Simplify, simplify, simplify. Take down the curtain at the sink for starters. Lay hardwood floors or tile. Paint the wall something that works with the cabinet color.

So . . .what have you decided on?

Sorry for the delay. I haven't started on the work yet but i'm planning to repaint the kitchen cabinets, walls, and changing the floors. I will also remove the piece above the kitchen window. I really can't stand the kitchen tiles and I have a contractor coming to the house next week Tuesday to let me know if they can change the tiles without moving the cabinets. I also plan to add a small island but it depends on whether I can fit it in the budget or not because I will have to add electric and it maybe costly.

I will definitely keep you posted once I get a good estimate, which should be in a week. After it is all done, I will post pictures even if it comes out hideous.

I had just changed the painting in the kitchen and I still don't like the floors and the cabinets. For the past month, I've been arguing my way to change the floors in the kitchen. My family thinks i'm nuts for not liking that ridiculous granite floor tile. I had a few contractors come in to tell me that it will require a lot of work. So I might install laminate floating floors on top of it. But I will have to rip out the tile molding on the wall. SMH. I feel like I want to tear this house down and start from scratch. It's driving me crazy and I haven't even moved my stuff in yet.

@deed766: sounds frustrating. What would you really, really want instead? Sometimes it helps to stand back.

It's much better with the new paint, by the way.

Before you spend $ on hiring a painter, consider refacing. Showplace Wood Products has a really nice system for refacing...and you get a nice 'factory finish', which a handpainted finish cannot match. Maybe a warm wood to go with your granite. I can understand why your husband want to keep the granite and full splash. That is pricey in itself. To remove granite and reinstall, costs almost as much as getting all new granite. I would reface (or paint) and get new flooring. There is a Showplace Renew dealer in your area, you might call them to see if they do the refacing (not all Showplace dealers offer this). But our store has had great success and satisfied customers with it. It is not a junky reface company. The doors and finishes are comparable to factory custom. Click here to learn more and be sure to watch the video on this page! http://www.showplacewood.com/vid/vidpages/renew.explained.html

Here is the dealer in your area: http://www.candccabinetry.com/

your kitchen already looks better with curtain/valance removal, and once new range and hood are installed will be great improvement. have you thought of replacing light fixture? and replacing wall sockets on backsplashes to something that would blend in better?

Have you considered replacing the doors and drawers and painting the face frames of the cabinets? This way you can get a different look without actually changing the cabinets.

Lord, sit down and take a breath. It's hugely improved with what you've done. What a beautiful outside area, I hope you're planning on using it as an extension of your kitchen. I agree about lighting and also think hardware will freshen things up.

The frustration has a more to do with the overall improvements to the home. Besides the kitchen and bathroom, I had problems with the floors in the rest of the house. The original owner had put in rather colorful granite tiles throughout the home except for the living room, and three of the bedrooms. Living room is part of a large open floor that connects to the hallway and dining room. The previous owner decided to put golden color oak wood in the living room. My guess was to separate the room but it was hideous. So my first project was to change the color of the bedroom floors to a dark wood color and to strip out the wood in the living room and add more of that colorful tile to make it more uniform. I had initially thought that making these type of remodeling changes wouldn't be so hard but it became a real nuisance with the contractors. Here is the original picture of that: https://www.houzz.com/discussions/hate-the-floors-dsvw-vd~923801

Now its all tile but it wasn't leveled properly and now the contractors will have to fix it.

To answer a few of the questions, I'm definitely replacing that chandelier in the kitchen. I'm just not sure which type yet. and where in the room.

I'm still planning to repaint the kitchen cabinets to an off-white color. I'm just not a fan of the golden color wood and its bothering me to no end.

So my next plan is to do something about the light fixtures and then kitchen cabinet's color and handles by next week. If I still don't like the floors, then I will rip the tile moldings off and put in the laminate floors.

Baby steps.... you're getting there! We've been remodeling our house for 6 years! Your kitchen already looks 100 times better than it did before. Painting the cabinets will be another huge improvement. To get the cream-colored look of the cabinets in the pictures I posted, paint them off-white and then apply a mocha glaze. Wipe it off quickly and evenly in order to not get dark streaks on the white. The glaze gets into the crevices of the molding and really helps define the door. I'm sure you can find directions on-line. Another popular look right now is solid bright white with shiny silver hardware/faucets, etc. The white would match your appliances. But for solid white (and maybe off-white, too), you really need to use a power sprayer. Thanks for posting your progress! Good luck.

Please tell me you painted the pinky-red-mauve living room walls!

Wow, the original living room colors were awful. I hope you can post "after" photos. Thanks for explaining what you'd really like.

replace

I will post the living room pictures over the weekend. I had already changed the walls to a light gray color and the floors are being redone today because the contractor messed up the first time. Also have to add back the white bottom molding.

Can someone tell me the average costs to have 22 cabinets/drawers painted. I just need a range because I've spoke to a couple of contractors and each gave me some estimate that are very different from each other.

A few thousand dollars in southern California.

In our area it ranges from $75 to $150 per door/drawer

If you don't like the door style you can just get the few doors you need to match the plain drawer fronts and paint them - a fairly inexpensive option.

Ok please excuse my ignorance because this is all new to me. So if I buy new doors and drawers, do I need to paint them too to match the painted frames?

yes

Best to get new doors. Less labor to strip and paint and you will get a fresher look. Unless you are very very handy, have someone measure and install them for you.

I think when refacing that the new doors and drawer fronts come factory painted. Then you strip and paint your cabinet frames to match the new doors.

but most likely the frames will not match the new doors unless you repaint, no?

deed766,
How is your project going?
I am also wanting to do a kitchen update without spending a lot.
I'm considering changing the cabinet doors and refinishing the boxes. I want to change the counter tops & back splash. I may need to change the floor as well.
We haven't moved in yet, so the pictures are the previous owner's furniture etc.

Watch this youtube video showing an old oak kitchen being transformed in to a bright, white kitchen. With the Renew system by Showplace, you don't even have to paint the framework. You get 100% factory painted materials to cover it all. The factory paint is much better and easier to clean. I would not spend several thousand for a pro painter when you can have something like this done, which will be a superior quality and look.

Nice video! I found a contractor to do the painting of the kitchen cabinets however they recommended that I get a very small island. About 36 inches wide.

To move around an island easily you need 36" in each direction. Total of 98" with a 24" deep island, 110" for a 36" wide island. If I am looking at your kitchen above, I do not see enough room for an island. Best if you tape off the area and then put some boxes down and see how you like the space you have left and walking around it, opening fridge doors, oven doors etc.

Already marked up the floor but its small. The size is similar to this picture but it looks smaller. I will take a picture of the outline when I get home.

36" aisle space was the old minimum. 42" to 48" is preferred, especially where appliances are located. 48" is best with a two cook kitchen or if you entertain a lot. Some refrigerators are 30-35" DEEP....so they are much deeper than the surrounding cabinets, unless designed around it. You definitely will need more aisle space around a refrigerator.

@The Kitchen Place
Thank you for sharing that video!
I will be contacting a dealer in our area so I can get our cabinets priced out.
Do you have suggestions for our counter top & back splash?
The rest of the house has oak mill work, but we like more of a modern look, so we want to do something that won't clash, but will look clean.

@ ideas90
You're welcome! Just so you know, not all Showplace dealers offer the Renew system. At first, we were reluctant to offer it since we were never in the refacing business. But our installers gave it a try and they said the system is really nice! And my installers are true craftsmen and difficult to impress! We have now done quite a few jobs with many happy customers! And it's now an extra service that I can offer my clients. I do believe, with so many of the new builds in the last 20 years with the standard oak builder grade, topped with granite, refacing will become a more popular option.

I had a client a few months ago, that had the standard honey oak cabinets with granite. They wanted all new cabinets and keep their existing granite. Just to have their old granite removed and re-installed was about 80% the cost of new granite.

Keep us posted on your kitchen remodel!
KELLY

Ps. Regarding your question on countertops: What are you planning on doing for the refacing? White? Wood? Slab doors? Wide rail shaker? You said you liked modern design. I feel that quartz countertops lend more to a modern, clean look. I suggest you look through the modern kitchen photos here on HOUZZ and make yourself an inspirational folder and then see what the common denominators are. I personally like quartz more than granite and am a fan of the white marble colors and colors that have less 'speckly' patterns.

I would recommend refacing this kitchen with a wide rail shaker style door and a three piece drawer front. That is a bread boarded end on the drawer front the bread board will have the same line as the doors and look awesome very updated look!

Which person are you recommending this for?

kitchen island size that was recommended for my kitchen is 36 inches wide and 24 inches deep with a 9 inch hang over for a breakfast bar.

I think Circle Goods was recommending the reface kit option for your kitchen. This would allow you to pick out the exact door style you want!

ok. I wasn't sure because of the countertop question. The countertop along with the backsplash will cost too much to replace because that's all granite. I would like to change it up but the costs of replacing is not an option. I'm going to keep most of the cabinet doors and just replace two with glass doors

So I finally finished the kitchen I still don't like the granite floors but I will keep it for now until I am able to change it. I'm just looking for some counter stools now. Also, I have shutters for the sliding doors coming in another week.

I will post more pics when I get home. These pics are after I had repainted the walls (originally green), painted the kitchen cabinets, changed the kitchen lights to recess and pendant lighting (originally it was only a chandelier), replaced two upper cabinet doors to glass doors, bought a small island and purchased a granite countertop for island (to match the other countertop), new hardware, and purchased stainless steel appliances.

This looks great--so much fresher and cleaner now! Good work! :-)

Thank you! Just have to do some minor touches like take down that telephone jack. I was also thinking that I should change the outlet covers to stainless steel. The original owners have so many outlets on the back wall that it takes away from the backsplash.

It looks beautiful. The changes make a thorough update.

The updated space looks great!

Looks like a brand new kitchen. Gorgeous! Well done.

Looks great! Way better:)

Wow! I am coming in very late in the game but just wanted to say - what a huge and beautiful update. Congratulations!

Yes, a beautiful update! Love it!