I going to take an opposite tact. Know your skill level. One of the best pieces of advice I got in relation to doing a kitchen on a budget was inexpensive materials can look much more expensive if they are well installed. If you can do an excellent job then go ahead and you can double your savings if not downgrade some of the materials and stick with the professional labour. I think you have to be very knowlegable to get the most you can out of a small budget and you are swimming a little bit against the tide so you have to have a little bravado because generally you don't have a lot of positive reinforcement (that isn't about folks here as much as it is magazines, HGTV and the neighbours). Quality is very important especially when working with a smaller budget but you need to be able to read through certain biases. Consumer Reports on one hand will tell you that Mills Pride and Ikea performed better than many mid-priced cabinetry products in their testing and then tell you that plywood construction and face-frame cabinets are really the only quality product (neither of which is offered by either of those companies). European frameless cabinetry dominates the market in all sectors here in Canada. Many lines do not even offer face-frames as they are generally perceived as an antiquated construction style that reduces the functionality of the cabinetry by most Canadians. One semi custom shop here told me they would quote on plywood but almost no one ever buys them no matter how opulent the kitchen. A well constructed 5\8 commercial grade particleboard cabinet will probably last a lot longer than you want it to. Ever see anybody poke their head into a cabinet to see what its' made of on House Hunters? Plywood cabs won't sell your house, impress your neighbours or improve the function of your kitchen. Is a well constructed plywood cab better than a well constructed particleboard one, absolutley but how good do you need it to be? Re-facing isn't usually cheap (the doors and drawer fronts are a big part of what cabinets cost) but it can be a good alternative if you have good cabs and a layout you love.

I never posted on either of the forums, but read them all a lot. I have followed your other thread. I have few questions: *Do you think you'll eventually replace cabinets & renovate the kitchen? *If yes, when - few years from now? much longer than that? *Is the existing layout satisfactory to you or is there anything that has to be changed soon? Almost everyone suggested that you keep existing cabinets as they are. I personally like dark color too. BUT you are and will live in that house. Looking at them every single day. On top of it you mentioned that they are pretty worn out. So you should do it the way you like them. If you are not planning major reno soon, I would think it would be best to invest some $$$ & have them painted professionally. It will cost you little more, but results would likely be much better. (My daughter paints & I wouldn't have her doing my kit cabinets - walls, trim yes, maybe laundry cabinets!). Just don't forget that the frames/boxes (hope that is correct term) need to be painted same color. That has to be done on site, but it is much smaller/narrower area so maybe your husband can do it. Same paint color as door. The panel by the fridge should be as wide as the appliance - you mentioned that. Would you carry it to the top of cabinets? (I would). Then you need to make upper cab deeper - I am sure you know that & it can be done. Definitely replace tiles. Bar could be just drywalled & painted same as walls (I had something similar & it looked great). Is the counter appropriate depth?(looks just bit shallow, but that may be just because fridge seems to be sticking up too much-lack of proper width on that panel). I had caesarstone organic white counter & loved it. My cabs were darker brown with greenish undertones. And my backsplash was white tile (white on white subtle design). Together it looked great. Sorry, don't have photos to post. If you like gray cabinets (or any other color), I would suggest to go to paint store & p/u color chips that you like. I would take them to IKEA (or other kit showroom...) & look at all gray (whatever color) kitchens they have, comparing the color chips to cabs you like most . That way you'll see how the cabinets will look. You may be able to get ideas on backsplash & paint color too - usually, the showroom kitchens are set up to impress! I am not good in suggesting colors, but having paint chips will help again. Check them against existing walls. If you think it looks good, buy a small sample of paint, get larger piece of hardboard or drywall, paint it & put next to adjoining walls. You will see if they 'go together' much better from the large sample (make it at least 2x2', even bigger). Most important, I think, is not to rush. You will spend more $ than you think (it always works that way...), and you will have to live with result for a while if you don't like it. So rather take more time planning. Your kit is in very good shape for a while longer (even if you are sick & tired of the red cabinets). Don't get pressured into something you don't like, and don't do it so-so/good enough...just my opinion... Rina

If you can come up with an old piece of chain link fence and a couple logs you can make a drag to pull behind the mower. Basically the chain link will scrape a little dirt off of the high spots and drop it in the low spots. It may take a little while but as long as it's not too bad this will work wonders for smoothing out the bumps. If it were me, I would hold off doing anything that will leave you with bare dirt for now. Otherwise you will end up with more weeds to deal with and there's a good chance you could have some soil erosion from storms or heavy rains during the summer. Leaving the weeds alone will allow them to hold the soil in place. From there, get started with the "destruction" process in mid to late July. About 1 week prior spray everything with RoundUp to kill off all of the weeds. Once the destruction is complete and the lawn area has been smoothed and ready for seed begin watering lightly 3 times per day for a couple of weeks to germinate any weed seeds that were left behind. By lightly I mean just enough to keep the very top layer of soil damp. Spray anything green again with RoundUp. By this time all this is done you will be into your ideal time for seeding which should be mid to late August for you. In the meantime, use the search feature here to learn proper seeding, watering, fertilizing, and all the other stuff involved in maintaining the new lawn as all this is important if you want the lawn to be successful. It's really not too hard but you don't want to spend all this money to have it go wrong. You've got a good group of folks here on the forums to help you through it and answer any questions that come up along the way.

FYI... Refrigerators are standardizing on 36" wide x 72" or so tall. I strongly recommend planning for that size - especially if it will be a counter-depth refrigerator. Corner ranges/cooktops and sinks take up a lot of wall/counterspace - depending on the width, 48" or more on each wall .