I appreciate that you are not gutting and trying to use what you have. You are looking at cabinet doors, counter, and tile each with a lot of movement - wood grain, stone crackled effect, 3D of the tile. It is all too much together. Go with one element that has a lot of movement and have the other pieces play a supporting role.

Agreed that your counter is cool. I don't get a homey vibe from it.

I appreciate that you hate it. But..............there is a point where you aren't going far enough. Appreciate the pictures......but what you really need is a hard measure, use graph paper, remember WALLS have a thickness, 4" interior, 6" exterior.

Upload an accurate drawing 1/4 inch to a foot of the entire space below. You're entirely focused on the ugly fix, cosmetically, too much going on in your selections.

ALL of this in exact feet and inches,please? Show where you enter, note what is behind, next to etc.

Absolute no to the backsplash, or ANY splash. You've a buggy in front of the horse: )

Alllllll of it , please. @ two dimension, flat on paper. Every jog in the walls

IMO this would be the lipstick on a pig idea. You have toatlly dated layout and cabinets . Yes we need a to scale plan on graph paper . Every window , doorway where those lead all shown every measurement clearly marked . Then posted here in jpeg format in a comment DO NOT start another post . Replacing doors is expensive and does nothing to improve the layout or function. Stop now . Figure out what it is you love about the kitchen and what you hate . That frisge IMO would be replaced with a counter depth one even if you did nothing else To add a new counter is expensive and will do nothing for the space .

Don’t put expensive new counters on thirty year old basic cabinets. The current layout is not good and the cabinets don’t have any of the features you’d want in a modern kitchen like all drawers in bases, trash recycling pull out, etc. The layout would probably work much better with cabinet style pantries flanking the fridge to make it built in. Stove wall basically like it is. 4/8ish island with the trash/sink/dw. Look at ikea. It will be far less then refacing and faaaarrrr nicer.

Wide drawer base cabs, 36, 42, 48 allow you easy access to things like all the pots you're hanging on a pot rack now. Dishes and glassware will also go right in.

Keep that until you can afford to replace more than you are planning. The thing about remodels is, there are tipping points. Once you get to the tipping point, you might as well just do the whole entire thing. You are past the tipping point, unless you really LOVE most of what is there. Not the tile counters. Tile counters are not lovable by anyone. You can DIY some laminate after removing them, to tide you over while you plan a whole lot more destruction. You can buy the 5x10' sheets of laminate and particle board substrate for under $400.

I echo what others have said about focusing too much on cosmetics and missing the bigger picture. Also, that there's too much "movement" in all of the things you have chosen - it will not be good together.

I appreciate you want to keep the cost under control, but you will throw a lot of money at something only to regret it if you do what you are considering.

Question: Do you have a basement/crawlspace or are you on a slab/multi-family home? (How much access do you have to the plumbing/electrical in the floor?)

My go-to’s are counter depth frig, room next to sink for dish drying rack ( I dislike sinks and stoves on an open counter, but not moving plumbing / electrical saves $$$), Drawers instead of cupboards. Have you thought about in-drawer microwave? Instead of full pantry, upper cabinets and lower drawers with additional counter space? Upper cabinets to the ceiling.

One of the challenges of an open floorplan is that you have to design the kitchen both of how it works as a kitchen, and how it works from the other side. In other words, what do people see who are sitting at the counter or in that room? And let's be real, nobody has a spotless kitchen, esp while prepping a meal or during cleanup.

If possible, one of the basic layout issues I'd address is relocating the sink and DW to where the stove is now. The dishes go in the wall cabinets, you should not have to schlep clean dishes from the DW/sink to the other side of the kitchen. What's more, you don't want your kitchen dish strainer to be the focal point of the people at the counter. Ditto with dirty dishes and messes in the sink.

The stove would go basically where the sink is now, I'd use a flat induction cooktop to keep a clean, uncluttered look. Most are black, but you can get them in lighter grey so they don't stand out so much. You could vent from below. With new wider base cabinets, you can put the pots and pans in drawers near where you would use them (no hanging pots).

You need some lighting over the counter where the seating is. That would probably be some interesting hanging lights - which would also provide a visual break from the other room.

I'd tend to go with solid colors for the base cabinets, esp. I'm generally not a fan of mixing wood cabinets and wood floors.

I second the counter depth fridge, and would look at that pantry door to do something very different. It's a focal point - it shouldn't be that ugly.

All of that is a way of saying that you should put your current plans on hold, get a good dimensioned drawing, and start with an open mind.

I feel like you're spending a lot of money on only cosmetic updates. When you add up what you're spending in time and materials, you could probably spend a bit more and have a whole new kitchen. Have you actually done any quotes for a re-design and remodel? And then compared that cost to whet you plan to spend as you've laid out above? I bet it's not that different.

Your kitchen needs not just a cosmetic update, but a functional one. I'd put the brakes on this project and take a step back to figure out how much more you'd have to save up to do a full remodel.

While I understand wanting to change the tile counters as well as keeping costs down, the Kitchen is not worth spending a lot of money on. It has several issues right now that cosmetic changes won't fix (layout, more functional cabinet storage, etc.). The money you spend now will likely be wasted b/c when the cabinets start having issues in the next few years, which is likely (unless you never cook or rarely use your cabinets**), you will probably be disposing of the items you put in now.

So, my recommendations:

• I would not put in an expensive counter at this time. Replace with a nice laminate, but not high-end, which can get costly. They will be much better than the tile and should last many years until you're ready for a full remodel.
• I would not put in an expensive backsplash at this time. Simply repair any damage to the wall when you remove the existing tile and paint with a washable paint. I would also leave the stainless steel panel behind the range as it is a durable and clean-able surface as well as "heat-proof".
• I would not spend money on new doors or drawer fronts. Just do a deep clean of all cabinets and leave them alone. If you want to update a bit, add inexpensive cabinet knobs/pulls. Try adjusting the hinges to fix door issues.
• Unless the appliances are not working, I would not change any out at this time -- including the Over the Range MW. (If you have young children, you might need to move the MW to the counter so they can use it. If so, I would get an inexpensive true range hood for over the range for now.) At best, OTR MWs are only marginally effective (if at all) as range hoods and OK but not the safest MW, especially for children and short people.
• Plan for a full remodel -- work on layout now and save money while planning. Take your time with the plans so you end up with a truly functional Kitchen and cabinets that are worth putting expensive items on (counters, backsplash).

You say the doors "arent looking so great". That's likely a symptom of not-so great cabinets overall as well, despite appearances. (I could be wrong, but what I see in the pictures you provided does not change my opinion.) If your doors are having un-fixable issues, then it sounds like it might be time for a full remodel. If you have an IKEA within a couple of hours of you, consider IKEA cabinets. They're inexpensive but well-built and now have wood doors/drawer fronts. They also have several standard features that most cabinet lines charge an upcharge for -- soft-close drawers, soft-close doors, etc.

If you decide to wait or do a full remodel now, please see the Featured Answer in the "New to Kitchens? Read Me First!" thread. It describes the info we need to help, including the fully-measured layout requested by others in previous messages.

In the end, this is your Kitchen and it's up to you what you do. We are giving you our opinions based on the info you provided. Good luck!

** Don't laugh or be offended, some people really don't cook or use their Kitchen much. We've had a few people come here asking for help for a "show" Kitchen. They admitted they never cooked and weren't interested in a functional Kitchen, just a nice-looking one.

Reading all your comments I'm understanding that you will replacing the doors & drawers on the base cabinets and replacing the wall cabinets, and all appliances and sink remain in the same location.

So my suggestion is to bring the wall cabinets up to the ceiling. Like others, I find the backsplash you have chosen doesn't fit under cabinets and is too busy with the oak wood doors. I'm showing a white glossy rectangular vertically installed tile and white (or black) countertop. In your pictures the kitchen seems to have very poor lighting but perhaps it's because you have no lights turned on in the adjoining area. You can install under cabinets lighting for another lighting level.

I wouldn't install a ceiling hung pot rack but would consider installing pendants above the peninsula if that's possible.

You don't seem to have anywhere but the countertop for a microwave so I would consider a low profile style which is not as bulky looking.

Here's the idea...

Hi all,

Thank you all so much for reading through and responding.

We are making changes based on the feedback on here!

I'll be posting full measurements of the house - will get to working on it.

IMMEDIATE CHANGES:

Countertop: We are no longer going with Allure. It is beautiful - but everyone is right in that it's too busy along with that backsplash. We will repurpose the backsplash elsewhere - perhaps, in the bathroom when we do a full remodel of that.

Backsplash will be replaced with something simple. Most likely white and rectangular.

We may temporarily put something in place of those tiles - not sure what it would be yet. or deal with the tiled countertops - it wont kill me but we sure hate prepping food on it! Lol.

Base cabinets will be a solid color instead of stained wood - unsure what color to go for.

FRIDGE:

We are going to replace the fridge in the future. counter depth. Never liked the current one anyway.. it's weirdly too bulky.

CONSTRAINTS:

My Partner would prefer to not push the size of the kitchen to the adjoining room - the family room. I do not mind - but the issue is that we have a 12 foot ceiling in the family room (Will post a pic soon...) They would also prefer to NOT swap the positions of the sink, the dishwasher, and the stove/oven combo. I personally hate the way the sink is now - and I'd like to move that to where the stove is as well, but we are not looking forward to the plumbing cost on that one.. But, we will hire a plumber to do so if it means having a better layout!

We can definitely move the position of the stove and everything else (except the dishwasher - needs to be next to the sink)

Countertop material - we prefer a Light countertop. and this is because we have hard water that would be super obvious with dark countertops... we would have loved dark countertops, though!

CABINETS:

Drawers over cupboards. Bye Bye, cupboards!

as for our base cabinets - we thought of saving them due save on cost. We are open to replacing them (either we build new base cabinets or buy premade). The base cabinets seems to be made out of solid wood parts (not plywood).

WHAT WE CURRENTLY LIKE/LOVE ABOUT THE KITCHEN:

that we have one at all (lol)..

I like having a full sized pantry, but I can definitely get rid of it if it means a better layout.

PANTRY:

We are demolishing it - we are going with cabinet style pantry instead.

MEASUREMENTS:

I will re-measure the house and have it down on a graph paper soon. At the mean time, here's the general layout of the house:

IKEA:

we loved some kitchen layouts at Ikea - and we'd like to copy/paste it in our place but alas life is not a Sims game. i'll post a few pictures of the ones we have liked!

Answering questions:

@Jake The Wonderdog

We have access to the crawlspace, and it's a single family home, Ranch style house.

I have been to the crawlspace once - and I did hate it. I'd prefer not having to go down there again unless I really have to - hiring is an option, too, ofcourse..

@Valinta

I have thought about the indrawer microwave, but wasn't sure where the best place is for it. We are also thinking of purchasing new upper cabinets that goes all the way up to the ceiling!

I have thought about demolishing that dang pantry - my neighbor with a very similar layout to our house did something similar. So we may demolish that pantry to place countertops in place instead.

@Tahira JAn and @Patricia Colwell Consulting

I will get working on the measurements! thank you.

@lisedv Thank you! we will be getting rid of that pot racks above the countertop. We are thinking of placing pendants instead.

I didn't expect such a detailed feedback and i just wanted to say i really appreciate everyone taking the time of their day to leave a comment. it really means a lot!

I'm going to post a more detailed drawing of our house - with grids + measurement and all soon.

Thank you all again!

You could improve the function dramatically without significant changes to the appliance locations. I would move the DW to the other side of the sink, so it's not right in your prep zone.

Our old house had a corner similar to yours - a lazy susan between the sink and range (but ours didn't have the DW in that spot). It was awful - lazy susans are great for stroage - but not the kind of storage we needed by the range, which was a place for cooking utensils, potholders, pots and pans. When we remodeled, we moved the range 12" to the right and used a smaller sink base, which made room for drawers on each side of the corner. Our corner was outside walls, so it was completely empty and closed off; you could access the corner space from the family room side.

Before:

After:

I don't know that you need to get rid of the pantry, just some different doors.

I don't think moving the plumbing would be terrible, but unless you are good with that kind of work, I'd farm it out. I hate the sink/dishwasher in the island thing... but I know it's not everyone's top issue. I've put stoves in peninsulas in the last 4 houses I've owned - and that works well. I like being able to talk to folks while I'm cooking. I also like not looking at a wall when I'm cooking.

We need every dimension in the kitchen to help you.

Following

Here's the thing.......

This is a house with a spacious living room........and lots of teeny weeny rooms nearby. It ISN'T just the kitchen, it's vintage 1970?

.We've no idea who " we" are, right?. Kids, no kids. Plan to have kids etc. Put a lot of "lifestyle info "with your dimensions, Plan to delay this. Go get some PLAIN laminate tops to replace the tile, and save more money. Stop pecking at the house: ) Come back with all info and get a better plan for your $$$$$

Hi All,

I tried making an accurate measurement. I got pretty busy, so here are a few markups that I've done that has measurements. I hope the pictures makes sense. i'll do another mock up of the layout with grids once I have more free time.

walls are 5" wide

ceiling height 92"

measurements are approx

(note: it should have been 26 5/8" NOT 28" exactly on the right-hand side where the stove goes. I forgot to edit that.)

@JAN MOYER This house was built in 1990, so it's 34 years old (got the age wrong in my main post). Either way, it's awfully outdated.

By "we", i meant my partner, our cat, and I. We do not want kids

Here are the measurements we need when you get time. I included the Dining Room & Family Room so any layouts allow for table/furniture w/o the Kitchen encroaching too much in either room.

In the early am rantings of a mad woman.....it makes me nuts when a builder crams 100 lbs of poop in a fifty lb bag. Could have been a super nice no kids couple home/empty nest off the same footprint......guests go to a hotel: )

Even for a 1990.......they stuffed it like 1970

At any rate, come back with the REALITY dimensions in the kitchen : )

@Buehl

here it is, my measurements are in inches

sorry, not sure what F was

Don't tempt me in the early am..........1/4 inch = 1 foot (Buehl will probably contribute your "reality..." which I will do later or tomorrow, despite I hate it lol

Tall Pantry 27" wide, counter depth fridge, a TON of prep space on the island, great drawer storage for pots, pans, daily dinnerware....meal space for two at the island

versus this...........

Note......want a bit more sitting/family space? You could easily steal 12 inches from the living room depth.....especially if it were to be a nice casual dining room . When you host with a lot of friends,....you set a table in advance,

They HANG in a kitchen with you no matter what. So, ask yourself how you currently use the living room.

Ten poster will enter and tell me I am crazy ...

Merry Christmas !

I considered flipping the two rooms also, It's a good way to reduce the amount of "small rooms". The potential issue would be the ceiling in the family room vs the current kitchen. I'm not sure how that works right now, because we don't have that photo.

Grabbing a foot off of the LR would be off the table in my view - Limit scope.

I'd quibble with the layout of the family room - there's no table for a dinner with friends or spreading out and it doesn't really lend itself to watching TV either. That said, I like the general idea - if the ceiling issue can be resolved.

Could you please check your measurements? There is at least one major discrepancy.

You state Q = 272"

Yet, when I add up the individual items, they only add up to 129.83".

That's a difference of over 42" - which is significant.

P + O + N + L + J + E

38" + 56-5/18" + 25" + 26-1/2" + 55-1/9" + 28-15/16" = 229.83" (rounded to nearest hundredth)

272" - 229.83" = 42.17" discrepancy

I didn't check the others, so you might want to check those as well.

F is the distance b/w the right end of the door trim and the wall. It's probably only a couple of inches, so whatever it is won't make much of a difference in the calculation.

LOl

It's the internet/free

Here's what I rounded down to

Just SIMPLIFY it!!!

Why? Because to get a decent kitchen, the pantry and hall linen need to go bye bye.

Walls windows openings and double check it: )

A thru J ....and left one out,

so add I J, F, G. H

and a total

We still haven't addressed ceiling height.

The thing to keep in mind too is that the OP wanted to do a very limited rehab of a kitchen.

It's good to see some possibilities, think bigger, etc. but we are now pretty far afield of what they originally intended.

Sometimes you can make minor changes to a house and dramatically improve it. Sometimes a house is what it is - and if you want it to be something else, you buy a different house.

Re measured!

@Buehl

Q = ~270 1/2

L =~ 37 1/2

J = ~85 1/9

i = ~49 1/2

The ceiling height is about 12 feet. The family room ceiling looks like so:

@JAN MOYER I was absolutely wowed when I saw your layout! It's something I actually want to live in! But my partner isn't willing to shell out a lot of money for the remodel. We may end up moving 5 years or so from now, unfortunately. So it's not a forever home...

"I was absolutely wowed when I saw your layout! It's something I actually want to live in!"

Maybe the next person does too? Nobody wants your current kitchen, ? Not even you ?

That said? We agree this is 100% hideous. right?

Why? The KLUDGE of crap//separating 4" walls/ bulky uggggh on the fridge wall. The pinched 36 " opening from the hall, and you need to get OVER the linen closet to get anything decent and consider it gone.

I'm guessing the living room is barely used, but for occasional dust and vacuum.

I'm tired of add the alphabet soup. : )

If you want a half decent space? Figure out how to get this:

OPEN AN CLOSE ENTRY POINTS

At least 42 inches at the hall entry form garage.

REDUCE!!!! the passage to living room. Take the french doors off.

Then? make a decent wall of cabinetry/appliance storage

In five years ( it's not our forever home ) It will be a 40 yr old house,

with a 60 year old layout. I've no clue the neighborhood. I can tell you the bed bath thing with kids? Way too small and cramped.

Me? Unless hideous from outside? I bomb it to a single couple home.

Or a halfway point?

Or............who the heck knows : ) It was bad at the get go! As a couple alone? not terrible......

^ then I would get some nice/super simple/inexpensive counters, new sink and faucet, and black hardware for the cabs :)

Get an estimate for new a laminate countertop. With two inside corners and the U-shape, it will not be cheap, so you may want to skip it until you are ready to do the rest of the kitchen update.

If it turns out that your remodel is at least a year away, I suggest doing a bit of fixup on the tile countertops. In a couple of hours, you can fill in the missing grout with Custom Building Products sanded grout in the matching brown color.

https://www.custombuildingproducts.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Grout_Card_CC23_3-23_WEB.pdf

Then use blue nail polish to fill in chips and cracks in the cracked blue tile. Essie and Opi brands have over a dozen blue nail polishes: there will be a pretty good match. If you like, after you fix up the missing dips in the grout, you could repaint the grout with an off-white grout paint. its smoothness will be a breeze to clean up compared to rough old grout.

https://www.essie.com/nail-polish/enamel/blues?GeoRedirectOff=&gad_source=1&gclsrc=ds&page=2

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Custom-Building-Products-Polyblend-381-Bright-White-8-oz-Grout-Renew-Colorant-GCL381HPT/203498062

Just here to say thanks for the cat greeting!

After reading some of your feedback, I get the feeling your partner doesn't what to spend too much money on this project since this isn't a forever home. So here's what I suggest:

- Find a good painter to paint your cabinets in a taupe colour

- Paint the pantry door the same colour as the cabinets

- For a new look, you can cut-out the interior section of the wall cabinet doors and replace with glass (Youtube has lots of videos on this)

- Replace all cabinet hardware and faucet with brass

- For a less expensive countertop, use a laminate, there are nice ones available

- Install island pendants with a brass touch

- Replace the fridge with a counter depth one

- Place a long runner in front of the sink

- Buy new counter stools

And then... You seem to have a nice sofa so furnish the living room to coordinate with the sofa and the new kitchen.