Not in a kitchen, I think kitchens are a little daunting since they have such high price tags you don't want to screw it up... I used rubber stamps to decorate bathroom walls. The bathroom was a jack and jill, with my young son's room on one side and and a bedroom DH used as an office on the other side. The walls were off white, and I bought vintage-y looking rubber stamps, and made a random pattern (quite widely spaced, the room was mostly off white) with black ink. Things like an old typewriter, and ink well, a trout, a crescent moon, etc etc. People always liked it. In our daughter's nursery, we had a cottage garden theme. We bought wooden shutters and window boxes, painted them white with cast iron strapping hardware and hung them inside the room. The windows boxes were all filled with stuffed animals (realistic ones, no hot pink or purple .... lol). All of this now painted over and removed for staging, alas. PS I saw a kitchen the other day with a beadboard backsplash, and then they had delft tiles here and there, hanging like little paintings. Very cute.

When we moved into our current home, the kitchen was much worse that what you have shown. Although the floor space seemed like it should be a decent size kitchen, hot water baseboard heating took up much of the space where cabinets could have been placed. The fridge and stove were opposite each other and so close that you couldn't walk between them if one or the other was open and that was right in the entrance of the kitchen from the dining room. We had 2 upper cabinets (approximately 15" wide each) and 2 lower cabinets. It was horrible, just horrible. Oh, and all that wall space that was not covered by the few cabinets was covered in the most horrendous wallpaper I had ever seen! Anyway, I painted the few cabinets we had. We stripped the wallpaper and painted the walls. We purchased a pre-form laminate counter top from Home Depot, put down a new but very cheap vinyl floor and DH built open shelving from pallets we got for free for all that wall space and we lived with it for 13 YEARS!!! I had big plans for this kitchen but my DH and I are very debt averse so we wanted to pay the house off before we did any major reno. Anyway, 10 years later we paid off the house and then I started saving money for the reno. We are currently almost finished with it and I am absolutely loving my new kitchen. Countertops are scheduled to be installed tomorrow morning...can we say WOOHOO!!!! I said all that to say that I think you should spend as little money as you can to be able to tolerate it for a couple years. We spent just a touch over $500 all those years ago and while it was never an ideal kitchen or even a functional kitchen, we made do for as long as we had to. When it comes time to do the big re-do, you'll be so glad for whatever money you don't spend now!

the suggestion above for $2550 in improvements is really over $4000 if one includes labor with NO appliances. I would NOT renovate that kitchen. I would stage it with a couple hundred dollars. it has been shown time and time again that it is a MYTH that a renovated kitchen returns your money. REal Eastate agents say it does because $25K in renovations if done immediately prior to sale gets you on average $20k in increased price meaning increased commission for them but a net loss for you. The fact is if the kitchen is functional the great majority of people - ESPECIALLY empty nesters -- often have very different taste than you. Do not confuse "best reutun on your money" for profit. Getting $10k more in sales price for $12k in renovations is a "good return" but still a loss. REnovations LOSE money. It has been shown time and time again in every study of improvements and sales price: http://www.thisoldhouse.com/toh/article/0,,408045,00.html Renovating before a sale will make Home Depot, a contractor, and the Real Estate agent richer -- and you poorer.

dirtymartini, I feel your pain! When hubby and I decided to make our own kitchen cabinets we got TONS of nasty remarks about not having the skill, not being able to finish, blah blah blah! Well let me tell ya, cabinet boxes are EASY! And as far as finishing, I talked to some very nice cabinet makers that didn't make me feel like and idiot that gave me brands of brush on finish that is almost as good as spray. We did a clear finish instead of paint though. The cabinet grade plywood is very pretty with a clear finish. I don't know where you are located, but we visited woodworking stores, and wood supply warehouses. Not Lowe's and HD, they really don't know a lot there. These people were wonderful! They really went above and beyond the call of duty to help us. They gave us the confidence to do this project, and we decided to go ahead and build doors too. They are turning out beautiful, if I do say so myself. I will say it has taken way longer than buying, but we are saving soooo much money. Our estimate for cabinets was $25,000 for cabinets. We will come in welllllll under $10,000, and we went with a budget busting wood. We got reclaimed wormy chestnut, one of the most expensive woods out there. And we had to buy some tools, this is included in the total amount. Oh, and as far as Blum goes, they are nice. We used them on the upper drawers all around our kitchen. Then we found knock off glides at half the price. No, they don't glide quite as easily, but they are way nicer than side mount glides. Oh, and Kreg screws/jig are your friend for making drawer boxes. I guess what I am trying to say in my rambling post (sorry!) is that you can do it! Ignore the nay-sayers, find people that give good advice, and go for it! Oh, and post pictures as you go please! I'm always so excited to read other DIY posts. S P.S. If he has a router, Freud has a fabulous bit set to make raised panel doors. Easy! P.S.S. I'll answer any questions you have if I can, and I won't make you feel like an idiot in the process, I promise! :)