@RedRyder I walls has the thickest rustic plaster I have ever seen in life. It might be so glaring because of they owner didnt use flat or eggshell paint. I would like perhaps painting it matt as suggested by @User would make it less disturbing. While a Santa Barbara style plaster would be preferred, it would acceptable if it was toned down like this photo I am dangerous now that my daughter taught me to use screen shot. lol

That house is adorable! The exterior is cute, the windows are big enough to be a good feature, and the rooms are large. Start with painting those green walls with a light color. If you know what color you want, do a final coat or just start with a flat white primer coat and wait for inspiration before doing the final coat. Remove the carpet on the main floor and use the hardwood floors. You could get them refinished before you move in if you know what color you want. Unless the floors are in awful shape, you are probably better just using them as is for a while so you can get an overall plan going. Then if you later choose to remove walls or widen openings (my preference) you can take care of flooring issues at that point. Don't get discouraged too soon! A fixer upper house is a series of ups and downs and sometimes you go backwards quite a few steps every time you try to move. You will experience lots of excitement when you start coming up with ideas then gloom and doom when you start seeing mechanical and structural issues deflating your happiness and destroying your bank account. But, it will be yours and it will be unique and a great opportunity to be creative and acquire some skills and tools.

Thanks for your reply Becky. Yeah - this is a 1963 ranch on a decent size lot. In a perfect world we’d probably do a complete gut and renovation, but we changed our plans and that’s not the route we’re taking (we’re not ready to sell our primary home in another state quite yet.) For now we’re concentrating on doing the things that we feel are absolutely necessary to make the place livable, and slapping new hardware in that kitchen isn’t going to cut it for me. Spending time in that room would just make me sad. The cabinets are in really good shape, inside and out. And believe me, no one is more surprised by that than we are. If they were gross or in any way beyond redemption, they’d be gone. The layout of the kitchen doesn’t bother me. My husband and I are empty nesters and I know what’s important for our lifestyle. I’m more concerned with the aesthetics - if I’m going to live there it needs to look better. I need to do what I can to drag that room into this century. Wishing you so much good luck with your project! Have you posted any pix of your house? I’d love to see and get an idea of how another recluse hoarder lived!

" How long will it take before I can move in." 8 Months. "Price to get everything done." $29,897.23 plus permits,inspections, local and state taxes.