It shouldn't be more than a couple of hundred dollars to panel the sides of the fridge and move that cabinet forward. I'd say $500 tops. You just haven't found the right person for the job yet. It's even pretty easily DIYable if you are remotely handy. Step #1 would be to take a cabinet door down to the best paint shop in town and having them color match it and sheen match it to the cabinets. That's actually the most difficult aspect of it. And sourcing some new crown molding that matches the profile of the old. If you can't source that, then it's easier to just replace all the cabinet's molding. Which actually would be a good thing, as you could then beef it up and take it to the ceiling. That might cost you 1K. But it would have a huge impact on the kitchen.

I don't have pictures yet because we're just getting started, so take this with as many grains of salt as necessary. :) We're also doing oak cabinets, but the lighting could be totally different and tastes are different, and so on and so on... Our counters are going to be Bella Venito HD by Wilsonart. They are a mixture of black, tan, dark green, and little bits of blue in a faux granite pattern. They have a nice warm look to them that, IMO, makes the oak look better. Our walls are currently Valspar Cincinnatian Hotel Hanaford (paint names, yikes!) but it gets a little greeny and greyed out in the North lighting in our kitchen. We are switching to Valspar Lovely Bluff; we've tested it on the walls and really like it.

Thank you. I agree. We tried to simulate paint colors on Ben Moore website and didn't like how the greys looked with the cabinets. We are leaning toward BM golden straw for the entire first floor to go with the floors and cabinets. Will it be too yellow? And for the granite we looked at Tanami( recently found out it's also called giallo ornamental). It looks creamy with brown specks on it. Would love to hear comments on these selections. Hard to visualize everything but hoping it will all come together in the end.

for the handles, may I suggest something to pick up on the hues in the flooring? A little more copper toned. you have light cabs, light floors. I think throwing in a dark ORB w/o actual copper highlights would be too much of a contrast. IMO. cypress park Sandra, I like the porcelain one better than the other one. Does the backsplash have to be done immediately? If the tones in the porcelain tile you picked clash w/the ivory tones in the counter, it could be a problem. However, I did find some copper toned ones that should be avail. these are porcelain/SS, and treated so as not to stain or tarnish. I LOVE these for your kitchen. timeless and gorgeous. They are probably not super cheap, but it would be worth it for me. http://www.miusartmosaics.com/arabesque-lantern-beacon-copper-tile-in these would also work. the site is here: maybe they have them in stock.http://www.westsidetile.com/arabesque-tiles/ i like this one too. notice the copper faucet. beautiful w/the glass mosaic. if you got the cream countertop, this would look amazing w/your floors. this last one is a copper colored slate/quartzite.