Hi! Thank you for your replies. I will definitely stay with the diagonal now. ngng: Your kitchen looks so lovely! I want wood cabinets in the next house. Mine were an ugly, grainy, weird oak so I painted them some years ago and don't have it in me to redo them again since we plan to move in a couple of years. remodelfla: My floor plan is not an open one. The kitchen/breakfast area is separate from the family room. However, I like way the bronze Fleur de lis picks up the bronze looking flecks in the granite. I thought about smaller squares of the granite used as an accent but wanted something a little different. It's so hard to only do a bit of updating! I start to get carried away as so much needs to be done, but I really don't want to invest anything (time or money) since we aren't staying here. But it's so outdated and yucky!! We rented this house before we bought it 15 years ago and only bought because I was having a baby when the owners put it up for sale and didn't want to face a move after only just moving in a year prior! I never really liked the layout of the kitchen or the floor plan of the house! And here I am 15 years later! Time flies! Thanks for your suggestions! It has helped me!

I might leave the soffit as is and change the dining room walls. I don't think the benefit of painting the soffit is very great. I would actually change the hardware on the cabinets to a darker finish-oil rubbed bronze or pewter, and a style less colonial-more transitional......larger handles/ stylish in some way you like. ....the all wood look of the kitchen along with dramatic granite is a plea for stronger hardware statement .....

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A dark slate would be very handsome...and very dark. You would need to update the lighting in that hallway (which might mean updating your entire electrical panel if it shown to be below today's code). The bench would be "lost" visually on a dark floor. The paint and the trim would need to be updated to "as bright as possible". Personally I think an extension of the wood floor would be an excellent idea. The scheme would not change. It would be a "like for like" change. But the use of this space (hallway) will dictate the material used. If this is a wet entrance with HIGH traffic that is always muddy/mucky the a tile or stone finish is always the best option. It is your choice. Be aware that dark floors will darken the area and make it feel smaller. That means you would have to compensate by either doubling or tripling the amount of lighting you have in that area (add more windows or add more light fixtures....which could lead to more costs).