Here is the latest plan from the architect. I do think I am going to move forward with this and cut back on one other remodeling project in the house to help make up some of the cost difference. -The architect flipped the bathroom. -He extended the wall on the left, which will have a long window above. He left one slider to get the bikes out. I like the wall as it adds more privacy from the road/driveway. -He added a door out of the garage to the back yard. - He added 8" in width by moving the wall closer to bedroom 3, so now the room is almost 13'8". But I am thinking I might just move it back to 13'. -Now, do I want a slider where the parrot cages are with access to the backyard? I kind of think I do. I can see myself pushing them out there to clean them (although they are fairly easy to clean with Lysol/bleach wipes). I could see this as a dog room also for someone else with access to the backyard. As it stands now, I might put a fence as in the third pic, and let a dog use bedroom 3 with a doggie door to the fenced area. - Th ctr. Is suggesting a door in the six foot opening into the laundry to keep the AC separate. I have no idea what to put there. Thank you!!! :)

Your kitchen is gorgeous! I have those same cabinets. Do you like your white countertops? I HATE mine. That's what I plan on doing for my upgrade when it happens. I'd upgrade the floor to something maybe either solid colored linoleum or a really snazzy ceramic tile, then redo the countertops to match, and then upgrade the pulls, new wall paint, and voila, snazzy new kitchen. I would not bow to current trends for painted cabinets and monochrome, heavens that's just ONE way to decorate, you have so many other options too! What colors do you like? Just as a side note, we had almost that exact flooring in our kitchen and when we had to redo the entryway due to a washer flood, we redid it all and it really made a ton of difference. We went with a high end fake granite tile kind of look for the flooring. So one piece of advice I can give you is lose the checkerboard. You will be so happy to get rid of all those busy lines competing with the grain in the wood! Even a colored checkerboard would be better than the all-one-color graph-paper vibe of that floor, particularly writ large. I didn't realize how much of an effect my busy floor was having on my life until I was forced to redo it. Don't know why, but I'm getting a "blue" vibe for one of your kitchen colors. I guess because blue would look so fab with those oak cabinets and would be a whole other direction. But there are other ways to go too. With my floor tile I'm going in a peach/grey/beige color scheme, with new grey countertops.

I would live in the house for six months to a year before you spend any money on the kitchen. During that time make notes of the things you like and ideas for change. It would be a waste of money to change out the backsplash, then decide you want to change the range hood or the counters. Get your idea book crammed with pictures and then look at them for the theme that attracted you to them. Years ago I had lots of pictures marked in all my magazines (remember magazines?). When I looked at the collection, I realized the common theme was blue. That told me the direction to take in my new house. Your kitchen is beautiful and functional for now. Walk around with your cup of coffee early in the morning to discover what you like about it. Sip your glass of wine in the evening while you contemplate the changes that will bring you the most happiness for the money.

^^^As above. The cost to remove and replace (with same) is going to be $18+ per square foot. The cost to polish, regrout and reseal = $5/sf or so. I'm super lazy and extremely cheap...which means I try to work with the lowest priced option that gets me the 'most for the least'. Which is why I LOVE floors that can be refinished and refinished and refinished and refinished. A stone floor should offer 200+ years of life. Compare that to vinyl....yah.