I am in awe of the progress and the difference, kdw72697 !!! And your Little Helpers are just toooo precious! Let us know as soon as you decide what you are going to do with the track lighting, and any other changes, of course! :) THIS is my kind of Topic....anything to do with the words "Super-Cheap", and I'm there. Fantastic Suggestions throughout this topic and I'm so grateful you all posted them! Everyone who posted pics....THANK YOU! I am always on the look-out for new ideas, inspiration, anything "budget-minded" to freshen up my own home. The colors you've used, the kitchen set-up...all ideas that motivate and inspire me! Igloochic, Your home....always an inspiration at every turn...especially since I use paint and paint techniques to create something a little nicer than the norm (the 'norm' that I can't even afford!) ....I've used your home pics more than once to get me motivated. Here's my latest budget project...maybe someone else can benefit from it in their own budget-minded kitchen. Real Travertine Tile Trim was NOT in the budget but the discounted/discontinued tiles we purchased looked so nekkid without something on top (the discontinued tiles didn't have bull-nose or anything close to matching). A length of cheapy wood chair rail molding, some left-over stucco in the bag from an earlier window re-do and my paints and some good sealer..... (I DID resize these pics to make them smaller...I hope it worked!)

Continued thanks for the ideas! We usually put our boots on at the table and walk out the door. Sometimes make a trip back to the bedroom to grab something. When we come home we often take them off outside the front door to avoid bringing in more snow. That being said, the floor always gets wet with boots, dogs, etc. There's not a great area near the door. But we usually have shoes off within 10 feet of the door. I'm wondering if high-end vinyl might be a good way to go. My friend has it in her basement because she couldn't have real wood and it looks nice. Water isn't an issue with it. We have real hardwood at home and it just wouldn't be practical for this condo. Wood-look tile would be an option. I love Jillius' ideas. I want to just start buying rugs and lamps and art . . . The good news is I have a lot of stuff from home that I can bring here - red and cream pillows for example. I love red. I think the dark furniture we bought for the condo was probably a reaction to the blond oak furniture that was here originally. Unfortunately criagslist and Ikea can be a little difficult when you're rural. The nearest Ikea is 6 hours away. I can't just pop into Homegoods or such. But I'm going to look more at Overstock.com.

Lynn, it is so nice of you to start this thread. BL, I missed that, so sorry to hear about the fire. I hope you find some enjoyment in the rebuild process! Once I stopped stressing and instead embraced certain things (like whether to replace all the oak floors, which I ended up high-glossing and complementing with gold hardware) the process became a lot more fun. My favorite things about my kitchen are all things I learned here on GW: All drawer base cabinets, under the sink trash pullout with automatic open and close, custom drawer inserts from woodhollow on Ebay. Microwave, toaster, mixmaster tucked away in the pantry. My biggest thanks goes to all the quartzite experts who encouraged me to do the scratch/etch/stain test at the stone yards. I still love my quartzite with its rivers of crystals, and am so grateful to GWers and especially karin_mt for sharing her considerable knowledge. One thing I didn't realize is how often I would have to polish the Polished Nickel. It's so pretty and warm, which bridges the gold/silver gap. But those Corbett pendants and the faucets require some upkeep. I've not been in this kitchen for many months due to covid, and am planning a redo of my Florida kitchen, so I'm taking notes here too! Wishing you happy designing! ETA: Ditto on the Blanco sink. Mine is metallic gray. When you clean it with magic eraser (GWers again) it glistens. I would never go back to stainless or porcelain.

regarding the front, I'd pull out those round shrubs near the garage and the home since they do nothing visually for the home. You could change the garage doors to something more up to date, along w/the front door and removing the shutters. I'd do black windows. Let me show you a slew of pictures that give you ideas of colors and styles. (and don't be too quick to shoot down painting the brick. Romabio is a wonderful product w/almost no upkeep) not quite the same as yours, but I like the garage doors, the vertical siding, black windows and the addition of wood siding (you could do composite) if you painted the brick white it could look like this photoshopped these doors so you can see. Landscaping and a new driveway will have a huge impact on the overall look I love the after shot on this one. very modern looking. if you did your driveway and landscaping like this, along w/the black windows, black accents, dark garage door, a new front door and the added wood accents, it would look so much better here's another split that got a makeover. same color roof like you have. Consider doing some type of path down the middle of the grass. Notice all of the little details on this after photo. I love this one too. they got rid of the shutters, got black windows, new porch overhang w/the wood, wood posts, gray siding, modern doors/lights/address, and of course the landscaping similar splits w/a more modern redo. similar house like yours w/the brick. gray siding, updated landscaping. although the brick is painted in this one, you don't have to do it. (I like it better but it's up to you) Medium gray siding, black windows, new front door, wood garage door and upgraded lights. and landscaping. around back, the dark siding and black windows would loo like this. do a composite wood deck, or add some type of wood to warm up the darker, black tones very similar style hosue to yours, switched over to farmhouse style. they did paint the brick w/Romabio on this one do you like the green? this color siding w/your red brick would work. I'd still get a new door and landscaping and do the walkway down the middle. if you want a porch overhang, this one is nice. I wouldn't use the shutters