Okay. Update on removing countertop(s). We took the first (of 2) countertops off. Abbisgram, you were correct, and there were only a few screws attaching the top. All came out easily except one which was impossible to get to without disassembling the whole cabinet, so we got out the sawzall and took care of that one. Decided for several reasons not to special order countertops. We bought a sheet of 3/4" plywood (4x8), had it cut in half lengthwise, and that will do all the new countertops. Got the first one on and will need to put the tiles and edging on. Regarding the comment from the guy at Lowes: He was correct in the sense that the cabinet was very flimsy; however, it didn't 'fall apart'. The front (where the doors are attached) is pretty standard, however the sides of the cabinet are 1/8" (at most) luan, and there is no back piece at all, just a 1x2 strip fastened to the bottom of the (old) countertop, then screwed to the wall. Thankfully, the shelf inside the cabinet seemed to help keep it all together til we got the new top on it. Once the new plywood was on though, it is as sturdy as it was before ... lol. Not sure if I mentioned that this is not our full-time home, it's a mobile home that we purchased in a resort town, so we are not there to work on it every day. Hoping to go back next week and remove/replace the 2nd countertop, then cover them. Bottom line is that it wasn't nearly as scary as the Lowe's guy made it sound. And thanks, abbisgram, for the encouragement. :) As a side note, the finished countertops will end up costing under $100 for approx. 13-14 feet of countertops. I'm not the best at taking pictures, but will try to post some when we finish. This post was edited by danandcarol on Sat, Sep 27, 14 at 22:44

I would love to see how it turned out. We're doing a very similar renovation. So far our walls are alabaster and we've only purchased lower cabinets. I painted them Mindful Gray (BM). We just purchased our counter tops yesterday and they are unfinished butcher block. So now I'm panicking on what stain to use on them (our floors are Allen + Roth Russet Oak Laminate). I don't want the floors & counter tops to be too matchy and I'm considering just oiling them without staining. So many decisions!

I think your floor and countertops complement each other--a bit busy, but really not worth changing. A plain ivory subway tile with a bit of warm gold--golden biscuit but closer to white with light gray grout--to echo the cabinets and some of the gold and gray flecks of the countertop would work for the backsplash. Think about changing out your cabinet hardware to straight, modern nickel handles and pulls.

Sorry TCB - just realized you are the OP :) - and just re read that you plan to change the hardware....are you doing this everywhere in the home? Will the ORB be on all door hardware throughout the home? I'd strongly suggest focusing on the tile (white with matching grout or subtlety darker grout like a bone white). Then do the hardware and select paint LAST. Thank you for the paint tone pictures with your floor - could you retake the shots with the paint samples propped vertically against the wall by the tile floor. Look at all samples as you will see them in real life because the light hits them different so anything vertical (like paint) should be evaluated vertically.