I love your inspiration pictures, so go for it! Besides, I'm about to get rid of the last of the shiny brass in our house, so that means it will be coming back into mainstream style big time any day now!

I love all the suggestions above. I have a friend who (as the majority of people) had very limited funds but a big desire to make her home cozy and beautiful. She had a lot a second hand furniture and other decor old and found, and when talking to me she expressed her concern everything in her home is different, second hand, etc, etc. Next time I met her, I brought her a book as a gift. The book was called "Flea Market Style" Later she told me it was amazing how calling things just a different name can be emboldening, empowering, and freeing. She totally stopped worrying about herself being a design mess)) and instead of worrying things were old and found started enjoying the process of discovering and mixing and putting it all together. Don't call yourself a design mess; there is a beautiful even though overused word "eclectic"..)) Or other words you can describe your unique style with. Maybe several words, not one. Style reflects us; we're multi-faceted beings...it's normal to love many different things. Of course one still should be mindful in what he's doing because the house should be like you: multi-faceted but still recognizable as one unique person..I mean house)) It should also make sense with its architecture, surroundings, have cohesiveness, especially in fixed materials, etc, etc. Not everything is easy to pull off. Eclectic style is especially not always easy to pull of. But it's so much fun. It's like in Andersen's fairy tales: remember how things and toys would have conversations and parties at night when people were sleeping? Imagine things in your house talking to each other. Like guests at a party lol. Guest with different characters and personalities as guests usually are. What will make for a good conversation? It will become much easier to see what works with what. And it will be fun to figure it all out. Looking forward to seeing the pics!

I'd paint every bit of that 90's fake oak baseboards and everything around the windows, a bright white. actually, for the baseboards I would remove what's there and replace w/simple 4.5" white mdf baseboards. you can replace all of the door trim too if you don't like it and don't want to bother with paint. rent a small table saw and learn how to do it yourself. it's easy and cheap that way. the next thing I'd do is take down the wall w/the arches. if you want an enclosed dining area, then enclose it and take it to the ceiling. that 1990 half wall look, w/Spanish style arches, is just horrid. get rid of the track lighting in the kitchen and have decent recessed lights installed. replace that dining light. (also easy to do yourself. learn how to do it and save yourself ($150 per light) . in the living room, please replace that fan w/more of modern type, that corner stone fireplace,,what do you want to do with that? does it work? you can remove those stones without too much of an issue. even replacing it with simple tile, ship lap, or dry wall would be an improvement. again,,not that difficult. study on how to do it. here are some beachy decor ideas to get you going do you see that 90's wood trim/baseboards anywhere? no. start w/whites, charcoal gray, soft blue grays, aqua or navy, and go from there.

So if you go with the white perimeter and oak island, your lighting could be black. Or make your China cabinet black. But, first, I’d focus on what you can afford vs. what you want to spend. Is 15-20k worth it to you? How long will you be living in this house? Could you make up that extra cost elsewhere in the budge? I don’t know the scope of your project. If you were to unexpectedly move in 3-4 years, would you recoup that extra cost? I don’t think any type of wood stained cabinet is out of style. Lighter woods are definitely trending. Obviously arched door fronts scream 80s and 90s. There will be certain things that indicate your kitchen was done in 2021.