Great job. I envy you the opportunity to refinish the floors before you move in. I have 2" wood blinds on most of my windows because they offer the best combination of privacy/light control and preserving the view out. With the slats tipped slightly up, I can block the direct sun and still see my garden. My office has mahogany wood 2" slats and does a pretty good job of darkening the room when closed and blocking the afternoon sun. Other rooms have slightly off-white blinds, and particularly in my BR, they don't darken the room as well as I'd like. Because they're inside mounted, I can't put a roller behind, and permanently installed wood valances prevent heavy drapes from being pulled back off the glass completely, so I used semi-sheers (and a sleep mask). The other downside is dust. They're hard to keep clean, though the dark ones show dust more than the light colored ones. If I had to do it over, I might go with all light colors in a faux wood and no decorative tapes, to make them easier to clean.

I am with you RTA is an option. I have a older friend who is a cabinet maker, trained by his father, he makes incredible cabinets! They are amazing, but I can't afford them and would not ask him that big of favor. But, when they first came out with waterbased cabinet top coat, he used it on my parent's cabinets. UGH, it only lasted 2 years before we had to sand them and recoat. Fortunately he had used amazing materials and they are gorgeous still 25 years later. BUT my parents also chose slab doors (not at all popular back them, but high style now) and no stain, just beautiful wood. There is no joints to seperate and once we added the extra coats of top coat, they will outlast us all. The deal is that processes and products change, due to epa, supply, carb, health concerns, etc. I myself sanded and painted (slab) oak cabinet doors with oil based paint and got a mirror finish that probably out lasted the kitchen, but I doubt I could find that kind of paint now! I think it is a balance between the look you want and cost and durability and safety. I think I could take old lead oil paint, cover an expensive slab door and it would last forever, be dangerous to do and to have, and I would hate the look! I also hesitate to spend money on "forever" anything because I might just hate that look in 15 years and have spent so much I can't afford new. I look at it as buying a car, I want to get something nice, but reasonable, if I buy a luxury car, I won't be able to afford gas or even fix it, because I spent so much on it, so I ended walking as my luxury car sits in the driveway. It is not going to do me much good to spend so much on cabinets that I can't afford food. (No Ikea...everything I have bought from them broke long before it should and it too is made in China.) If I can't look into rta from China, then I must live with ugly, peeling painted cabinets with boxes that are made of particle board and fiber board (not even MDF). Why, yes, they were custom made in the USA, by local craftsman!

Hmmm. If you've only got two weeks to get that place cleaned up and moved into, I think you need to be pretty judicious about what you do. I'm assuming this space is a rental? Or at least that you don't have full control over it, based on the statement that a range hood isn't up to you. So here's my guess: maybe the current occupants are super neatniks and are going to leave the place pristine and ready for all your finishing touches. But I doubt it. (Some people are really nice people but have a hard time with that stuff.) Anyway, I think just getting the place thoroughly cleaned up and painted is going to be a trick. --I personally wouldn't replace any appliances except the microwave. Instead, clean, clean, clean, and replace appliances once you know what you're getting into with existing electrical and install timeframes. --I'd thoroughly clean that fridge and paint it with rustoleum paint--white or any fun color you like. --Consider a bright color for the walls, especially if you're not going to repaint the cabinets. It's not easy to repaint laminate cabinets and the paint chips pretty easily so you'd be forgiven for not wanting to do it. Do you want woodwork a different color than walls? I love white woodwork but if yours isn't pretty you may not want to draw attention to it. --I would not paint the countertops unless they are unbearable. --Figure out a way to get garbage and recycling under the sink or in a suitable cabinet. --Consider replacing or painting cabinet hardware (a contrasting color would be cheap and cute.) Overall my thought is that your time will be best spent achieving a great beach house vibe. Key is for the place to be super clean, and as organized as possible (not necessarily uncluttered, but everything in its place.)

Update! Hello! I hope everyone is safe in this crazy times that we are living. I wanted to give an update in what's been happening in our home since last year. I hate when people vanish ;) After a few months we got the permission from the city hall to open another window in the livingroom, after that we put our money and focus on the outside. We build a garage, a wall (fence) around our backyard and renovated the front of the house + we finished the gas system in the kitchen and painted the walls and ceiling of almost the whole house but then winter came and we had to stop. This went from October until March, we had to stop a few weeks here and there when it was raining but in the end was great. Quarantine came and we stopped all our plans and we just focused on being save and no spending money. In August I started again with plans for decoration, I bought the first painting for the house, we already put some instruments on the walls, we made a new island, new wood counter in the kitchen and we just finished a diy chandelier idea that I had from looking on Instagram. It's from a cork tree that a friend gave us. I will post some pictures that I have now and I promise to post more this week. I'm working a lot and have to find the time to take pretty pictures 😉 I hope I can post the pictures in this post now because this site isn't working so well with me. Take care xx The wall Counter Island