thanks to all who have posted so far, especially Eric. We can probably save/budget down the road for a kitchen redo, or do part of it ourselves. Additions would be a little harder for us except finish work (floors, tile, etc. Can do drywall even but would need to find time to do it). What that kitchen has is a U shaped layout, not too bad except there are overhanging cabinets between a small dining/family space and the kitchen. It's a counter/pass through kind of setup where someone can sit at stools and talk with the person in the kitchen....except the cabinets hang down so the person in the kitchen has to look under them. We would likely tear those out and relocate the stovetop to the perimeter wall and make that pass through an island. Then that entire space could become kitchen/dining. It is possible we could still move out a wall on that (kitchen) side of the house down the road too, we are in Hawaii so all the construction costs are much, much higher than mainland. So jealous of all the posters here who can put on a large extension for less than 50K. Plan A or Plan B will cost us about the same. We don't plan to sell and move anytime soon, but should we need to we're leaning toward sq. footage instead of just extending current bath and upgrading the kitchen. Our neighborhood is about 20 years old so people are beginning to redo those rooms as the fixtures and appliances are ageing. We redid all the appliances about three years ago with stainless finishes, new faucet/sink, and redid the countertop Corian, so the kitchen is livable - just need to clear out some clutter and make smarter usage on available storage space. We could paint or restain the cabinet doors to freshen it up. A few neighbors are creating the "big bang" kitchen now but I'm not certain a 70K upgrade will improve the value that much as a new neighborhood is planned about 5 miles away within the next couple of years. Would we love to live in a "WOW" kitchen, of course. But as with most people we have to make a decision on where it is best to spend the money for now. We could feasibly also add on a 2nd story in future years, but we prefer the single story and if we age-in-place as planned, the new bath will include wide accesses and no-curb shower.

Your new bathroom is clean and in great condition. I see nothing broken or peeling, and I think it is actually very nice and totally fine until you can do your "dream" renovation. I am sure with your new home you have all kinds of ideas floating around in your head - money can only stretch so far so why fix something that really isn't broken?! Here's a picture of what I did with the guest bathroom in our condo/vacation/retirement home in Naples, Florida. I was discouraged too with this 4 year old peach bathroom. The paint color is Benjamin Moore Seafoam. Very light, pale, but picks up well with blue and aqua accents. (see the blue towels in the mirror)? Your bathroom would look nice with some wicker, or rattan baskets or accents! If you can't beat em' then join em!" BENJAMIN MOORE SEAFOAM PAINT COLOR

FYI Mapei rep was great and said caulk is best at that joint, plus they sell matching silicone caulks. He said many tilers still grout that joint, so it is common....but not best. He also said he'd be lying if he didn't try to cover up mistakes as my tile guy did in the past, and we had a good laugh. He recommended chipping out the tile with holes in it and re-doing it....but he also said most tilers out there have tried to pull off similar cover-ups...which I appreciate....it will help me in how I approach my contractor.

We were installing the vanity and doing the tiling so a lot was going on in the bathroom. Anything that hit the wall left a dent, even lightly, and I can scratch the wall with my finger nail leaving a mark. I misspoke in my post and he actually finished it with a light weight compound which is why our walls are so malleable. The drywall is brand new. We gutted our bathroom and started from scratch on the remodel.