I certainly didn't start out with much more skill than most people, and a lot less than some. But I grew up with a mom that didn't wait for dad to do much of anything. Sometimes it was just moving furniture. Sometimes it was tearing down a wall or laying ceramic tile. DH didn't realize how handy he was, having gotten to 43 before ever being a homeowner. He helped his dad with a lot of big projects when he was in his teens and twenties, but it still took a couple of years in our house before he didn't look at me like I was crazy when I said we could and should do things ourselves. Ive done a lot of online research on building codes for the plumbing and framing, so I'm confident that our house won't fall down and we'll pass inspection when the time comes. DH has watched lots of YouTube when it's something he's really unfamiliar with, like waterproofing newly framed windows. Really I think most people could do it, they just either don't realize it they can, or they really don't want to or have time to, but can afford to pay someone to do it for them. One of my neighbors dropped in today while I was putting up drywall in our closet under the stairs. She said "women can hang drywall?" and wasnt totally joking. Like so many things, it's nature *and* nurture. The best things about doing it ourselves are not having workmen in the house all the time, that we alone drive the pace and don't have to wait on contractors that may or may not come on time, and that we know the quality of the work being done. Our house prior to purchase was spruced up by a handyman that did incredibly shoddy work. We don't want that. Of course the huge down side is that our weekends are all work and we're tired tired tired.

Wow, absolutely gorgeous! I need to study this in much more detail later for my planned kitchen reno (still planning...) , but for now, did you look into the distance between that range and the 15" deep uppers? I had asked here, https://www.houzz.com/discussions/dilemma-pro-range-hood-and-ikea-15-uppers-dsvw-vd~5416025 I had asked, So, the plan was to get a 30" Viking gas range, 36" hood, and IKEA cabinets, which are 15" deep for the uppers. Kind of like this but wider hood. Reading the installation guide, I now see that a minimum of 18" distance between range and hood (check) as well as 6" side clearance are required if the uppers are deeper than 13" (which they are). I was basically told that this set up above is a no no with IKEA's new deeper uppers unless I pull the base cabs forward.

@thisisnotadrill We had the bathroom stripped to the studs, so we installed a 2x6" notched into the framing (note this was not a load bearing wall) the full length of the vanity. We reinforced the inside of the vanity boxes with large L-brackets and screwed those into the 2x6" (behind the drywall at this point). If you can, it's undoubtedly better to buy a vanity made for wall mounting but we made it work and it's very sturdy. Good luck!

Thanks everyone for your comments! @Patricia Colwell Yes we know the old tile will have to be removed, along with the subfloor. I think at some point previous owners might have put tile over the hardwood, which is really unfortunate because we really like the hardwood we have: Ripping up the tile will definitely destroy whatever is underneath. Our appliances are pretty easy to push around so not too concerned about that (dishwasher is new and a bit of pain to disconnect, but we moved it temporarily when we were painting the cabinets). We want to order new appliances soon, but I know the supply chain is all screwed up so it might be a while until those show up, hoping the new floor will be in well before that. I was thinking a shelf above the fridge would be a good place for just a plant and maybe cookbooks, I just think it would look odd without anything above it... We are pretty set on tile, we just have not picked one out yet. I don't think a pattern would work in our house, but I do really like it other kitchens I've seen! I really liked the small white tiles with black border in the picture below, but I've been convinced cleaning the grout would be a nightmare... @calidesign Completely agree, we are leaning towards a 12x24 tile in some kind of warm earthy color, its just a matter of narrowing it down to a specific one... @Beth Thanks for so many suggestions! I agree, we are staying away from 3x6 subway tile. I think a narrower, 2x8 or 2x10 is the way to go for us. We had our eyes on one very similar to the Cloe tile, and I was thinking white but now you have me considering more blue... And I do like the chevron and herringbone patterns, I just dont think we have enough wall space to really appreciate it... Idk about blue floor tile, that might be too much for our kitchen. I'll check out tilebar, I'm really liking those concrete-esque examples! For such a narrow space, do you think 24x24 would be too big? I feel like we could only fit like 2.5 tiles between the cabinets and that might look weird... Thats why were thinking 12x24.