Right, I've gone back and looked again at soapstone, and I now remember why I didn't give it much of a second glance: 1) we need a 3m slab or else need to have seams, and it doesn't come in pieces that big, and 2) it's too soft for us. We have 3 young children and an L-shaped overhang off of our island, which is a recipe for breakages with that particular material I think. I can just see someone accidentally slamming something down on the overhang bit or trying to swing on it or something and cracking off a section... Our family is hard on kitchen surfaces and I need something that's going to withstand a beating. It's also why we haven't gone with the single-sheet ceramic worktop (which I quite liked the look of as they're so thin and elegant and incredibly durable, but too thin for that overhang). Would rather not have multiple materials/heights there on the island (so, no L-shaped wood overhang on one corner, for example) as I find it too fussy and prefer to have one large big clean workspace for things like baking, making pizza, etc with the children. I absolutely love the kitchen of a friend of mine and it was my main inspiration pic. It's too dark for my space I think, but the island in particular is what I like. That's interesting about the German/Italian dynamic. I've been impressed by Italian ones in the past (I love a Varenna kitchen, just out of budget), but to be honest I met with about 3 different designers touting Italian kitchens when we were shopping earlier in the year, fully prepared to go Italian, and the ridiculousness of some of the form-over-function features we encountered (at a hefty price tag) really left an impression on me... it felt like they were being designed for people who like having large, beautiful kitchens but never actually cook. Features like hiding an already integrated fridge door behind another fairly cumbersome bigger door to create an 'ultra unkitchen', or keeping it 'clean' by only having a single pop-up island plug station to serve the whole bloody kitchen.... which looks great but HOW is that functional design for someone who, you know, actually cooks... or owns any appliances they use on a daily basis and don't want have to lug out of hiding every day... or maybe just drinks coffee from anything other than a French press? I digress. The annoyance is still there obviously, ha ha!! I'm sure they're not all like that, but a month or two of meetings had me running across the border to Germany!

I think as long as the triangle is achieved between sink, stove and refrigerator with some room (as much as can fit!) for all that goes with cooking up a storm, and not installing any 'trends' that overwhelm (columns), a kitchen can remain in style. When my parents moved into their house in the 50's they enlarged the kitchen, and then proceeded to paint the cabinetry (original to the 1930's house) green. One wall was wallpapered. That kitchen stayed on trend right through to shortly before their deaths. The green changed with the times - avocado, sage, apple. The wallpaper did also; small or large patterned. When the trend came for less intricate cabinet doors and wood tones the cabinet doors were replaced with more streamlined varnished birch - which played well off the now deep-avocado cabinets. The last change came when molding was back in style - we wished then they had saved the original doors, but the solid wood plain doors were easily changed up with some molding applied, then painted - white of course (lowers stayed green :-) )! And the floor vinyl went to linoleum and finally wood. After the first change none of these were intensive remodels over the course of 50 years. My kitchen is painted with black cabinets. Upper cabinets are mostly glass-doored. One wall (thanks mom) is wallpapered with a large print containing a beautiful blue, which is repeated on the oven door and in the visible pantry. To achieve this was a major overhaul from the tiny kitchen before it. But I am confident that what we have done will last with a few coats of paint over the years. We didn't do anything that couldn't adjust with the times. The only mistake we made (as far we know so far lol) was to go with marble for all the countertops. We love it, but the fact is that quartz really is a great material!

Love the roofline! I would guess there was a porch in the center 1/3 of your house - I would start researching/budgeting for replacing that. The second view hsows your house to be craftsman-esque - or of that era & influences anyway. That being the case a portico on the front would be exactly the wrong thing to do. White would be the wrong thing to do. Look into colors of the era . Not that you have to make it into a museum piece or it cant look fresh and current in its own way - nooo! Just that a house always looks better/more cohesive if the original design intentions are figured into the design - its the difference between "not bad" and showstopper. All white is not going to do much for deemphasizing the gables. There still is a stark contrasty line between roof/sky and the white. Better would be a midtone that blends/harmonizes with roof. You could have a slightly different tone for the trim/eaves - say a dark pinky brown-beige with a red for the body of the house. Reds btw come in at least as many shades and hues as blues. Is your roof staying though? That looks like blues/grays/greens so you might want to go that direction and ditch the red as you are already thinking. Idea is to have all the components just be less contrasty. Some of these show how the darker eaves colors blend in witht he roof and deemphasize the roofline - such as 1905 craftsman https://www.oldhouseguy.com/projects/exterior-paint-color-portfolio/ .

Update: We painted the gutters and soffits Benjamin Moore Dragon's Breath and the columns and windows the same color, but desaturated. Changed out the lights, updated furniture, removed shutters and added horizontal fence/gate. We ripped up the hedges in our beds and planted birds of paradise, gingers, a banana tree and vincas. Over time they will fill nicely. Our beautiful oak tree's roots are right below the walkway, and we decided it wasn't wise to mess with it. The week we finished, our dream home down the block went up for sale, and we made an offer. Thankfully since we have invested so much time and love into our home (with a lot of guidance from Houzz) and it sold within 24 hours. So we passed the "finish line" for our current home, and will thankfully we able to admire her beauty when walking the neighborhood. Thanks everyone for your input, and I hope the pictures help others looking to update a side century ranch home!