This line-- But I'm pretty sure the liner must have collected some moisture by now. I try to keep up with the caulking, but... makes me think it should be replaced. There should be no need to keep up with the caulking".

Interesting. Can CLASSIC ever be 'dated'? Your room is fabulous. In the early 90's we put in gas fireplace in our basement. WE sooo wanted green as you have but were not brave enough and went more of a taupe and used green in the soft accessories. Blue and green are a classic color combo. I vote with ignore the nay sayers and save yourself the bother of 'fixing' what's not broke!!

Congratulations on your new home! How wonderful! While you might want to jump in and start renovating things....I would wait. At most, I suggest you paint your interior (a relatively inexpensive improvement) before you move in. Then....live with things for a while. I appreciate your desire to want to change the color of your floors. But wait. Look instead at other ways of introducing the look that you like in your new home. Rugs. Furniture. Take your time to establish your priorities. There will be so many things that you MUST do when you purchase a home. And they can eat up your budget FAST! Create an idea book. But also include images of homes with lighter colored floors and see how others have decorated around them. Enjoy your new adventure! And savor the experience!

Great questions, thank you all! Yes, in my mind the kitchen and the dinette are the same room. The transition in the photograph is the only transition in the house. On the hardwood side, the hardwood extends throughout the entire house. Here, it bumps up against the kitchen/dinette area, which has this vinyl glued onto plywood, which floats a half centimeter above the hardwood, creating a small trip hazard. Our style is definitely mid century modern with fun bohemian touches. We have a lot of artwork that’s fun and whimsical, and it’s a pretty small house. So while I’m open to a bold flooring choice, I also don’t want it to feel cluttered or busy. I love our hardwood and really wish it extended into the kitchen! But I’m worried if we got new hardwood installed in the kitchen/dinette area, it wouldn’t match and it would look weird. And I don’t want to pay to refinish the old hardwood, because it’s in good shape and it extends all through the house! That would be a lot of refinishing! So it seems like the best option would be...something else that’s not this horrible vinyl. Cork titles? A more updated vinyl? Having never had glued-on vinyl before, will I have to replace the subfloor when we pull it up? Should we get something installed on top of the vinyl that’s already there, or will that just further heighten the trip hazard?