I wish I could figure out how to put these photos side by side on my own computer, so I could see the effect. And I know that I'll need to see them in person before deciding, but does this sort of countertop seem less busy with the tile?

Or do I need to find a solid?

I really like the backsplash and would just go with a plain counter; however, the second counter could work well although I'd probably go even lighter.

What sort of flooring should I be looking for? I really like this tile. Can you give me a direction for the flooring?

If you're only going to be in this home for 5 years, re-sell should be your #1 consideration when choosing materials. The last counter top you posted looks great, but the backsplash tile is too taste specific. I would go with something much more neutral.

The drawer dishwashers are way too expensive for your situation and may not appeal to the next buyer. Besides, it's only DH and me and we have two dishwashers that are constantly full because I'm a cooking fiend.

Regarding the flooring, just make sure you choose something that fits within your homes price-point. If all the other homes of similar price have real wood floors, then you know what kind of material you should choose.

On my ipad all your pictures are sideways, so I have to ask about the backsplash: does it run horizontal or vertical? On my screen it runs vertical, and it looks really cool!

What about vinyl tiles for the kitchen floor? Or cork?

Oy....the re-sale topic... I'm not sure how to express my thoughts on that! This relocation has been REALLY hard on me. I'd lived my entire life in the town we left, and didn't want to leave. As a matter of fact, I kept my old job, and I commute two states away, still. I drive to work pre-dawn on Mondays, and return home on Wednesday evenings. What I really want is a home I feel comfortable in. I'm willing to spend some money to achieve that, and the end result will be better than the kitchen we bought.

I just really want to be comfortable and be able to live in the kitchen here. I know that sounds emotional and not logical. From a logical perspective, we do have loss-on-sale in relocation...

I'm sorry for the sideways pictures! I've been lurking for probably 5 years, but am new to posting. I believe that the tile runs vertically.

Cork - I like that. I don't know enough about any flooring to decide now, so I'm open to suggestions.

Since you love the back splash, you may want to consider a solid white counter top as there is a white band in the back splash and would create a more cohesive look. If it were me, I'd paint the window trim and the door a white to give more crispness to the room. For the flooring, I'd consider a light tan with some white in it. You could also use solid piece of flooring wall to wall and have no interfering lines.
Once the wall paper is gone and you put your preferences in to place, I think you'll enjoy that room so much more.

I thought since it is a "budget remodel" that resale would be a huge consideration. If not, go for what you like!

reallymelanie, homes, children and pets are all a wild combination of emotion and reason, and sometimes it's very difficult to separate the two where those things are concerned!

I'll be back Wednesday with some more countertop choices. I'm not averse to a white countertop.

Magdalena - it's more budget in the sense that I'm not willing to spend too much money on something I won't be living with for all that long!

I love that backsplash too. I'd go for a plain countertop that is the same color as the lightest color in the backsplash. I'd be pretty happy with laminate if that's appropriate to the neighborhood. I like wood floors so if that's in budget and appropriate to the neighborhood I'd do that throughout the house.

Follow your heart! You appear to have good taste and I know you will make the right choices. I understand wanting to make choices that make YOU happy and comfortable! Life can be hard enough with jobs, commutes, grandchildren, etc. I love your tile choice and I do think others advice to stay light/neutral with the counter is a good idea. Plus a neutral floor whatever you choose. That tile can be the star and it would not be a turn-off for me. It has creams, beiges, blue - really easy to decorate around for a future buyer.

That is a great idea to tear that little L cabinet out and extend a basic cabinet to the door with a full-size dishwasher. If I were buying the house, I would prefer full-size.

Save the island decision until last. I like the idea of a repurposed piece of furniture, but there are also some cute, fairly inexpensive portable type islands out there that could work also.

I think your idea to take out the little peninsula and add a DW and small island is a perfect plan to improve your space.

I like your backsplash tile and it will be a good inspiration to guide the rest of your choices. I agree to go with a subtle countertop with that backsplash. You could use the charcoal, tan, or off white colors from the backsplash for your counter color.

I think you will see a dramatic difference just from repainting the walls in the kitchen and dining area. Having the whole area in the same color, and getting rid of the green and stenciling, is going to change everything.

I am a fan of wood-look vinyl plank flooring, and think it would be a good solution for your needs.

You may not even want to get into painting your cabinets. They look pretty good as is, judging from your pics. You could stain the new cabs to match, and maybe change to chrome or nickel hardware. With new paint, floor, counters, lighting, and your pretty backsplash, I think it will look fantastic!

Best of luck with your project. Hope you'll come back and show us your progress!

I would pick either the counter or backsplash to be the star and keep the other more neutral so they're not both competing for attention. Seems like you like the backsplash better so I'd go with that. The second countertop movement is better, but the colors don't seem like they work together on my monitor. With that backsplash I think I'd want light gray counters maybe. I'd pull a color from the tile so it relates. My counters have specs and from a distance it appears solid. I think the cabinet color should also relate to the splash so I'd either pick the lightest color or the charcoal. So in a nutshell, assuming you use that tile, I'd pull the counter and cabinet colors from there and make sure the undertones are all the same.

Just a note about Pergo. We bought their top stuff and our first color choice was discontinued when we went to place the order. Not long after we ended up needing (quite a bit) extra due to damage and they had discontinued our color too. Couldn't get it anywhere under the sun. Honestly, I don't like how it sounds or feels under foot and would rather have vinyl if it wasn't real hardwood. I actually would rather have the vinyl through the whole house over Pergo. I know a lot of people dislike vinyl, but it's easy to clean and soft under under foot. I'd put a lighter or mid tone hardwood look vinyl in the kitchen. If you pick a tile or another pattern vinyl, I pick something that was the least busy/blotchy and make sure your undertones work together.

Tomorrow morning, a contractor and design guy are coming to the house to take measurements and start a plan! I'm so excited! On my list:

Remove the peninsula and extend the countertop to the right of the sink, adding a dishwasher.

New countertop and the tile backsplash I like so much. I'll choose a solid laminate countertop.

Add cupboard (s) and extend the soffit(?right word) over the extended countertop.

Move an electrical outlet from behind the right side of the stove to the left side (it's useless where it is), or add one to the left of the stove.

Remove the wood trim between the cupboards over the sink. Will need a new light fixture over the sink, and new light fixtures for the rest of the kitchen, too.

Plan for flooring.

Anything else I'm missing? I'm really trying not to spend a lot of money here. I think my husband or a friend could install new lighting in the kitchen, except for over the sink.

I've sanded down the stenciling, and removed the wallpaper from everywhere except where the backsplash will be. I don't want grease, etc, getting back there, making the tile more difficult. I'm starting to scrape and feather out the paint that was under the wallpaper. What a pain - a little a day, and I'll get there!

How exciting!
While you're at it, what about the sink and faucet? Are they in good shape? Do you like them? If you hav ea Costco nearby, they always have sales on really great faucets.

I would paint the cabinets in a heartbeat, but then again I just painted mine. The difference is amazing. I know you said your husband worked at Lowes, which is awesome, I'm assuming he gets a good discount. That being said, we replaced our countertops about a month ago. I went to Lowes, Home Depot, etc. then found a granite place that sells remnants. Of course they didn't have a remnant big enough for our project so we had to buy a full slab. The granite was cheaper than laminate from Lowes. By almost a thousand dollars! I was shocked. Even Lowes granite was cheaper than their laminate.

Can I ask where you are getting your backsplash? It's so pretty.

The sink is fine, but yes I would like a new faucet.

o.k. after searching and actually thinking about it, the tile is from Lowes, duh! I've never seen that tile in any of the Lowes stores near me.

I want to run to Lowes and snag that backsplash!

Thank you, My3dogs, for that link, and the suggestion! Measurements and assessment are finished and I meet with the kitchen guy at Lowe's next Thursday. I want to have an idea in my mind of what I'm looking for, before I get there, so I'll be searching those pages!

They look wonderful together.

Just wanted to say that for backsplash you could do a plain tile (probably less expensive) and just use your gorgeous choice backsplash tiles as an accent.

Also wanted to point out that the backsplash tile you've chosen does not go well with your paint color.

Lastly, if you want an inexpensive countertop option, check Ikea. They have very nice laminate counter tops that are a steal.

Ahahah! Nothing goes with that paint color! That's what was here when we bought the house, and will be another decision to be made, after I choose the countertop and flooring! Next decisions will be cupboard paint color, and wall paint color.

In order to extend the countertop to the right and include a dishwasher, we're going to have to add a 36" upper cupboard. They don't have doors that match ours (obviously), so we'll have to buy or have upper cupboard doors made, too.

You could always consider open shelves or a wall mount pot rack instead of a new upper cabinet. Cheaper and easier than trying to match existing doors.

Along the lines of what misformink wrote, I recommend looking at wood-look sheet vinyl. We had Mannington Luxury (sheet) Vinyl installed in our kitchen and bathrooms and we're very happy with it. (We chose the Woods Towne pattern in natural.) It looks great and feels great underfoot. Since it's seamless vinyl I don't have to worry about water on it like I did with hardwood and laminate in the past.

I confess to not liking kitchen islands, especially in small kitchens like yours. I had one in a small kitchen once and disliked having to walk around it to get to the fridge or to get to the sink. I also didn't like being confined behind it, and didn't like the constant turning around from the cooktop to the island then back to the cooktop (dizzying!). It didn't have electrical outlets, so I couldn't use a hand mixer or my Cuisinart on it. And DH too often used it as a dumping place for papers & change. It wasn't as useful as I thought it would be and made workflow awkward instead of improving it.

You probably feel differently, but I just wanted to toss this idea your way just to consider that an island may not be so great in a small space like yours.

I don't have any idea yet, what to consider for flooring! I guess I'll listen to what the guy says at Lowe's, then do some research. We had Pergo installed in bedrooms in our last house and I hated it. I followed all the directions, but never had a pretty, shiny floor. We are a casual household with two dogs and our two year old granddaughter is frequently here. I don't want anything I have to fuss with at ALL.

I totally agree about the peninsula/island, amw! It's the main reason we're making some changes. I do think that a mobile island that moves really easily will be a good compromise for this small kitchen, though. I cook a LOT and really do need the extra counter space.

I was thinking about suggesting a mobile island. Plenty of cool suggestions, including DIY advice or on how to spruce up bought mobile islands. I'd look at IKEA if you hav eone nearby, or also CL.

Oh, mobile island! Good idea!

Something that I love in my current narrow kitchen that has been really helpful for extra work space: I had pull out cutting boards installed on each side of my cooktop. It's wonderful having those at right angles to the work area. So convenient. This isn't my pull out cutting board; it's just to show you what it's like:

I have Armstrong Alterna LVT in a guest bath in a quiet pattern (Multistone). It can be laid right over vinyl and grouted, and it looks very much like porcelain tile. It has a limestone base with a vinyl wear layer. Congoleum Duraceramic is another brand.

I see a lot of warm colors in your home, so I'm not sure if the tile might be too cool. It is too cool for the counter you show with it on March 8--it makes the counter look a little pink. You'll want to carefully coordinate the undertones in the floor, counter, and backsplash.

I like My3dogs formica match. If you painted the cabinets a white, it would brighten the kitchen and match current appliances. Yes, removing the portion of the cabinet bisecting the kitchen is a good idea, along with running the counter top all the way from the sink to the door. The dishwasher will fit nicely there.

I also like the idea about mounting shelves over the new dishwasher area rather than trying to match up a cabinet and door. Floating shelves would be nice. All your dining room dishes and glasses can fit on the lower shelves, directly from the dishwasher. You cold even mount the microwave on the wall above the counter -- it would be handy to heat up items directly from the fridge for serving in the dining area. The upper shelves (all the way up past the soffit) can be used for serving pieces or fancier items. By putting in 3-4 shelves, you do not have to add or remove soffit.

You will be able to lose the microwave cart, and even the hutch in the dining area. If you placed a table in the long way - heading toward the kitchen, you should not be cramped. You could mount the same floating shelves high up in the dining area for décor items - or use coordinating baskets to hold items out of sight.

Perhaps pulling out a light blue/grey tone from the formica for the kitchen/dining area wall color would be nice. I'd be tempted to put in a corner hutch or shelving area in the dining room where you have your phone charger and play kitchen -- good, tucked back spot for charging station (maybe you place your current hutch there.

Just trying to think of ways to replace storage you may lose when taking out the one lower cabinet.

I LOVE the idea of the pull out cutting boards! I'm not sure they can be added at this point, but I am going to see if it can be done. I have them in our camper and use them all the time, not for cutting, just a spot to set something down for a minute. If they can't be added to the cupboards we have, I'm positive it can be put into the mobile island. The side of the stove would be most helpful, though!

Yes, we'll be able to get rid of the microwave stand and the hutch. I don't know about the play kitchen because I like granddaughter to be right where I can interact with her while "we" cook, and anyway, we don't have a dining room! It could be moved to the mud room, just off the kitchen. Right now, I don't mind it being in the kitchen - even if she's not there, it makes me smile just to think of her :)

I can't picture open shelves in our kitchen. Will do some image searches.

pull out cutting boards gross me out. just saying.

Violet, I'm a physician assistant and would be very grossed out by putting food directly on one of those cutting boards. Let's just call them "retractable solid surfaces," shall we?

I've been searching images on Pinterest and Google, and can't find anything that would work for me, as far as open shelving goes in the kitchen. First of all, I feel like they would look "just stuck up there," and unintentional (which they would be!). Secondly, I can't think of any way that they could be functional for me. I wouldn't like our dishes sitting out on open shelves. I want to move all of my "grandma stuff" out of sight. I'm not interested in having all of that on display on the shelves.

Finally, I will be losing storage in the hutch unit (linens in two drawers, dog stuff in the bottom drawer, and grandma stuff on the shelves) and in the microwave stand (crock pots, large mixing bowls, the microwave and my ipod speaker unit). I'm going to need a place to keep all this stuff handy but organized and out of sight.

I'm thinking that the new mobile island would best be stationed where the kiddie kitchen is right now, and was thinking of adding a shelf above that for the microwave. Maybe I'll add a couple more there, and put the grandma stuff into baskets??? That will require another outlet being added and I still have to figure out what to do with cabinetry or shelving over the new dishwasher/counter.

I'm just thinking aloud mostly. My next appointment with the kitchen guy is Thursday, and I really do appreciate all the helpful comments!

We went to the store this morning and collected some options! Again, our plan is to remove the peninsula, add a stainless dishwasher to the right and then use the drawer piece of the peninsula to the right of dishwasher. We're removing the upper cupboard to the right of the sink, and replacing it with a 36" upper cupboard, with the soffit extended over it. I've already chosen the tile backsplash and will be adding a new laminate countertop. We're also adding a stainless gas range, replacing the current vinyl flooring with new flooring, and painting the cupboards.

Here's the working end of the kitchen. I've started removing wallpaper, and I've sanded the stencils that are on the dining end, so they're smooth.

This is the tile backsplash that I want, surrounded by what I feel (with one great suggestion from Gardenweb helpers) are the best choices for laminate countertops.

This is my top choice for flooring.

Which of the countertop laminates do you think will work best here? Next question will be the paint color for the cupboards - I'm thinking a greenish gray. Any thoughts? We want to at least get our order in, within the next couple of weeks. Thank you!!!

I found a color selector program on the Sherwin Williams site, and did a couple of very amateur mockups, just to see the difference between and light and dark countertop.

And, if it matters, this is the dishwasher

and this is the range

How exciting! It's going to look so nice.

I'm kind of confused by the idea of painting the cabinets green-gray. Isn't the backsplash cream, brown, and blue gray?

I think I'd do cream cabinets with the darkest counter sample on the right; or do blue-gray cabinets with the cream counter sample on the bottom.

I think the sample on the left is too white, and the top one is too similar to the floor.

The kitchen doesn't look like it gets much light and with it being small, I wouldn't go with anything too dark,

Yes, the backsplash is cream, dark brown, and and blue gray. I don't know why I'm thinking a greenish gray for the cupboards! I guess I'm thinking I don't want an entirely blue house, and the living room and hallway are Sparkling Sage, which reads pretty blue in our home. I was thinking the gray of old wood at the shore....

There are two North-facing windows on the dining side of the kitchen, and the one West-facing window over the sink. It isn't a bright kitchen. I expect to be adding better overhead lighting, but haven't gotten there yet.

Colors are always problematic on line because everyone's monitor is different. That said, I like the bottom counter sample the best. And I would paint the cabinets a color very similar to the main color on the countertop. I think that would really set off the backsplash. I would not introduce a new color in the cabinets.

No gray--cold and unwelcoming in your cute cottage kitchen. I think the bottom counter is too busy with the tile. Find a quiet counter and a floor tile with more movement, the reverse of what you've picked out. Don't go too creamy as that tile looks like it's a cool tone.

Everything is ordered! New stuff should be installed first week of June. I chose the flooring listed above, and the countertop on the left. I've removed the wallpaper and have prepped the walls for painting. I plan to prime the walls this weekend with Zinsser 123. My question now is - Should I paint the windowsills and woodwork, or leave them the way they are? If I paint the woodwork, what should I do with the door to the mudroom and the door to the pantry? Paint or leave as is?

How exciting! My preference is for woodwork throughout a house to match. I'm assuming yours is stained everywhere? If so, I'd leave it stained in the kitchen as well.

I know they've fallen out of favor, but with that backsplash, instead of laminate counters, I would do a large format tile counter. I'm linking to my favorite kitchen with that type countertop, I hope momtocohen doesn't mind. I really like having tile; it's bulletproof, no worries about hot pans, knife cuts, etc. I've never cracked a tile in a kitchen...anyway, it's hard to believe that this is a tile counter, but I think it would look terrific with your backsplash

Large format tile countertop

That kitchen is just beautiful, and I do like the tile! But those decisions have been made already and the orders are placed.

If no one gives me a reason to start priming the woodwork along with the walls, I'm going to start priming the walls only. My husband didn't think we should paint the woodwork either! Thanks, crl!

I'd skip the woodwork for now and assess later. once you have paint on the wood, it's hard to get back to the original.
Personally, I don't think you can ever have too much blue :)

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