I suppose the chair rail isn't the style for open rooms like yours. To me, start could be new fronts and new counter. Beth, for one, is great on inexpensive options like concrete overlay, or good Home Depot butcher block, etc....

https://www.nahb.org/education-and-events/education/designations/Certified-Aging-in-Place-Specialist-CAPS/Additional-Resources/Aging-In-Place-Remodeling-Checklist

That's a link to a checklist to review and keep in mind if/when you are able to do some renovation for aging in place (definitely work with a contractor who is familiar with aging in place features/CAPS).

I worked as a wellness RN in a 55+ independent living condo community so safety in the home was a big focus. Two immediate things to correct: improved lighting with easily accessible/properly placed switches (so you don't have to enter a room in the dark and hunt for the switch) and that unfortunate surface change from tile to carpet (a trip hazard). I would definitely avoid the use of throw rugs, especially on top of carpet-that's a known environmental hazard that contributes to falls. Ideally, with your future furniture placement you want to be able to move around with plenty of room-carry a yardstick at waist level and make sure you can move throughout the space without the yardstick touching anything at a minimum.

As far as long-term plans, educate yourself particularly on aging in place bathrooms since older 55+ communities often weren't constructed with enough bathroom space for easy use of mobility aids or the presence of a second person (in home helper).

Price out new LVP flooring for the whole space. Agree with Beth - take out the floors, paint, have new floors put in. Get a price on a refacing job for the kitchen. Look for stone remnants for the countertop and just paint the backsplash wall for now. That will update the space beautifully.

I agree with Beth H that LVP could be a nice choice for you. But if you don’t want to do the LVP right now, you could also consider sheet linoleum/vinyl. I think a wood look throughout the LR and kitchen could be nice.

Linoleum/vinyl has come a long way, and there are people who are opting to use it in some spaces as their primary choice these days. The better sheet vinyl/linoleum wood looks can be very realistic - and the sheet flooring has a number of advantages.

I did not intend to set the floor on a diagonal; the visualizer made that decision - without my consent.:)

Just one possible idea/option:

I agree with RedRyder that refacing could possibly be a nice option for you. Since you are handy, here is some DIY info - as well as some ideas for professional installation, etc.

https://www.cabinetnow.com/how-much-does-it-cost-to-replace-cabinet-doors

Following

For some reason I can see a medium toned wood in your house, with a light kitchen. Or do you think a light colored floor will make it seem larger?

I agree with quality LVT as a viable budget option. I would also replace cabinet doors, add new hardware, counter (butcher block or granite remnant), backsplash, all the lighting and paint. I’d replace appliances too. You can do it all in stages, I’d start with flooring and paint before you move in, the rest can be done after.

Voting- nice bit rough/ rustic of freedom place's floor [diagonal like their tiling interesting].

I would replace flooring first period. Then tackle paint then lighting. Kitchen last. I would do minimal now and save for good redo. Light paint color for walls and ceiling all one color. It helps elevate ceiling visually!

Long term I think you'd be best to have a single flooring (probably wood, engineered wood, or LVP) go through the entire living space, dining space, and kitchen. What you have now is fine, but I think it would function better for aging in place and would look more cohesive with a single flooring material. If you ever do opt to re-do the kitchen, consider shifting the stove to the left if it's currently right up against the fridge so that you have landing space on either side of the range.

ha but not joking - I certainly get ripping out the carpeting - but if flooring would be 'easy' to redo later, add 'cool' and curved! :)

Raw mirrors idea for a spot off to the side of things.

Contemporary Brown Wood Wall Mirror Set 47936 · More Info

Safavieh Wheatley Side Chairs, Set of 2 · More Info

In a way, 'cool' items make up for alot -

https://www.overstock.com/Home-Garden/Safavieh-Rosen-French-Bistro-Stacking-Navy-White-Arm-Chair-Set-of-2/18118246/product.html?track=bizrate&cid=283047&szredirectid=16432328028111329460310070301008005&option=30227398

Few windows? curtains and end wall a yellow? and--

https://www.overstock.com/Home-Garden/Furniture-of-America-Ariel-Natural-Tone-Patio-Bistro-Chairs-Set-of-2/33819989/product.html?option=63407743&recalg=978,961,976&recset=331f3373-e77f-466b-904a-5dbcfa31572c&refccid=E5ISNTN26ZXIZXSE44ARRZM5TA&recguid=fec058cf-5f4e-4dbb-a3e7-a585ff6fb567&recidx=1

One more - if you do wait - cover the kitchen floor with sale rug?

top-down/ bottom-up lift option. Flat or hobbled style / or choose the continuous cord loop lift. With 6" valance.

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Nuloom Elen Machine Washable Natural Leaves Area Rug, Sage Green 6'Square · More Info

As often said, it's up to you... posting cause I like these sherbert colors together.

Ballpark Condo · More Info

Wow! Some very interesting and ecclectic options and ideas! I’ll go for lots of color. Just have zero money right now after the purchase!
Last question for ur advice, The living room carpet must go. Could I possibly put plywood down, paint it, then put a large area rug for the time being? I just cannot afford a nice hardwood throughout but that would be the plan. With a little work I could even paint the plywood so it looks like a continuation of the white tile. I have more time than money right now…

❤️❤️❤️❤️ thank you!

On the cheap - change the lighting, window coverings and at a minimum paint the cabinets and backsplash - redo the floors w/one consistent material throughout and then rethink the cabinets and countertops.

If you're able to spend a few hundred, there are really inexpensive laminates you could use. I used trafficmaster lakeshore pecan stone and it is 1000 times better than the carpet and gives me a year or two to figure out what I want to do. It is holding up very well for the cost.

Plywood is still pretty costly — I wouldn’t waste your money on that. Clean and leave the carpet for now. Paint, new window coverings/rods — you can find great drapes at Target or Amazon (lined, etc.) for very reasonable, and brighter updated light fixtures will do wonders. Paint the blades on the fan if it works well — and maybe a new light component — or look for a replacement on Marketplace or eBay. Then, start in on your kitchen cabinets — you can likely remove the wallpaper or contact paper and sand them down or strip the paint.

Get the carpet cleaners to stretch out the bumps when they’re there and patch any problem areas (or you do it) — it will look better.

Awesome! Love it! Thanks folks!

And remove the “chair rail” from the left side of the dining room wall. It serves no purpose. Keep us posted on your progress. This one could be fun!

Thanks! For right now it’s going to be nothing more than “better than before.”
But you all reinforced and helped me sort out the good ideas from the bad, as well as priorities! Thrift stores here I come!

I often encourage people to work with existing features, and I try to find the best aspects of places. But I would not personally want to work with that existing carpet, and I would also not encourage anyone else to do so. It really needs to be replaced, not cleaned. Cleaning is going to be a waste of money. You will still be stuck with the old carpeting, as well as the shape of it. You would be better off getting new carpeting for that room. Much better in every way, plus minus the curve.

I personally would just put sheet vinyl throughout. But I already gave you that idea.

In addition, please do not waste your time and efforts (not to mention potentially jeopardizing your health) trying to sand or strip and/or trying to do any type of painting on those existing kitchen cabinets. They need to be refaced. If you just want a quick fix to make them look better - just get some removable wallpaper in a solid white/ivory and put it over the wallpaper that is currently there. Voila. You’re done. Or alternatively, do a color if you want. A light sage in a textured paper like a seagrass might be nice, for example. Or you could even do another patterned paper, if you want. The sky is the limit.

Carpet tiles could be something to also consider. Here is some DIY info:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=T_oKofFyTe8

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=0Aip_xxpia4&pp=QAFIAQ%3D%3D

If you are considering cleaning the rug, try to arrange for an estimate first/i.e. get the rug evaluated- because if it is too fragile to be cleaned, you need to know that. And I think a ”green” type of cleaning may possibly work better, overall; so I would explore those possibilities, as well.

And if that tile area with the chandelier is the dining area, you could put an area rug there; and if you use a rug that is big enough to overlap the carpet a bit, that would disguise/downplay the curve.

https://esalerugs.com/products/kashkuli-gabbeh-rug-light-blue-lkfi?variant=41405634412703

I made my suggestions having been in a situation where I also had more time than money and trusting Susan’s good judgment. It isn’t easy not having money to do what you really want to — you just have to be very clever. LVP for just 200 sf (20x10) would be upwards of $1000 — that’s huge when you don’t have a lot leftover at the end of the month. You can rent a carpet cleaner at Piggly Wiggly and figure out how to stretch it yourself (I’ve done it before! and patched holes in a carpet as well while my kids were napping). I assume Susan’s handyman skills are up to par (and therefore she has the tools) and that she’ll figure out the best way to clean up the kitchen cabinets — it’s most likely not lead based paint given the age of the condo and I assume everyone can get a hold of an N95 respirator these days. If they are sturdy, there’s a lot that can be done since the doors look flat. Removable wallpaper is not inexpensive either. The are suggestions I made are “green” since they delay sending things that cannot be recycled to the landfill. Just trying to be practical, helpful and creative. Thrift stores (Habitat resale and Goodwill) are awesome sources. I would love to see what Susan gets done in the next few months.

I’m looking forward to seeing what the end result is ! But that rug covering up the end of the carpet looks like a trip hazard to me.

I don't know why an 'irregular' carpet border is so bad. These probably redid the flooring, but how much does it matter?

Contemporary Dining Room · More Info

Congrats on your new place! For me, the most important thing would be that it’s clean. I dont think you will notice the curve once your table and furniture is in. I would clean the carpet and get your furniture in. Then live with it for awhile. It’s best not to rush into remodeling anyway. It’s better to live with it for awhile so you now what changes you really want to make.

I’ll keep u all posted! You have been incredibly generous with your time and I promise to post photos!

Pull up a corner of the carpet on the slider wall- the tile may be completely under the carpet and carpet can be taken out with some minor hole repair to the tile.

Pkpk23. That is genius!!!!

And if it’s just concrete, could you pull it up and stain the concrete until you are ready for tile or wood floors?

I suggest you have the carpet cleaned, deodorized and disinfected. For that size room it probably won’t cost you too much. Layer a beautiful area rug over it.

That’s probably the least costly thing you could do right now.

As a kitchen, bath, and home designer who specializes in work done “on the cheap,” I know there are many versions of “no money to do this right now.” Even people with tens of thousands to spend on a new kitchen can have nothing leftover for the other needed updates, improvements and repairs. Here are my suggestions:

$100 or less to spend:

Living room window treatment: Absolutely DO NOT get rid of your vertical blinds header. Try to move and re-attach the header higher up, find some inexpensive sheers long enough, or sheer fabric, and use the clips that the individual blades of the blinds attach with, and use it to attach your fabric! (The longer they droop in the middle of each blade, the better, but that will mean more fabric.) You can even hang little charms on the droops, or long bits of colored thread to act as ornament. Use metal Christmas hooks for these; if you drape them over the droops they won’t harm the sheers if you don’t pierce the weave.

Lighting: Go to thrift stores and also look for a Habitat For Humanity Restore, even if it’s not that near you, for great chandeliers. Update them with spray paint, OR, EVEN CHEAPER, update the chandelier you have already, with spray, or dollar store craft paints or even leftover house paint. I’ll share an example of my chandelier redo before and after. Just make sure to get rid of those amber globes. Maybe re-purpose them.

Kitchen cabinets: I would kill for those cabinet doors in your situation, because, as others have commented, a flat face with raised trim around the outside of the door is the easiest to update with paint, wallpaper, even flat ornaments as . It looks like there may be contact paper on them now. I would remove it before looking for another decorative solution until you can reface or replace them. I saw a gorgeous french-style kitchen painted in soft beige and gold (and I HATE beige, so it must have been stunning) where they painted a diamond shape fro, the center points of the top, bottom, and sides of the panel, and I think a tiny bit of a turquoise border around the diamond shape in gold on a beige background. It was similar to a harlequin pattern. It was so glamorous! Very French.

PS to others who said reface: Refacing cabinets costs usually the same as buying new mid-priced cabinetry. It only saves the cost of ripping out, trash removal, and construction. (I have more thoughts on this option should you decide to, contact me)

If you have the money and the time, there are some kits at DIY stores for repainting them, and special ones for countertops, too, but as I said, get that paper off first.

Kitchen window: If you can get away with no window covering and still have privacy, get rid of both the window treatments, but again, save that header from the vertical blinds. It may be useful elsewhere with sheers or light-weight curtains. Stick it in the closet. Or better yet, use it to extend the draperies in the living room almost wall to wall. If you need to cover it with anything, get a stretcher frame from an art store the same size as the inside of the window width, and approx. half of the height. Get tracing paper, shoji screen material, or sheer fabric, and wrap it around the front and all the way around to the back of the frame and staple it, and place it in the window as a movable privacy screen that won’t look dowdy.

Backsplash: It’s too bad the current backsplash has an integral 4” backsplash. It makes any treatment above that look like it has a club-foot. That being said, Dollar Tree has some peel and stick backsplash they just got in. Though they are less than a square foot, they are probably cheaper than something at the big box stores, but they will have more variety. If you can remove anything above the integral backsplash and just paint, that would be nice. You may be able to find some mirror tiles you could put there. They may get spotted, but look fabulous. IKEA has some but it would mean cutting some to completely fill the space. Glass and morror cutting tools are available at craft stores.

Countertop: I have actually seen people cover, CAREFULLY, their countertops with a white veined marble contact paper, and if you take the time to really do it right, and use a ninyl squeegee to get it perfectly flat, it looks great! Just don’t cut on it, of course!

Walls: I would definitely get rid of the “warm” paint colors throughout the place. It looks old-lady-ish to me. (Nothing wrong with old ladies, though!)
; )
I would go for cool tones of greens and blues. Don’t be afraid to go intense when you do have time and money to paint. It will show great style!! And look expensive! One dark wall in the LR maybe a deep intense blue or teal with a few silvery mirrors and accessories will have a lot of bling style. You can buy wall decor for very little at thrift stores, sometimes you have to spray paint them but just look at the shapes. You may find wall paint at the Habitat Re-Store, but oops paint at the big box stores is fresher. And fresher is much better… no clumps!

Most of all, BE BOLD in any color choices. It will look expensive and luxurious. You have basically a box for living in. The only time I think white or off-white looks glamorous is when the architecture is fascinating. Not this place. But that’s a good thing: It frees you up though to do anything you want. go to a mall and walk past the different stores and remember that they had the exact same space for each store has put its own stamp on that space. It’s a great place to look for decorating ideas and to figure out what styles you like.

Do all of these, and you will have just upgraded to a million-dollar look!

Now, as far as the carpet is concerned, some bad news if you really don’t have the budget.

Unless it smells, it might be too expensive to replace that much flooring, no matter HOW cheap per square foot the material is.

One idea: Find out from others in the building if there is a cement floor underneath the carpet. If so, what kind of condition is it in? Most cement floors were never smoothed enough to be exposed, and grinding and polishing is very expensive and causes an unearthly mess. Big box stores have grout-able vinyl peel and stick flooring that looks good with a wide grout line in between, and looks rather convincing when grouted, but if your cement floor has ridges and bumps, it will telegraph through he flooring, make it stick up in those spots, and they will either tear, or erode off with traffic. So in that case, you want a floor that is made with a type of integral padding already attached, something that will squish where the lumps and bumps and ridges stick up. Floors To Your Home sometimes has very inexpensive vinyl flooring options, when you are ready to spend a little more money.

Another idea: There are some wonderful lay in place carpet squares and oblongs. They can be expensive, but Habitat from Humanity Re-Stores often has them. They need to be jammed in to the perimeters up against something though. The edge of the ceramic tile may provide enough of an edge. Dollar Tree again has some too, sometimes, but usually in dark muddy colors.

And Another: I would find a really thin carpet in a hot popping color, and just lay it on top. You may need to secure it.

Or:
Also, it may be possible to have the carpet stretched, if it looks like it’s a trip hazard. Supposedly, one can paint fabrics, maybe you can paint the carpet if you absolutely must. I think you mic\x a certain kind of paint with fabric softener to do it. I think it’s an icky idea, but if you are thinking of ripping it out, try it just before you do.

Lastly, if it has a high pile, you can check into shears that allow you to carve the carpet into shapes - without going through the backing, of course.

Congratulations on your new purchase!!! Let me know what you’ve tried.

Oh, and I would not worry about the curve until you have money to redo the flooring. Itmay be that when you put your dining furniture in there that it is the perfect shape!

My goodness! You are my new best friend. I will reread this in the morning and probably read it again. I will keep in touch and I’m following you now. Thank you, Susan

@Diane gave you a lot to think about. Remember - you can also live with your house as is and save for your ideal. If the carpet is dirty, rent a cleaner and do it yourself. Paint the walls if you’re up to,it, but paint can get expensive and you don’t want to do it twice. (White paint is a good “wait and see” paint and it brightens any room.)

The kitchen countertops look to be in good shape….I would not use contact paper on kitchen counters. The white backsplash also seems fine.

I think with a limited budget, paint is going to be your best friend. I would remove the contact paper from the kitchen cabinets and look into painting them.

Cotton in mix of muted greens, and bright blue...!? for $115 on the carpeting?

solid to brighten the kitchen and/or entry?

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fun for me.

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If tiles nearby, you could play with shapes - in bit of metal -

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With one wall of windows, your room could use mirrors, maybe like this:

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