Are you going to pull everything out? Is your budget $ $$ $$$? Perhaps a floor plan might help. Start with ikea which has a kitchen planner tool so you can select boxes and cabinets and see how they fit in...

Do you have a prioritized wish list? Have you settled on a budget? Have you just moved in or lived there for a while?

ASV, I tried the IKEA planner; haven't yet figured out how to use it. The floor plan is generic townhouse galley kitchen + breakfast area, with no way to move walls. Not remotely interested in moving plumbing or wiring. Let's start with $$. apple pie, I have lived there for a while. why do you ask?

I painted my cabinets to start my kitchen reno, it only cost me $150 for supplies, I used the rustoleum kit from Home Depot, it even had an instructional DVD to help you. After painting, u can switch out your hardware on the cabinets, paint the walls, and if u can squeeze it into the budget u can replace the countertop and backsplash! U don't need to change the layout, just a simple color change can switch up the entire theme of the kitchen and brighten it up. I suggest using google image search or Pinterest to settle on a theme/color scheme before u start!

It would be helpful to know your budget.

In addition to replacing the stove, I definitely want to get rid of the dropped ceiling and the fluorescent lighting in the cooking area. Linoleum floor must go. Need new countertops. Cabinets are oak, painted white.

I had ugly brown cabinets before, I wanted a more southern country look so I used the cabinet paint kit mentioned above to paint my cabinets green, I love them now and it was $150... The cabinet refacer guy wanted $8,000 to just switch out the cabinet doors, so not worth that price when I easily could paint the old ones!

I asked if you have lived there a while or just moved in because the kitchen looks a bit short on storage compared to what's out on the counter. If you were just unpacking, there'd be things on the counter no matter how much storage the kitchen has!

I think this is a good big galley kitchen with a lot of potential. With a $5K budget, you can replace the flooring, install some pull out shelves, paint the cabinets and walls, buy a new electric range, and get a new light fixture for the eating area. Opening the fluorescent ceiling area and replacing the fixtures with drop pendants will run another few hundred dollars, assuming the area is already finished with wallboard and paint.

I like the all white look but wonder if all appliances would match any particular white, so I dropped that idea. And it's too stark, as the rest of my house is eclectic -- antiques, oriental rugs, collectibles, i.e., plenty of color but not overpowering. Was thinking pale taupe and/or shades thereof.

Painting them could be an option if you are patient and don't mind a bit of work. But if the finish is in good shape...just add some new hardware. Replace the florescent light fixture for sure. If you do not put a table under the hanging light- get rid of it. Remove the wallpaper on the lower half of the wall and the border. New counter tops. It also looks like you could use more storage. Black counters could be very modern or go traditional with a wood counter. On a budget- vinyl wood look floor is easy to install.

I wonder if the vinyl wood planks look that good in person. Maybe a cheap throwaway oriental runner on the floor, just for effect? That hanging light is wrought iron and it looks pretty good there -- also, very little natural light, as the window in the breakfast area faces the entrance to the front door, over which there is a roof. I have quite a bit of antique beaded cypress tongue and groove wainscoting (stripped and au naturel) that I was thinking of installing where the icky wallpaper is (yes, the border must go -- ugly and too much vertical busy-ness). Paint all the walls a pale taupe semi-gloss? No yellow or green, please. Seeking a rosier outlook.

The more expensive vinyl planks look very real. How about this color combination from your ideabook?

A Crew of Two, I like the sleek look of the South Bristol kitchen. No drawer pulls -- pull-out bottom shelving? I'm too messy for open shelving on the walls, and everything would need dusting. Maybe put a counter-depth refrigerator, moved to the opposite wall, at the end of the cabinets? And add counter space and cabinets where the refrigerator is now? The table is antique golden oak, with drop leaves, and it can be moved closer to the garage door. Still liking that vinyl "wood" floor.

I wasn't really thinking open shelves- it was more the counters and the freshness of the kitchen.

Thanks, apple pie, but the overall effect is too dark and much too shiny. I think I must have put this in my ideabook because of the shape of the room and the wood floor -- looks inviting. White countertops? Hmmm. Stainless steel appliances? Hmmm. Still thinking.
btw, there are things all over the counter and the breakfast area because I took this picture before I started moving things out of sight or completely out of the house if I hadn't used them in a while. It's a constant purge. ;-)

Scroll down this link to see what a long white kitchen with black and white checkerboard floor looks like. http://www.houzz.com/white-kitchen-flooring. I also put it in my Ideabook in case the embedded photo is too small.

It's not a galley kitchen, but you can get an idea of how sharp that looks. I happen to have the Tarkett black and white checkerboard floor covering, with white cabinets, and I swear at least four people have asked me for the pattern. Yes, be thinking about how to coordinate your dining area with the kitchen in terms of wall color and style.

So, I suggest the following:
--paint the cabinets white
--black hardware as in the photo in the link
--black and white checkerboard floor
--removed dropped ceiling in favor of some of the lighting people suggested upthread, -----
--new countertops at whatever price level your budget allows--black, or speckled black/white/tan granite look
--black appliances I'm not a fan of French door fridges, but they can be less bulky and use up less space in galley kitchens when you open the doors.
--wallpaper down in your dining area with room painted in a solid color that coordinates with your oak furniture yet works with the black and white--a sage green maybe.
--.Start Googling black and white galley kitchens to get some pictures. And also black and white checkerboard floors. There are lots on Houzz and on Apartment Therapy.

Traditional Kitchen by Omaha Interior Designers & Decorators Birdhouse Interior Design

Me again. Sorry, the embedded photo didn't show up here or in my Ideabook, but it's the second photo down on the link and that works.

Thanks, housegal200. I've done black and white tile floors, in a bathroom, long ago. And it was good. That was then; this is now. A cleaner, leaner, but not-too-modern conservative look is more what I'm aiming for. I despise wallpaper, in general. Green is not my idea of a good color for a kitchen -- guess I'm old school, preferring a more sanguine palette for dining areas. The less hardware, the better, for such a narrow space -- my hips will thank me. Counter-depth fridge/ freezer on the bottom. Still stuck on what to use for countertops, and in what color range -- probably not too mottled, if at all. The oak table is one of many antique wood pieces elsewhere, so I want to stay somewhat on the bright side in the kitchen. Non-wood colors in the adjacent dining area and living room are mossy green, burnt orange, cerulean blue, turquoise, gold -- which all fits together for some crazy reason. I sure didn't plan it that way! European friends say it looks European.

The color scheme you describe sounds like the classic Majolica colors. Is that on the right track?

http://italian-ceramics-art.com/elegant-dishes-gifts/Ceramic-Majolica-Plate-Deruta-Ricco-Scrolls-Blue-739-30cm.html

If the cabinet boxes are in fairly decent condition, you could reface the existing cabinets. I carry the Showplace Wood Product- Fine Cabinetry line who has a program called Renew. A far better quality refacing product than what their competitors offer.

You can either paint the boxes and then select from their paint choices or pick any color from Sherwin William Paint to go on any of their many, many door styles. Add new end panels, crown moldings, decorative corbels or legs, etc.

If you want more of a wood look, not a problem! They are an extremely durable (real wood) veneer that goes over the old boxes. Wood choices included oak, quarter sawn oak, hickory, alder, maple, cherry, lyptus and engineered wood veneer.

It ends up being typically 40% to 50% less than going with new cabinets.

Here are a couple of my BEFORE and AFTER kitchen projects featuring Showplace Cabinets- Renew program. Oh by the way, this kitchen with the glass counter top has Karndean International Flooring Luxury Vinyl flooring, Spanish Pebbles borders the island and the rest of the floor is Antique Kari wide plank wood.

Sometimes you have the option to move cabinets around to utilize space more effectively and/ or open up part of a wall to eliminate the long gallery feel giving the space a more open feel. Like this kitchen I did a couple of years back.

Your kitchen looks "dated" but I don't think you'd have to break the bank to spiff it up. I'd start with a scale drawing and a punch list of the things you dislike most about the present iteration (stove, floor, ceiling, and lighting). I'm not nuts about the countertop color, but if your budget is thin I'd bet you could work with it for little while.

I don't have a clear idea of how the kitchen relates to the rest of your living area but that would be something I'd keep in mind when selecting wall and ceiling colors and the flooring. If you're willing to do the grunt work, I think judicious use of paint (and all the prep. work it requires!) could deliver a super result. Fun hardware, thoughtful treatment of the raised panels (maybe a stenciled motif?) could add some zip if you don't want a monochromatic bank of cabinetry. New lighting would go a long way toward minimizing the "laboratory" look, too. It looks like a fun project, I hope we'll get to see how it turns out.

Thanks again, apple pie! The colors are more muted, but you're close! Here are more pictures, from the living room. Afghan rug (not as 'orange' as it appears here -- more of a rust color -- now in the dining area adjacent to the kitchen), spread out on the moss green rug (which has pale gold scrolls around the edges, mostly hidden); Haitian metal sculpture over the fireplace (brighter colors than appear here, and the violet tinges don't show up well); Haitian painting over the couch (somewhat brighter than actual colors). Wow, I am a terrible photographer. :-(

The artwork certainly has more pizzazz than the current kitchen. Picking up on the blue in the painting would be easy. Here are some blue kitchens:

love your color palette - if you're going to paint the kitchen cabinets, why not use Annie Sloan chalk paint - no priming - just paint and wax or paint, distress, wax if you like the worn look - easiest transformation ever....

i like the cabinets that you have. i think painting them would be the main thing. replacing or covering the floor with stick down tiles (or real if you budget allows) and painting and then upgrading appliances to stainless when you can afford it.

Fun, yes: http://www.anniesloan.com/acatalog/North_American_Stockists.html#Texas. I am not into DIY; been there, done that -- it would take me forever, and I have almost zero talent in applied art. Apple pie, great greyish-blue in the Contemporary Kitchen, and it's sleek without being too modern. I wonder if there is vinyl wood flooring in that color. Good way to lighten things up, starting at the bottom!

Being realistic. . .this is probably going to cost about $20,000, and I hope that includes new stainless steel appliances. The dishwasher and the refrigerator are in good condition and there would be no need to change plumbing or wiring -- so they can wait if necessary. Getting rid of the dropped ceiling will be messy, but will only require resurfacing and painting of the resulting overhead area, including above the upper cabinets. Need to replace old fluorescent fixture up there as well as the one above the sink. . .with something. After taking another look at all the suggestions, I think re-painting the cabinets (white) will work, as will vinyl wood flooring in a color similar to the one in A Crew of Two's photo. The countertop needs to be replaced, but with what? Instead of 'taupe,' maybe pale seafoam (semi-gloss) for the walls, as it blends with other colors in adjacent areas and could still be somewhat neutral -- trying to avoid any in-your-face colors. I got that color idea from really liking the look of the glass countertop in "Wyland's" photos and from the living room of another house where I'm living for a few months.

Gray counter tops will look good with your white cabinets.

A built in eating area would be very nice. You can accomplish this with upper cabinets. Pinterest has wonderful options and not pricey.

http://www.houzz.com/trk/aHR0cDovL3d3dy5jb21wcmVzc2VkcGF0dGVybi5jb20/1c92f114361bda79bc79b608ad1b1ffe/ue/MzUxMzQ2/27569727326c51c91355e3742d5bc2b4

http://www.silestoneusa.com/colors/all/ Grey? Mmmm, no. Here's some information about costs: http://quartzkitchencountertops.org/silestone-cost/

Above the sink the piece of trim that appears in the photo is usually replaced with a straight cut or covered up with a straight piece of trim.

Yes, it's a very small thing, but the scallop is an old-fashioned /dated touch. I had intended to remove or replace it, to cut down on any vestiges of "cuteness." The glaring fluorescent light (even if it is "daylight" fluorescent) also has to go. I had to toss the old plastic cover long ago. The wrought iron fixture in the breakfast area may be too "cute," too, but it has a family history.