped for since it is typically discontinued or odd leftover lots or carpet end of rolls of material. Room sized remnants are common.

I like some of the very thick (6-7mm) vinyl planks and tiles on the market today. Attractive and solid. I put some in my FR (DIY, very easy!) and planning to use it in the basement as well. I've not looked at laminate recently so can't comment on it.

I bought mine at Floors To Your Home in Indianapolis, if that is near you - a discount retailer.

For sure yank out all of the carpet/padding in the house. Depending on the condition of the subfloor (BTW you will be amazed at the amount of dirt underneath the padding, but that is normal even for regularly cleaned carpet without college students!) and if it can be cleaned, I would recarpet the LR for warmth and softness on the floor.

DLM- I also laughted out loud when I initially went in and looked at the home. You're only young once.....

raee-

that is a great suggestion! I'm hoping to get into the home sooner than later to measure how much material I need so I can take advantage of sales that comes up!

When you measure, add at least 10% to the amount to account for things like irregular cuts, pattern matching, mistakes, later repairs and so forth. I would actually go a bit more -- when I did my FR with the 10% extra tiles, I ended up with only 2.5 tiles and some smaller scraps left over!

Brands -- I think that Supreme Elite, Mannington Adura, Congoleum, IVC, Shaw, Mohawk, Armstrong are all well respected names -- I am sure there are more that I don't know. But all manufacturers make different grades of flooring, so you kind of need to know what you want.

In general, I believe for vinyl, the thicker the core layer, the better, especially if you are doing a loose lay or floating installation (not glued down); same for the wear layer. Thicker is more expensive - get the best you can afford! But IIRC if you are doing glued down sheet vinyl, that won't be as thick.

Start visiting the websites of flooring retailers so you can get an idea of what is out there. Also the retailer that I mentioned above has helpful information on their website -- I expect others do also. There is a flooring forum here on gardenweb too, a good place to ask questions.

Also go to some flooring retailers so you can get a feel for the different grades/types of products, how they look and how they will perform.

LOL, the empty pizza box and the bottle "decor" on the top of the cabinets is perfect. ;)