Here is pic of the kitchen

and the last picture I have

I would say that the more important thing to consider is how functional the layout is. I think the cabinets are fine and could be brought up to date easily but the layout may or may not be user friendly. Live with the kitchen the way it is for now and see if it needs to be improved on and go from there.

I have a small kitchen that we totally renovated and I love how highly functional it is. I wanted a lovely kitchen but even more than that I wanted a kitchen that I didn't dread cooking in.

Good luck!

I would not rip the cabinets out. I'd change the island though. You can put a new island in that is smaller, ditch the overhangs and corbel supports and maybe a different color such as a warm white, gray or taupe or any color you want if you do the cabinets dark. That would really make a difference in the dated look. The floor could be added in around it at the same time. There are islands sold as a standing piece of furniture that would look nice too. Then the only cabinets you would have to paint or stain are the perimeter. If you did a drop in freestanding range you could take out some cabinets and fit it in with adding some trim around it and maybe put the dishwasher in the island or some refrigerator drawers, microwave drawer etc. There are companies in our city that specialize in updating existing kitchens, doing the painting, adding trim and decorative finish work and changing out the hardware. They look like new cabinets! It's true that everything was pretty much better in the past when we knew what we were getting. Good luck.

[Traditional Kitchen[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/traditional-kitchen-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_709~s_2107) by Wellesley Kitchen & Bath Designers Divine Kitchens LLC

Brown mahogany gel stain over oak cabinets....could go with a reddish floor I think? Either way nothing's happening to the kitchen now, am I correct in that?

So why not pick the floor you like now and live with the kitchen for awhile to figure out what you want to do with it later, knowing your cabs could be stained or painted later to match the floor you like now?

Here is a link that might be useful: Gel stained oak cabs

This post was edited by robotropolis on Thu, Jan 30, 14 at 14:26

The cabinets might look good (hard to see the details), but this is a long way from a modern kitchen. Who is the poor soul who will have to use this as their work space to prepare thousands of meals for years to come?

I think what will happen next is you'll get tired of cleaning the grout on those tiles (had 'em, hated 'em) and you'll want a new counter, but then the new counter on dated and non-functional cabs won't make sense, so the dilemmas just snowball and become more costly in the long run. You'll also soon tire of having all the appliances acres away from each other because of that big barrier island.

The cabinets got three good decades out of them (if you consider the 80s, 90s, and 00s good decades), so they've lived their useful life. Let 'em go.

I can really see doing the cooktop on the wall where the fridge currently is, with a nice stainless steel hood above it as a great focal point.

This is one of those kitchens that it's hard to do anything to as a place holder. Just live with it until you can completely redo it.

Just pick the floor you like now and leave the kitchen cabs as they are. Maybe you can consider changing the counter top to laminate, or some other cheap option, add some pullouts if there are only shelves behind the doors.. The island is big, and there's ample space around the cooktop, so I don't think having it there would be a security hazard (assuming that the island is not very close to the sink counter). It even looks much safer than cooktops placed on short counters with narrow cabs next to them or near entries or walkways with narrow aisles.

I would 'live' in the kitchen for a while before making substantial changes. The kitchen will 'tell you' what it needs as you use it daily. Then you can decide. It doesn't sound like you'll be bored twiddling your thumbs without anything to do! Good luck, sounds exciting.

I'd say:
- Pick the floor you want now (but are you sure about reddish HW? I'm so boring that I usually go for natural.
Gel stain the cabinets if you have time (it's really addictive)
Get different light fixtures over the island.
Don't rip out the cabinets now.
Don't put laminate on the counters.

There's isn't that much wall space, so you could paint the walls a cool color (navy?)

Live with the kitchen and see what bothers you and what you like.

It's a good thing that you have a year before you can work on the kitchen. You need this time to work in it for a while... Over time you'll identify all sorts of issues you want to change that are not evident right now.

Go with the hardwood color you like. Then, your cabinet color can come later. You will be able to find a complementary stain... If you are concerned, though, a light, natural wood is flexible, neutral, and easy to design around (and easy to keep clean).

Good luck with the flooring changes--I find that's the most exciting part of a new-to-you-home reno.

Agreed...I hate to say this. But the kitchen should go. It's like ripping off a bandaid...do it now and get it over with. I ran into the same dilemma with my floors...restain and refinish perfectly fine gold hardwood? I went with dark brown and it shifted the energy completely. I don't think those can be salvaged in terms of style. I can't see totally clearly but I don't think you're utilizing the space properly as the eating area seems spacious relative to the kitchen itself.

I see what you mean about the kitchen. those are really solid looking cabinets. don't think i'd like the tile counters, though.

i can see refinishing those cabinets and doing some distressing to them. painting different colors under a dark color then partially sanding thru to reveal the colors underneath.

the layout is not bad. the cooktop island has lots of space on both sides, so does not have the issues you see when the island is not really large enough for a cooktop.

what a huge place.

Thanks everyone for the replies!!! We are picking the wood floor color with no thought to the existing kitchen and we will tackle the kitchen when we get to it.

I appreciate all the input. I agree that living in the house will be the only way to figure out if the layout works. I'll have a whole entire year of cooking with 30+ year old appliances!!!!

Thanks again.