For refinishing your countertop at a low cost, check out Miracle Method. They are known more for bathtub resurfacing but can do other surfaces, too. We had it applied to an old laminate bathroom counter and it was a nice budget update (but very smelly so do it on a nice day when you can have windows open). Plain old laminate is also a budget choice and there are many choices out there now. It's fairly easy to DIY.

As far as lighting, do you need general lighting? If so, I'd just add more recessed lighting. Once you're ready for a full remodel, then you can take a more systematic approach to designing a lighting scheme for the room.

Remove the box, fill in any screw holes etc, sand it well, prime it and paint the entire ceiling. Once done, add a nice light fixture where the box with wiring in it is.

@cat_ky: "Remove the box, fill in any screw holes etc, sand it well..."

• That's a textured ceiling so you can't just "sand it well". You don't know the condition of the ceiling inside the light. Remove the plastic panels and examine what's above before deciding what to do. It does draw one's attention. If you decided it was too difficult to remove, you might just paint it to, say, match the color of the surrounding soffits or white.
• Search youtube for "paint laminate countertops". Lots of cases there.
• The beige recessed lights with BR bulbs scream (well, to me) old. I'd consider spray painting the trim to match the ceiling (or wall color or, for example, silver or black) and replacing what are probably BR30 bulbs with flat-lens PAR30 bulbs (probably "short neck" so that bulbs do not extend below the ceiling).

-- amateur