Corian

Backsplash

Agreed, You state you have lived with the kitchen for several months and you are ok with it but the few improvements you want is more of a total renovation. I would get quotes for new cabinets and if you want to do the rip out and install yourself them you can save some money there.

“Replacing some of the cabinets with drawers” will cost as much as buying new cabinets. They don’t close properly, they are maybe twenty years old, they’ve been poorly painted and touched up over the years. The stove isn’t properly insulated and the fridge is too big. Adding an overhang for bar seating will not improve functionality unless you don’t have a dining area. The sinks are too small. The lighting is poor. Perhaps the counters can be salvaged if they are good quality and you keep the same footprint for the new kitchen.
I think you need to save up for a new kitchen (minus new flooring since the existing floor is okay) rather than spend money on a facelift for so many negatives.
Take accurate measurements and draw up a diagram of the kitchen showing size and location of windows, doors, venting, water supply, and any other features.
There are plenty of pro’s and experienced homeowners here who can give you pointers and suggestions.

I wondered if there could be a way to do this gradually (replace a sink, replace countertop, etc.) but I realize it all hinges on what we do with these cabs...I also wonder about leaving that pantry unit b/c it does hold a ton and we do not have another pantry for food storage.

The cabinets are not worth saving. Gut and redo. You can not gradually little bit a project like that. You have to remove everything, do the rough electrical and plumbing, and then start reassembling the whole room. You’re at the point that the floors had better darn well be ready for another 20 years of use. Because if they aren’t, you need to refinish or replace them too. This is why you need a Kitchen Designer. You don’t know what you don’t know about a project of this scope. And you don’t want to backtrack and do things twice because you didn’t know what you didn’t know. That’s too expensive a mistake to make.

Yep, understood. I did do a total kitchen reno on one about twice this size, so I remember the zillions of decisions. I think I'll call my old kitchen designer and start there! Thank you.

Agree with the others that it’s a total re-do. Replacing just a few cabinets doesn’t make sense. Make sure when cabinet shopping that you look for frameless cabinets, not framed.

Those hinges make me crazy....thank you Shannon.

I will try my local independent kitchen places here, but has anyone had good/bad things to report about Lowe's, Home Depot and IKEA?

I've done a kitchen gradually over time. At some point, one simply must replace the cabinets and start over. That's what I did. I was, however, able to re-use my Corian countertops, the under cabinet lighting, the pot lights in the ceiling, all my appliances and my kitchen sink (integrated Corian) and faucet. Also my flooring.

Sometimes a standard depth fridge can be recessed into the wall if planned for at the start. Perhaps the wall can be bumped out into the area behind it (garage / closet). If the wall isn't structural the studs can be removed altogether. Discuss this with your kitchen designer.

Thank you Design Girl. Does anyone think I could keep the free standing pantry and perhaps reface it with a color, while doing all the other cabs in a white? The pantry is in very good shape, just needs new doors. I thought that might work....

Update, we did a kitchen refacing: new backspash (Cambria Berwyn), cabinet fronts, sink, faucet, and backsplash. Really happy with it. Thank you for the help.

A few more pics

Thank you for following up - it looks fantastic!