I'm in need of help and ideas, I have no idea where to start. We have lived in our townhome for 6 years (our first home), and don't plan on living here more than another 2-3 years. We'd like to make some small updates to our kitchen because it's ugly and I'm tired of seeing it, and because we believe it will help with reselling, these updates will include ONLY:
- Flooring
- Countertops
- Lighting
- Paint & backsplash

We may consider re-staining/painting the cabinets, but not replacing them. Also we are NOT replacing the appliances, these are all new within the last 5 years, more new ones aren't in the budget.
Our current cabinets are in good shape, with real wood facings in 90's style honey oak or "golden oak". (The house was built in 1994.) They don't go up to the ceiling, but we use the space above for storage, which is ugly. The kitchen feels tiny, and we cook quite a bit. The long wall (with the sink) is 11'1" long, and the short wall (with the stove) is 7'8". We have a long narrow table along the adjacent wall in the dining area which holds additional appliances, utensils, cookbooks, and food. This is also rather ugly. We don't have a pantry, or space to add one. the island card is 31" x 20".
My main questions:
- What shade/style of engineered wood or laminate for flooring? (We don't want tile, the main floor is slab-on-grade and it will be too cold underfoot)
- What style of lighting? Are recessed "can" lights out of date? We have under-cabinet lighting but it sucks, this will get replaced. I would like something that can use LEDs.
- What colors for paint & backsplash? The adjacent wall is a light green, visible in the left part of the first photo. The room does not get much natural light, the windows are far away and we can't put in a solar tube because there is a bedroom directly above this.
- Our current counters are a mottled pink, we are thinking something very dark to replace these?
- Is there an easy way to change our exhaust fan over the stove to a small hood?

Thanks for your help! I need some input!