Something bad happened that actually was a very, very good thing... After following breiaj's instructions to the letter, two of the floor tiles in the bathroom popped up a couple of days later and wouldn't stay stuck. When I pulled them up the rest of the way, I found a leak! If it hadn't been for those tiles unsticking, we wouldn't have found that leak until it did a LOT more damage - like made a big ole mess of the kitchen ceiling. So here's one way in which vinyl tile might actually be BETTER than sheet! A few notes WRT breiaj's instructions... I admit to dropping back to $3.99 paintbrushes because they became unworkable so quickly - the glue would start to dry up in the bristles while we were working and it would become more like a paddle than a brush! We didn't have any problems with bristle loss. 2" flat-ended paintbrushes were just the right size, a wider brush seemed like it would save time but was really more awkward to work with, especially with cut pieces. Don't bother wearing rubber gloves in hopes of keeping your hands clean, they stick to the tile's adhesive and to the adhesive you're spreading on and just generally irritate the crap out of you. :-) The adhesive - Armstrong's anyway - is kind of hard on your hands though, and contrary to the label does not wash off with soap and water! We ended up using a "painter's wipes" product we had on hand to clean up our hands about every hour because we would get too sticky to work effectively, and our fingertips were pretty raw and sore afterward. Even though it costs a bit more it's a lot easier to work with the smaller containers of adhesive using this brush-on method, because the bucket gunks up something awful. If you're laying more than about 100 square feet, seriously consider coughing up for the vinyl tile cutter (homedepot.com has one for about $50, or you can rent a superduper heavy-duty one for about the same for a weekend)... scoring and snapping with a utility knife sucks after a while, it's slow and hard on your hands. Make sure you have a comfortable utility knife no matter what though, and a LOT of blades. Stanley makes a really nice knife in their FatMax line, with a rubber-cushioned handle. A jamb or undercut saw ($15) makes dealing with those door jambs SO much easier than trying to cut the tile around them! We removed the baseboards; we were going to replace them with vinyl cove but the damn stuff just would not cooperate so we patched the baseboards with wood filler galore and put them back, and it looked SO much neater than butting the tiles up to the baseboards. deeje, I've checked around with several manufacturers of vinyl tile and the biggest deal WRT moisture is not to slop around too much water when you mop - contrary to popular belief, you don't need a gallon bucket full of near-boiling water and some vile chemical to get a floor clean! Try a well-squeezed-out sponge or terrycloth/microfiber mop instead of a sopping string or rag mop instead. Those microfiber cleaning cloths fit on Swiffer handles really well, if like me you are too cheap to buy the Swiffer cloths. :-) ctaylors6, the instructions in the Cryntel box agree with the Lowes guy - wash well-secured vinyl very well, rinse well, allow to dry thoroughly. I'd use something like TSP that would destroy any gloss on the existing floor. Our vinyl was trashed so we couldn't leave it, so I can't speak to the adhesive method on top of vinyl. We still haven't gotten the kitchen floor laid down yet. We had to tear out some of the subfloor and replace it, and then do a lot of leveling and sanding on the rest, got diverted with a day of electrical work, and to top it all off DH has been sick as a dog. :-( Cross your fingers for this weekend!

it's just one fluorescent light fixture set inside a box that is roughly 2'x6' and 7" deep. Because it's so long & narrow, I think you have to fill it in. Sounds like the box is set in between the ceiling joists? (How tall are the ceilings in the kitchen & living room?) Patching in with drywall is an inexpensive solution. I totally suck at drywall finishing but, lucky for me, I love Spanish knife/ skip trowel texture. It's easy & fun to do and covers up drywall oopsies. So, if that appeals to you, one option would be to patch in, tape the seams and texture & paint the ceiling in the kitchen & LR. Cost would be less than a coupla hundred dollars plus the cost of a new light fixture.

Details Details Details and finishes. I think well thought out lighting makes a huge difference. Go into a very swanky expensive bar and look at how well the lighting was designed - with the accents and thought to what is being highlighted. I can tell a cheap house by the lighting. Also flooring makes a big difference. Keep a photo scrapbook of things you like and get them included. When you stay in nice hotels pick out little things that make it nice (wall switched right by the bedside etc.). Make small rooms like guest baths have big impact (small spaces are cheaper to do luxury details to). I would rather live in a 3K sqft home that is finished to a very high level and designed perfectly than live in a 9k sqft home that is a "big box". Speaking of boxes - a box is the least expensive way to construct anything. Homes that break this mold are usually more expensive in general. A great builder is so obsessed with details he drives his people to produce the best product they can (and speaks that he has a great relationship to get those results).

Of course you can paint them. There are tons of YouTube videos on different ways to do that. You could also look into replacing the doors and drawer fronts if the cabinets are solid. For a quick fix, add new hardware. And sometimes just adding a rug, new paint on the walls, and some decoration can make a big difference. Congrats on your new home :)