Since we wanted to take it from traditional to more contemporary, we completely gutted the kitchen and started over. We couldn't get rid of the drop ceiling without moving plumbing and HVAC, so we just removed the flourescent lighting. We went with ceramic tile on the floor, quartz countertops (with recycled glass countertops on accent pieces), glass backsplash tile and custom cabinets. We didn't want electrical outlets or light switches to interrupt the backsplash, so we used outlets that pop up out of the countertops and an air switch in the sink for the garbage disposal.