Man, I wish I had your problem!!!!!! I'm not trying to be rude but it seems totally wasteful to get rid of this simply cause you don't like it. You have a great kitchen already to a lot of people on here.............and $10k for a band-aid on what essentially is a kitchen you don't like is even more wasteful. I'm guessing there's nothing wrong with this kitchen, it's just that you don't like it. In that case, I'd live with it for a few years and get it totally replaced to have the look you want. Will you get the return back to rip this out?

Thank you all who took some of your time to come here and help us with the decisions, your advice and suggestions were very much appreciated and helped get to where we are. Thank you!!!

Congratulations! Nice and bright!

drawers on either side of the stove. Right now, I have a stove next to a doorway and no counter on the right. How anyone ever thought that was a good idea is beyond me. I have a small kitchen but I want a pantry. Doesn't have to be big but anything is better than the current under cabinet pantry and I have to basically crawl into on a daily basis.

Thanks for sharing with us @retire2012!

Black soapstone countertops, no etching, heat proof, does scratch but can be sanded, hygenic and does not need sealing ever.

Why not remove that cabinet on the left of the fridge? you can center the fridge on that spot between the two walls and frame it out. If you're handy, it shouldn't cost too much. Or you could move that cabinet to the other side of the fridge.
The table takes entirely too much room. I would remove it. Are you looking to add a peninsula for work surface space, storage or for seating? You can add a cart on wheels so you can slide it out of the way under the phone when not in use.
Can you post a picture of the left wall across from the stove? Maybe you can add some sort of slim bar seating along that wall........

I would get rid of the valence curtains and put blinds in place of shades (I know they were probably expensive). That would add more light in and make it look more modern. I love the silver phone, very cool! I'd keep pantry, wish I had one! Try to think about resell value too.

I agree - don't paint the cabinets. Save the money and they really do look good. You just need better lighting.

You can easily add the peninsula to your own dimensions. Or you can buy a ready made one.

For the 'fridge, I think it is too big. Look for a smaller one that has one door on top and a freezer drawer on the bottom.

I would replace it if it was that hard to clean but $60,000.00 dollars to replace a floor?!?!?!?! That seems excessive, no?

Its very unique restore it

It's hard to part with such a unique piece of history but sanity has to win out here. I say pull up some of the tiles and arrange into a wall art piece, then lay down new flooring that you can live with.

[https://www.houzz.com/products/12x12-art3d-ancient-boat-wood-historic-and-weathered-wall-art-single-tile-prvw-vr~49010931[(https://www.houzz.com/products/12x12-art3d-ancient-boat-wood-historic-and-weathered-wall-art-single-tile-prvw-vr~49010931)

*** I don't know how I ended up here, but I got pulled into this saga and now it's three years later and I must know... what did you do?

She said she didn't want to paint the cabinets......................I like Groveraxle's suggestion. Greige on the walls. Add new pulls. If/when the budget allows add a backsplash and change the counters. Formica counters that look like granite look nice and won't break the bank. That should work until you can do a whole gut job.

To Charis93

The wall Color is Behr's Pure Earth. I have it throughout the house because it is neutral and suits all four seasons. You can decorate warmly for winter and cool it down with white accessories in the summer.

@gwynn28 If you happen to still be checking Houzz from 8 years ago, I love how your kitchen turned out! We’re doing ours and I feel the same way about my cabinets - honey oak but too solid to justify replacing. I love your floors! Are they solid hardwood? Do you remember the name/color?

Your room looks great already but the first thing a designer is going to ask for before giving advise is more pictures of the other walls.

I think you need to add color. Pull another color other than the light blue from the painting. Was is this room? A formal living room, sitting room....? From the looks of the pictures I get the impression that the grouping has to accommodate a foot traffic pattern. Is this why there's no coffee table?

I can't wait to sit down and thoroughly read through each comment and suggestion. I admire interior designers so much and am always impressed by their talent of seeing things right away. Love this app and so glad I asked!!

Add some color in the drapes and change the area rug to something with a little more color and design. Then bring in accent pillows that play off those colors.

I would paint the fp wall a color pulled from that art with the dock. Maybe the orange. Remove the purple. Put a big round mirror over the fireplace and that dock art on the wall to the right of the fp above the chaise.
Put a sofa table behind the sofa to frame the entryway.
All your family pictures can go on the wall behind the sofa as a gallery wall.
Do a grouping of 3 vases over the mantle on one side with maybe one picture to the other side.
I like Groveraxle's grouping above. Add pillows and curtains that coordinate with the art.
Update the fan.

No particular age; I'm really thinking of photos that would be interesting to everyone, even people you don't know since they'd be on display in the most public part of your home. An ancestor out in the field with an old piece of farm equipment, your grandparents in the new 1943 Chrysler, one of the kids with a look of wonderment on his face, your daughter at 3 playing dress up, kid and dog on the beach. Try to look at your photos as if you didn't know these people and see if there are any compelling ones. Children in goofy hats and odd poses are almost always compelling.

Even two photos would be enough. And I'll bet you've got a friend somewhere with a decent graphics program who could crop and enhance it to make it worthy to be called art.

Grover - EXCELLENT advice. You can copy/paste this on several discussions.

I think your room is pretty great and you have good taste in furniture but as you've pointed out there's room for improvement. Personally, I don't like the accent wall. It's too dark and it makes the room unbalanced like Groveraxle said. The sectional leans to the left and the dark wall is towards the right.You have a lot of dark colors throughout as it is. Your sectional, the dining table, the TV and the Expedit are all black or nearly black..............and the red brick fireplace doesn't match anything in the open concept room.
Paint the accent wall the same color as the rest of the room. I think the TV should go on the right of the fireplace and put a plant on the window side.
Put a piece of art over the fireplace and use it to pull colors from for your accents.
I don't normally suggest painting brick but if you decide to paint it.....paint it white and that leaves a totally neutral room to play with other colors for your accent pieces.

groveraxle, let me ask you this, would you lighten up the focal wall or leave it as is? I'm in Canada and will definitely look for some big, bold pictures. I absolutely love that wall you created. It's nice to actually see the room transformed, as I am a visual person. Will have to send a picture of my finished product.

tjlucky, I would NOT lighten the focal wall if I could find the art that would balance it. I actually took a chance on that rendering because that kind of wall is definitely not for everyone. But if you're up for making a statement, do it. The key is having enough dark and neutral on the art wall plus a few brights to call attention. And if you're going to do it, take your time and find the right pieces, print the images to scale and play with their arrangement on the kitchen counter before you pull the trigger.

Here is a site with some very cool urban art. You kind of have to look through them all, though, because there's no way to sort. And from what I can tell, they come in predetermined sizes. So the canvas below, which would be great, is only 11"x11". http://www.urbanloftart.com/industrial-abstract-architecture-wall-art-c36474.htm

Here is a place that sells Banksy prints on canvas: http://www.icanvasart.com/banksy-prints-canvas-art.html#pc=0&pf=null&pi=0&pp=viewall&ps=popularity+desc Here you can choose your size, so the second image below could be printed as large as 61x41 (1.5 inch deep). Don't you dare have it cut into three pieces. ;-)

I think your kitchen/dining area look great as is. As does your sun room. Are you looking to make the half wall a full wall? I think that would close off the flow. No?

Yes we can remove the knee wall and the door.

Don't want to put a full wall up.

Man, that sink area is a super tight squeeze! First thing I'd do is change the color. It's too dark. Don't know what your budget is so can't really say much but I'll give my suggestion and hopefully give you some ideas.
Is there any way to close the closet door in the bathroom and add it outside the bathroom? That way you could add a cabinet or shelving unit for extra storage. If that's not possible consider finding a small cabinet or shelving for the area between the doors for storage.
Is there no door to the closet? Put a door in, if possible. How do you feel about steam and moisture in your closet without one?
What style do you like? Modern, cottage, traditional, etc.? Replace the pedestal with a cabinet and the mirror with a flush mount medicine cabinet in the style you pick. You could probably find good ones for not too much money at the big box stores.
How's the lighting situation? You could add a wall mount either above the medicine cabinet or sconces on either side.
Later on, you could change the floors and change the shower doors. Also add a recessed niche on the back wall of the tub between the studs for extra storage. (I have two very small bathrooms and added niches to both.) Basically a gut?

I think what is bothering me about the molding is less the color and more the Colonial style, the thinness, the shine and the faux Victorian rosettes on the window. Maybe once the rest of the room is done, it won't stand out so much. Dunno... In the bottom two photos that LB shows above, see how the thicker, plain molding presents such a different appearance

The moldings evoke two different design styles. Either style can interchange with other design choices.

I think your kitchen is modern enough. It looks great............except for the floors. That's what I would renovate. I'd leave the cabinets alone.

This is a very simple kitchen that shows very well. That being said you just need some "pop". So think about changing the back splash. Try finding some light glass tiles with some complementary accent tiles of a bright color mixed in. Then add some LED under counter lighting. Also add the LED lighting over the top cabinets. Just one additional thought if your budget allows retile the floor with a wood looking tile with a color that comes close the cabinet color to tie the room together. Good luck with the project.

Yep old post but might still help someone's idea process.

I say rip it out and put the Ikea shelving you like. You could also build a wall behind it to make it shallower............2x4's and drywall would add 5 inches so your new cabinets would be more flush to the wall.

I'm a big fan of reuse. I think you entertainment center could be modified into something useful and nice looking. First, I would consider painting it. That will make a world of difference. I know the photo you posted is not your exact unit but, for the one you posted, I would rework the middle portion. A carpenter or cabinet maker should be able to construct a center portion similar to the two side portions - base cabinet with doors. The tv could be wall mounted above that. There are a whole lot of things you could do with it.

I am also a fan of reuse as you Norwood, but in this case I can't see a big advantage because the thread poster doesn't like the old 80s style cabinets and as I can see on the pictures, it may not make sense to modify it, if in the end the result is not satisfying. Maybe I am wrong, and there is still a lot of potential with the old cabinets and with some good design ideas one can make very nice looking things with it. Would like to see the end result if it is going to be reused :)

I like your kitchen as well. The oak with the white backsplash and black counters work. If you need a bigger fridge then there's no choice but to take those cabinets out. Include the bigger fridge and add a pantry to fill the remaining space. Even though you wont have a landing next to the fridge the peninsula is close enough to serve that purpose. You can do those cabinets, in the fridge zone, in white to match the backsplash in the rest of the kitchen. That way, you don't have to find more matching tile nor matching cabinets. Make it look intentional. Lots of kitchens now have more than one color cabinets.

You may want to consider extending your kitchen into the dining room and adding a longer island with a table height portion added for dinner parties. Here is some inspiration:






If you're in the area, come join us for breakfast at our showroom and check out our free kitchen session every 2nd Saturday of the month: http://leichtnewyork.com/how-much-will-your-kitchen-cost-class-registration

Best of luck! Feel free to write or call us if you have any questions.

I just redid my kitchen --- my cabinets were a similar colour as yours but pretty banged up so I removed all the doors, painted the cabinets white and had a company come in to replace all the doors. I also had them install new drawers, the easy glide type. It made a huge difference - brightened up the space and updated it (got rid of the 70's). If you are happy with the configuration of your cabinets, then I would recommend you look into this option -- the price will be less than half of what you would spend on getting brand new cupboards installed.

No space for the loveseat. I agree with kaye1951. Put the couch in front of window and get rid of the loveseat. Put a chair in L-shape in front of fireplace and another chair to the right of the fireplace and a small coffee table.

Loveseat moved to right of fireplace facing into room. (back to dining room. Replace dn rm set w rectangle table. Might be able to keep chairs.
Move sofa far to left of fireplace w a rectangle coffee table. Not sure if you have one already.
Declutter all shelves and consider adding shelves above fireplace and put pics there adding a center focal picture with lots of color at center unless TV needs to go there.
I'd like to see window without seating in front if possible.
Just a start -- hope this doesn't confuse.
Are you open to investing in scaled down more traditional sofas? O
DV

I completely agree with 2B Design. I don't know what your budget is, but if it's possible, I'd move the refrigerator where the desk is now. Is there another place to put the office? That would clear out that side of the kitchen tremendously. The refrigerator in its current location closes off the flow of the kitchen.
Put the microwave over the range. Add a pantry opposite the refrigerator where you now have a pile of things on the floor.
Clear out all the clutter above the cabinets. Paint the walls a lighter color.

Susana ---- I ❤️your kitchen ! I have NO windows in mine the only light is the back door .... Your kitchen is amazing !

Iwantit --- wonderful ideas ! The kitchen as it is right now is gross ! I will post pictures (with your ideas) as soon as we start the renovations ! Thank you, I see a light at the end if my dark tunnel

I would darken the legs of the chairs. Pull the colors from the chairs to use as accent color throughout the room. I like the console table or even a credenza under the art. Add a bold/modern coffee table. Add a side table to the other side of the sofa and another one to the left chair that has none now. Put a plant like a fig tree or palm tree where the baker's rack is now.

Hi Erinsean Thank you so much for your comments... I have had it that way over the years, as well and it does work. I am really wanting to get rid of the baker's rack.... Time for a change! I really appreciate all of your suggestions! If anyone has any suggestions as to pillows, drapes etc, would love to hear them!! Hope everyone is having a great weekend, so far....

The lead edge of the draperies should be moved to just in front of your silhouette shade. Ideally the fabric should go to the glass. I agree on a darker color as right now the drapes are barely visible and will frame the opening well.

Why do you have 2 separate sleeping areas and no table to eat on or sofa to sit on? Are you only planning on sleeping there? With a roommate, I might add?
I'd make a living room where the bed is now leave the other bed in the separate room and put a small bistro table by the window in the kitchen.

I have some ideas but I want to know one things cannot change (i.e. -entrance door, double door in the back, etc.). Thanks.

Looks quite nice. Not sure what is the area by the entry is used for.

It would be perfect if you could center the doorway from the breezeway in the kitchen. The door to the basement, though, is still in the way and defeats the purpose of a galley kitchen.

IKEA as some amazing cabinets for the price. Use real granite however, or soapstone.

Here is the finished product. Finally completed the backsplash this weekend.