That's exactly the reason I bought this acreage! And the day I moved in discovered there was wall to wall green shag carpet EVERYWHERE! I can't imagine I didn't notice it when I looked at the house. Maybe I was making too many plans for the barn!

To put pictures in your message, hover your mouse over the photo, a drop down appears, click HTML, the drop down changes to "copied". Come here to the message you are composing, click in the place you want the picture to be and "paste". When you Preview your post, the photo link will appear as a picture.

Do you have some inspiration pictures of what you'd like to end up with? This will take longer than you think and cost a lot more than you expect so brace yourself. Where do you want to start? Have you been to the finished kitchens blog? Even if you don't find what you want there, you will see things that get your brain thinking. And read the thread Read Me If You're New To GW Kitchens! [Help keep on Page 1]

Here is a link that might be useful: finished kitchen blog

I hope this is okay, I took the liberty to post the pics
below so others can chime in quickly without having to go
to PB. (if you right click on the HTML code under the pic
you can copy and paste it right on to this post)

Some questions....

Is that a dropped ceiling? What is above it? There could
be a few more inches there if it is a dropped ceiling
and with lots of your DIY labor you could create a taller
ceiling.

Are you keeping the wood trim in the rest of the house?

Have you thought about Gel Staining?
This is inexpensive and can really update cabinets.

The kitchen looks a little cramped with the refrig
tightly next to the range. It must be a bit difficult to
cook.

What does the rest of the space look like? Could
you change the location of the Refrig?
This might give you more elbow room. And again with a
little DIY labor you could build a small landing space
for your hot cooking stuff.

Concrete counters can be any color with a gray base.
Dark Graphite, Light Gray, Warm Stone brown, Gray blue
Gray green....

What color do you like?
What about going with a color that would go with your
curtains or even little painted dresser?

A few Befores and Afters.....

Sheeshamunga Before

Sheeshamunga After

Haute Apple Pie Before

Haute Apple Pie After

Gel Stain Lisa Laporta Before

Lisa Laporta After

If you get a chance check out Prill's kitchen.

And here are few links...

http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/kitchbath/msg0810443618847.html

Here is a link that might be useful: Scroll down to see Prill's kitchen

I just got back from Africa, so I'm in envy of of your friend.

Love the little dresser you painted and those drapes in the DR. Are you open to painting all of your woodwork white? and the DR walls the same color all the way to the top? That would make your ceilings look taller.

Can you move the fridge over to the right and put counter on the other side? I can't see what's next to the stove now.

Painting your cabinets will make a huge difference in your space. A soft white, or even a nice green, or as you say gray.

Can you post a few pics of the other side of your kitchen?

Check out (if you haven't) Lavenderlass's posts. She has gotten some great pictures of cottage kitchens and some great details.

Here's my before/during (since Boxer posted the after).

and after (still have some things to do)

Fantastic pictures, thank you! Yes, I plan to paint all the trim white. Between the stove and the fridge there is some counter space - that is where I have my kitchen aid mixer and my canister set. I love to cook, and though my kitchen is far from ideal I've learned to make the layout work so far. The ceilings are not drop down so I do plan on removing the ledge in the dining room and doing floor to ceiling in one color. I love the idea of aqua/turquoise accents, so I'm thinking maybe a paint color with yellow undertones (although I'm kind of scared of yellow) but I don't know what other color goes really nice with turqoise accents. Thank you boxerpups for posting my pics for me.
I guess more specifically, a few questions I have are:
Does white trim = white cabinets = black/white or grey countertop?
And does cream cabinets = brown countertops = cream trim?
I don't know what the rules are about warm and cool colors. Thanks for all the help!

Space b/n stove and fridge.

Where is the lovely drape from? That is just about exactly the fabric I'm looking for for roman shades in the kitchen/family room!

I like your idea, of painting the cabinets white...with some new hardware. The concrete countertops would look nice, too, it's great to have a handy DH :)

I'm not sure about the curtain material, but I like your little dresser. You seem to like turquoise and green...have you thought of a vintage/farmhouse look? Here's a few pictures.

{{!gwi}}

{{!gwi}}

{{!gwi}}

marcydc: the curtains are from World Market.

lavendar lass: I love the looks in those kitchens esp. the top one, which I'm happy to see has brown (wood) countertop and looks great. Thank you for posting those pics - I haven't seen them yet. I think I've been hung up on those curtains since it's hard to find ones I really like. I can't sew so I haven't entertained the idea of looking for a fabric I like instead. But maybe instead of picking out my curtains first, I should pic out my colors and then my curtains. Thank you! :)

Frmrsdghtr,

I think you can mix black with cream or brown with white.
It depends on all the elements and what is most pleasing
to you. Thanks for the extra pics, I can see better the
space you have next to your range oven.

I am happy LavenderLass stopped in. She always has
wonderful farmhouse kitchen ideas.

Prill. Africa? Really ? Or am I just gullible?

Here are a few other ideas with Turqouise and yellow.
And yes I think they look pretty together. It would
match your dresser perfectly.
~boxer

Thanks you. And duh, i just noticed you wrote where they are from. Sorry to be so dense! And I think I'll drive over there and look today!

I think if you do find a fabric you love, coordinating everything around that, especially paint, is probably easier than the other way. That's where I'm stuck now!

Boxer- Thanks for more beautiful pictures...especially #3 and #6. I love that soft aqua/turquoise! :)

Boxer- yes, my daughter and I went to Tanzania for two weeks in January. She's a photographer and was hired to do a wedding there. I got to tag along. We went on a safari ... It was really wonderful.

Frmr, I agree with boxer, you can mix colors. Pick the ones you love. Experiment with combinations you like.

If you could move the fridge down, you could get a good stretch of counter next to your stove.

Boxer- yes, my daughter and I went to Tanzania for two weeks in January. She's a photographer and was hired to do a wedding there. I got to tag along. We went on a safari ... It was really wonderful.

Frmr, I agree with boxer, you can mix colors. Pick the ones you love. Experiment with combinations you like.

If you could move the fridge down, you could get a good stretch of counter next to your stove.