Congratulations on your first home!

Before you buy anything, you will need to do two things.

1. Define your style. What do you like? Have you created your idea books? As a corollary, what’s your budget?

2. Create your canvas. You already discussed changing the color of the backsplash. Do you really want all that tan? And those valences...they are very outdated, as are the vertical blinds. The lighting fixtures are also kind of old and fussy. In your situation, I would be painting the walls white, changing out the lighting fixtures to something simple, and then doing nothing for a few months while getting used to the space and figuring out what I like.

First you need to narrow down your style I looked at th and think long and hard about every purchase you make Slow downe idea book for kitchens and too many ideas to help. In this new house my advice is first address all the lighting bulbs in LEDs 4000K and any boob lights need to be gone for sure. You have a backsplash right now IMO you live especially in a kitchen for at least 3 months and 6 is even better before doing much at all. I would not buy a table yet until you have decided on your style. Do you love the tile floor ? If you do that will drive every choice you make so think about it. It is exciting to get your first home , slow down and do some serious thinking before buying one thing. BTW if you eat at the TV most times I can bet you no matter if you have a table or not that is where you will still eat. I would suggest you work on your idea books to give us some real idea of what you love then come back and get help.

The above advice is good. Here are some additional ideas.

If the sellers have not moved out yet, you could offer to buy their three counter stools as a separate cash transaction. That'll give you somewhere to eat.

The kitchen doesn't need an additional backsplash. It already has a 4" backsplash. Paint the red part with the same color as the walls. It'll be fine for a few months or years while you develop your own style.

A gently used table and 4 chairs can be purchased in my area for under $200. The sellers' set has unsafe chairs on 4 casters, so I would not suggest offering to buy their set.

boob lights need to be gone

But what then will I do on those lonely nights at home?

Bahaha, I didn't even notice they looked like "boob lights" until you pointed it out. What has been seen cannot be unseen!

Structurally, we're in great shape. No major fixes are needed for at least another 5-10 years, at which point the windows will have to be done. Otherwise, everything else is already new (or relatively new).

These are all great ideas and I'm so grateful to everyone that chimed in. I think I've just been feeling so overwhelmed and like I need to tackle everything at once... but as so many of you pointed out, it's OK to sit on it for a while (even years, if I want to)!

One of my biggest issues is that I just don't know what I like. I know that sounds crazy, but since I was never really able to make changes to my space before now (we even lived in an apartment when I was a kid), I never had the opportunity to develop what my "taste" is. I will definitely spend some time on my idea books and start narrowing down what it is I like. I have found between Pinterest and now this site (which I just found today) that I seem to be leaning toward a more rustic-type look.

PS. I don't actually love all that tan. It's a bit darker than the color in the living room and although the lighter color looks decent in the living room, it's "meh" for me in the dining/kitchen area. Any thoughts on what might look OK with the current kitchen schema, or should I just go for white and revisit later?

Thanks again, everyone! I so appreciate the help.

Yes get a dark dining at set And a different rug lighter in color