Adding more cabinets behind the table sounds do-able. Straightening out the bend does not. I think the biggest thing this kitchen needs is COLOR. Whatever color palate you prefer, bring it in. I'd go with a colorful, busy backsplash, some bright curtains, maybe a colored rug under the table, and a chandalier that doesn't disappear in all the neutral. And some greenery (or crockery) above the cabinets to fill in some "up top" colors. Really, this kitchen looks good -- it just needs to be accessorized. After that, crown molding. I'd be interested to know the size of your kitchen -- that is, the overall size of the cabinet area. It looks to be about the same size as the small kitchen I'm planning for our retirement house.

I'm SO glad it's not just me! Of course I would never say anything out loud - well, okay I did hint to MIL that changing the colors a bit might liven up her space when she mentioned wanting to add cabinets - but I can't help noticing and planning other people's kitchens. Now, I'm not so bad when it's simply a kitchen that's not to my taste - I'm talking about builder-grade kitchens, or those that have solid construction but nobody ever bothered to think about color schemes or efficiency. Writersblock, that is so funny about your pulmonogist's office floor tile. I get the same urges when I come across design elements I love at unexpected places, like holligator I have not been above taking discreet pictures! The problem is that the ones I see most often are the ones that especially make me want to scream, and of course the owners - not having the benefit of reading this forum - are blissfully unaware. One has the range right up between an open doorway - no frame, no counter - and the other side is the 2' depth of counter space running along the wall at a right angle. There is however a beautiful open space to put in more counters and turn it into a galley kitchen, but no, everything is crammed along a single stretch. Funny enough though, my French aunts have typical teeny-tiny European kitchens where everything is diminutive and there is practically no counter space at all, and it doesn't bother me one bit! Go figure! Of course we don't all have the same needs or tastes, but when I see the UNplanned dysfunction and stubborn ugliness of the kitchens where nobody has ever questioned the original design, I have to wonder, was this really put in ON PURPOSE???

I have always been interested in training animals. I have enjoyed clicker training my donkeys, but the first animal I trained with a clicker was in 1972 when I was going to school to be a vet tech. We had to teach a conditioned response to an animal and I taught a cat to sit up. I had read long ago that animals don't reason, but I think they do, at least to some extent. One of my dogs is a terrier of some kind. She looks like a cross between a scottie and a dachshund or maybe a schnauzer and a dachshund. She has a long body and short legs but a square-ish head and a rough coat. I found her dumped on the road...when she was about five months old, so I don't really know anything about her. Except she is stubborn. Every time I would leave, she would follow my truck out the gate. I couldn't send her back. If I forgot to put her inside, she would get out and run down the road when I left. My other dogs go back when I tell them. There are 3 gates to go through and it is time consuming and aggravating to have her run off and I had to go catch her and bring her back to the house. So, I put a big crate by my gate with a pad for her to lay on and a water bowl. It was in the shade. If she followed me out the gate, I caught her and put her in the crate. I didn't think that would break her of it, but it saved me from having to take her back to the house, especially if I was in a hurry and short on time. I only had to do that a couple of times and when I told her to go back....she did it. She never followed the truck again. It's like putting the bulldog in the trailer for chasing the mule to excess. She recognizes that she did wrong. I am more of a cat person.....but my vet asked me if I would be willing to raise 7 orphan puppies (like I had so much free time. LOL) The reason he asked me, he knows I can tube feed, and the puppies were weak. His tech was already raising a litter of pups and a litter of kittens. Some other women were supposed to take a couple of the puppies to raise but that fell through and they brought them all to me. So far I have just found a home for one. I haven't really tried very hard because I am picky who gets them. I bottle fed the little stinkers for 3 weeks and you bond with them. You have to be so careful who gets an animal because there is so much meanness in the world. I always wanted to train my donkeys and take them around to nursing homes, etc. to do tricks for the residents. I would love to train the puppies to do some tricks too. I know how much I would miss my animals if I had to live where I couldn't have them any more. So that is something I have been thinking about doing....if I end up keeping some of the pups. Well, I already know I am keeping two of them.....................

That's a lot of work. Sand, prime, sand, prime, lightly sand, paint, lightly sand, paint, meybe do it again. Then do the frames of the boxes. Plus you are gonna get brush strokes so decide if you like that look. Use a good quality brush for the paint, you can roll the primer. Get your paint and primer from an actual paint store and dont buy the cheapest of either- ask the techs opinion. It is a lot of work, but I think it would be cheaper than new doors if you DIYed it.