Oh I'm definitely not afraid of color... I just know myself well enough to know that I'll get sick of color... so I keep it to my accents & accessories so I can change it as often as I like. Its the same reason I keep my furniture neutral... I can repaint the walls as often as can for $50-ish... Hubby was working on the crown molding again tonight. Looks great, except I dislike the under cab molding. It's not the one we chose, but honestly I'm so sick of fighting with lowes I'm just going to live with it. Its a bit too big for the space :/ love the subway tile idea... going to have that on my list for tomorrow.

Staging and adding color to curb appeal would go a long way. It looks like you got the decluttering thing down, but maybe a little too much--some rooms are a little too spartan and thus not very welcoming. My first impression after looking at the photos was: -The kitchen was updated, but the color and style clash with the table and there are no stools at the island. These things tell me that I will need to repaint either the kitchen or the rest of the house right off the bat to make them flow better. The table (while it would be going with you & not staying) gives the wrong feel to the otherwise modern kitchen & the green tablecloth has to go. The absence of stools at the island make me wonder if there is not enough room for the stools and the table in that space. The chandelier & light fixture don't look like they were updated (the pots hanging from the ceiling draw your eye upward so you definitely notice the lights)--check out the big box stores for some affordable, easy to install updates. Love the window treatments and that wonderfully large window! -Living & Dining rooms both feel very spartan and cold in the photos. Pulling the curtains back will help bring in more natural light and make it feel more welcoming & open. Is the dining room table centered in the room or pushed off center toward the window? It seems cramped at the window end which to me says the room is small and family dinners will be elbow to elbow. As mentioned above, too many different paint colors--the yellow doesn't do much for me & the white or pale blue in the living room is very cold. Framed prints on the walls and an area rug would go a long way to warming the rooms up. -Bedrooms need warming up too--more framed prints & an area rug needed. Slide the bed in the master over so its more centered in the room. The way it is now, it appears cramped. It looks like there is a tray ceiling in there too--an off center bed is negatively accentuated in this situation. The green curtains need to go and be replaced with neutral colored ones and again, pull them back to let in natural light to give an open welcoming feel. -Masterbath needs some warm welcoming touches too. Framed prints, some candles, strategically drape a folded towel along the edge of the tub, add a pretty container of bath salts to the tub corner, add a pretty window treatment to the window above the tub vs. the plastic mini-blinds. Warm, fuzzy, yet tasteful bath rugs will help too. The walls need some color. Make it feel like a spa environment-somewhere potential buyers would like to retreat to after a long day at work. Don't forget a handtowel on the towel ring! -Love the family room--maybe an area rug...that's it. -J&J bath--looks good. Add a framed print or two, a window treatment, fuzzy warm yet tasteful bath rug & hang the hand towel up. Choosing a nice neutral color of towel throughout all the baths would help too. Something in a fluffy white or beige to give that spa like feel would be good. -Laundry looks great--open the curtains. -Nursery looks great--maybe a framed print or two. -Exterior: Deck needs new coat of paint. The front looks a little tired. Adding some spots of color will help the curb appeal--a tall fat planter with colorful flowers on both corners of the porch, some colorful flowers planted in the beds, maybe a couple tall plants under the porch lights. another planter or two with plants and flowers on the back deck would help make it seem more welcoming too. It seems like you were working on updating the house and managed to get to the kitchen, family room, laundry, nursery & J&J bath. The rest appears to have not been updated since the house was built. While I love antiques, the furniture in the unupdated rooms with this scenario does not help. The obvious brass fixtures in the master bath scream 1980s and most if not all potential buyers are wondering how hard will it be to update them. You definitely have 3 vastly different styles going on in the house which can cause a major disconnect with potential buyers. If you were to repaint the kitchen, dining room, bedrooms, master bath & living room to more neutral colors (similar to family room & J&J bath) + update brass fixtures + add warming touches as outlined above to rooms for staging + exterior color and I think you could probably relist for the $290K in the spring and walk away with around $260-$250K. My BIL is a real estate agent and when we sold our house with him he even said not to tell him the absolute lowest price we were willing to take for the house. I can confidently say that repainted & staged well (including replacing a couple light fixtures, new comforter for DS's room, new bathroom stuff, quick exterior spruceup by adding color) when we sold our house. We listed the house $10K higher than the exact house down the street that sold a couple weeks earlier for a higher than average price for our neighborhood. We had an offer in 2 days and ended up with a bidding war between two potential buyers that ended on day 5 on the market. Trust me, potential buyers need to be able to see themselves living in your home and driving up to your home everyday--your staging makes all the difference. Good luck to you!

Wow, everyone is so nice! Thank you! Like I said, I do love the laminate I have, but getting granite has always been a dream. However....I worked up the sq. footage yesterday, after I posted here, and now I'm worried I won't be able to afford it. I really don't want to spend more than $2000 - $2500. Is that unrealistic?? I appreciate all your kind comments! I love when people think my cabinets are painted. :) And the tile is 3x6 Daltile Rittenhouse Square, matte finish, Arctic White color. The grout is a dark gray color, Delorean Gray from Lowe's. I thought it looked better than the light gray grout choice. I did the backsplash myself. I have the Plugmold under the cabinets, and just added some undercabinet lights recently. The countertops are Wilsonart Graphite Nebula. I got it without the backsplash section. In the description i wrote up of the kitchen right after it was finished, I wrote that they cost $1500 (With the labor)...but I don't remember them being so expensive? Oh well! Maybe my dreams of granite are out the window! I appreciate all of your input. On Tuesday, I'm going to the local granite yard and ask for a free estimate. They're running a special for that right now. And then I'll tell them we expect to have about $2500 max, and can they work with us on that? Granite is not very common for homes in my area, unless they are new construction, and not even that common in those cases. Most kitchen remodels in this area are oak cabinets with laminate or Corian counters. I know I'll be over-improving for the neighborhood, but we're staying here for a long time (God willing!), so I don't care. :) Thanks so much for your kind words! Here's my link to the finished kitchens blog, with details from my kitchen. Started in 2003, finished up in early 2004. Here is a link that might be useful: My kitchen

Sounds about right, my price to customers is $44.53 sf. You're dealing with a porcelain tile and CrossVille isn't cheap. I don't do too much business with them because of their high prices and return policy. You can always take the tile product to other showrooms and attempt to find another product similar and at a better price. I do this a lot for my customers.