Carolyn, We bought our house about 7 years ago. The kitchen was just awful when we bought it... filthy, icky, tile floor all cracked in pieces, huge non-functional island in a very small space, AND 1980's oak cabinets. We did a cosmetic renovation which lasted us until January of this year when we ripped it all out and did a complete, down to the studs renovation. for the cosmetic renovation back in 2001 we put in an oak floor, put in new countertops and a new backsplash (which was sea glass... loved it for many years and then grew sort of tired of it), painted the cabinets Benjamin Moore mayonnaise (just the outsides, you can see the insides are still oak), put on new knobs and bought new appliances (nothing fancy or high end but worlds better than what came with the house, particularly the refrigerator which had a decomposing dead bird plastered to the back of it, and lords knows what all in the crevices in the insides. In the renovation we just completed we got all of the floors on the same level and opened up the kitchen which makes it feel twice as big despite the fact that it is in the same footprint (with the exception of the china hutch cabinetry which extends beyond where our old kitchen ended). Here are some pictures of what the kitchen looked like before the cosemetic renovation: notice the cracked floor tiles: the step down into the family room drove me crazy... there wasn't really enough room for an island or decent sized kitchen table in the kitchen and there was tons of space in the family room but it was very awkward figuring out where to put the table Here is after the cosmetic renovation (actually, I took the pictures right before the whole thing got ripped out so that I could sell whatever I could on Craigslist): And after the complete renovation... notice the floors all on one level!!! yahoo!! and notice it is the same amount of space but opening it up makes it seem like much more space (also we eliminated the window on the range wall which helped immensely):

the molding between wall and ceiling throws everything off, due to the super glossy white paint used for that row, all around ,and the very white ceiling. I like the paint color Cornforth white-shown above ..I would use that color with 20-30% less intensity and paint all walls, ceiling molding and ceiling with it. With no plans to redo the kitchen, let the nice cabinets have their presence, and reduce the conflict with the glaring ceiling molding with a subtle paint job. Then get some soft and textural mats on floor in the right locations for yourselves, and some sort of area rug in living/seating zones.Removal of stripe valances is probably a good move... but can wait if you want....I personally like something at windows..could just do a cellular shade in neutral at kitchen window and leave shades in dinette, remove valances. Neutral walls and ceiling ,and some rugs would do wonders and I think surprise you pleasantly..

Pick either a soft green or a soft blue/gray. Gray will not work. Either will work if you're selling. You don't need to do linen or cream on the walls to sell. Sometimes a neutral color will actually make the house sing more and a soft blue/gray or a soft green can do that. (In fact the house I sold in 2010 during the recession had shades of green on the walls and that's what the new owners loved. The condo I sold in 2016 had a green bedroom and that's the one room color she loved the most.) Your light fixtures are fine. In fact they're timeless. Don't change them

It looks much different! I thought I didn't notice it was pink earlier. I guess you don't want to keep the pink, but if you did I would paint the vanity grey. Pink and gray was very popular in the late fifties. My mother loved the combination. If you want to change, how about spa blues and greens? Are you up for wallpaper? Linoleum is so cool. (Not vinyl, right?) Great light fixtures and hardware on the vanity.