Wow! Thank you all so much for responding. All of the kitchens above are beautiful! I'm not concerned any more..I'm going full speed ahead..hehe What would we do without this website...I love it!! I can't wait to post my finished project photos.

The new lighting could effect the wall color and the color of the wood - so definitely do that first. Do some research into the lasting effects of gel stain - I've heard both good things and bad things. Here are just some unasked for thoughts- if I was working with this kitchen on a budget, I would possibly remove the upper trim piece and the small wood piece over the windows. I might remove the entire cabinet to the left of the farthest left window and replace with some shelves. I would remove the over the range microwave, which being short I could not even use, and replace with a stand alone vent. You could do a stainless vent for a more modern look. It is more expensive, but you could stain an unfinished wood hood with insert for a more farmhouse look. You have so much lower storage I actually would be tempted to remove all of the upper cabinetry - especially if there is a pantry cabinet - I was wondering where the fridge is - is there a pantry cabinet next to it? As far a curtains - I do like the softness and color window treatments add, though tis is a person style choice. This vent is a little larger than you would want: Less uppers - pretty window treatment: Rustic shelves: If you like a bit of country / farmhouse, beadboard makes an inexpensive backsplash and works well with shelves - rather than tiling, which might possibly need to be redone if you got new counters down the road. This is my basement kitchenette - done very economically with some of my original cabinets (refinished), shelving and beadboard - though in this case I used the beadboard wallpaper to save money - might replace with the real thing in time: https://www.houzz.com/photos/my-pics-work-in-progress-phvw-vp~65270573 My main kitchen is also oak and in my "my pics" idea book - if you want some possible ideas for counters/ backsplash / farm sink - but it is done in a vintage style.

The weird part of the layout is the bump out where our daughter's closet is, by the stove. Husband isn't keen on taking that out, so for now it would be a work around. If the one wall comes out (where the "doors" are on the top wall), it will extend that part of the kitchen back out another 3.5-4' by 11'. (the rooms are currently offset, which I couldn't figure out how to show w/the planner so I just went ahead and made it so that wall was eliminated, making the dining area larger. Otherwise it would be like this, and not have a peninsula. There's nothing else I can think that could be changed to do w/the layout and traffic, so if you guys see something, feel free to point it out! The door on the left is the basement, that can't go anywhere, and the door on the right is an open doorway that goes to the living room, so that can't go anywhere. The door on the bottom wall is the patio door to the outside.

We went with Jacobean/Special Walnut mix and I love the color…so much better than the first. It was almost worth all the frustration, moving in and out of the house multiple times and having no furniture down for almost 2 months…I said almost LOL! Thanks everyone for the advice and hopefully someone learns from my mistake.