I am adding a natural gas line from my livingroom fireplace to my kitchen plus moving the plumbing lines and for my Washing machine and laundryroom sink plus having an outside faucet replaced that is on the wall where the new Washing machine plumbing lines will be placed. The estimate I got was $1200.00. I am in Central PA, so prices may be higher in other areas and I had gotten estimates that were far more expensive. The plumber I found is good. He has owned his own plumbing business for 30 years and has brought his son into the business. His explanation for some of the high estimates was that my work is a small job and many of the younger plumbers would rather do new homes and bigger projects and don't seem to want to do the small jobs on individual homes anymore. He told me he is trying to teach his son that you can make more doing a lot of small jobs than you can doing one or two big jobs where you have to bid so low that there is little profit. Finding the right plumber took some effort, but I got a reasonable price from someone I trust will do a good job. I have shopped hard for a good plumber, a good electrician and a good car mechanic since moving to a new city, but I have found all 3 and trust that any work I need done will be done right and at a fair price.

Thanks for coming back to show us - it is always useful to see before/after! The cabinets really look good with the new tile and counter

If your goal is to lighten up the house, avoid adding dark things to the already dark rooms. Add lighting, remove heavy dark window coverings, and check outside to see if there are branches that have grown to block sunlight from the windows. Pruning at the right time of year for your area can let in much needed light again. Start by replacing the light fixtures to improve the overall "dark and brown" look. Remove the over-sink bar cabinets. Paint the walls. Staining the cabinets can't be done well without stripping them, sanding, filling, staining, sanding, and so on. Contact the cabinet company with photos of the damaged areas. Ask them what clear coat can be applied over the existing finish. Chances are good that a clear polyurethane over a bit of stain pen will fix up those worn areas easily.

The mudroom is unfortunately small and the only drop zone is the the sink, so not somewhere you would actually want kids setting down anything. (Not that it stops them) Yes, it's difficult because I'm realistic that the clutter will be set down somewhere. We always have school papers and laptops and whatnot, so at least keeping it contained could be useful. But my husband disliked that version, anyway. He did have me talk through the idea someone here had to move the doorway, but with the plumbing and tight layout, it just isn't really doable (not without losing the sink, but he uses that a lot for garage activity cleanup and I don't want any of that in a sink where food items would be).