Do you know for sure that the formica will be cheaper than the granite? I don't know the price points of the different laminates but I do know that the more expensive formicas cost more than the less expensive granites. Given that it's DIY, I'd go for the formica.

For the floors; if you like the classic black and white checkerboard, why not sheet vinyl. I have a friend who has it and I'm not kidding, I thought it was ceramic for the longest time...I mean years! It looked great. There's a thread going right now about sheet vinyl with some pictures that show off how wonderful it can look. Sorry, but I don't know how much it costs, though it's best to have it installed by a professional. While I agree with your realtor that composite vinyl tiles would be a turnoff, other vinyls look much nicer and for a potential buyer, a ceramic/porcelain floor they don't like would be a nightmare to change but vinyl can be switched out easily and inexpensively. If you decide to do tile, I'd choose the porcelain over the ceramic especially because the larger size is much more current style wise.

I don't think subway tile would be too plain and a pencil liner in any color would look great.

You will see many examples of kitchens with dark counters, white sinks and chrome faucets in magazines and the finished kitchens blog. It's a timeless, classic look and I don't think you can go wrong. Plus, the formica you picked isn't really black, black. I think it would look great. Maybe you could order a larger sample so you could get a better idea of how it would look.

Best of luck with your remodel. If you're stationed in a place you like, I hope you get to stay there a while. Heart felt thanks to you and your spouse.

Here is a link that might be useful: Finished Kitchens Blog

Granite tile sounds too complicated - go for formica, no grout.... and we love our sheet vinyl... easy, quick DIY. (we diy'ed our entire kitchen) Cheri gave great suggestions.

For the flooring, you might want to check out Trafficmaster vinyl peel & stick tiles sold at Home Depot. It's very cheap and definitely can be DIY. It comes in stone & wood looks. If you do a search for Trafficmaster on the Flooring forum, you will find many positive comments and pictures.

Many years ago, someone posted a picture of their kitchen done in a tonal checkerboard with using light tan and light taupe Trafficmaster tiles. It looked very sophisticated and subtle.

For counters, Ikea has some nice inexpensive DIY wood and laminate counters . The selection of colors is very limited but you might find something you like. I have the Pragel walnut one in my laundry room and it has held up well. If you don't have that big a kitchen, you might also check into prefab granite if it's available in your area.

there was a thread a while back about vinyl flooring that looked like slate and there were some really beautiful floors. will try to find it and if so post it below.

I am concerned about white cabinets / white appliances and white subway tiles. Feeling like it might be too much white. for the backsplash could you do a pattern? maybe the diamond pattern you wanted on the floor but with two colors, white and something (maybe not too contrasty).

about the countertops... our first kitchen was done on a budget and I found the laminate to be quite expensive. just get a couple of prices before going too far down the road.

I have no issues with the white sink against the dark countertops, but just am thinking there might be too much white. someone posted a kitchen recently that was white white white... will post it for you in case it helps.

here is the post about the slate look alike floors:

http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/kitchbath/msg110902268153.html

also, here is a thread that I just love... it was a DIY and they give TONS of information on the process which might be helpful for you.

http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/kitchbath/msg012014495340.html

Good Luck! would love to see before and after pictures.

Here is a link that might be useful: white kitchen

I love the idea of the black and white floor given all of your white, then be fun and accent in red or yellow. It's a cool cafe look that's great in a vintage home.

Your realtor is on crack. The bad ones advise neutral neutral neutral...and ya know what...my DH's did as well, and for six years it sat on the market. I came in, painted the kitchen yellow, added bold glass accents, did the bedrooms in garnet green and a deep blue, and it sold in two days. Boring is umm boring heh heh

It sounds to me like you have a great start going, and it will be fab in the end. I'd like to suggest a couple of things...first, on the cabinets, I'm all about painting good wood cabinets, so great idea there. I prefer above any other primer, to use a sherwin williams product (primer) called seal and bond (for shiny surfaces). Use this after a quick wash with TSP and you won't have to sand the cabinets :) This will make your husband or yourself, (who ever is painting) love me forever! I have used this product in three kitchens and it is sooo strong!!! Then cover with the paint of your choice (but do a high sheen (glossy or cabinet paint) for stregnth.

Big hint...little thing...spend good money on your paint brushes, say over 10 each. Treat them well and they'll last forever, but a good purdy brush will make all the difference in your paint job. Trust me on this, it's important.

Ok another mistake made in my lifetime...the hinges you have currently are made for those cabinets, if they work, don't toss them. It's actually harder than you think to change out hinges. I did it once...it was a funny mistake, and ended up costing me several hundred dollars and a few days to fix the error. So when you take them down keep all hinges and screws. You can easily prime (with spray automotive primer paint) then paint with metalic paint and they'll look lovely. Even if you think I'm on crack telling you that...please, throw them in a box until you're sure!

To paint, lay them out on a plastic garbage bag. Stick the screws into an empty cracker or cereal box head up and paint them as well. Thin coats, several and they'll look like new :)

I'm not sure what the price point was, but you might research copper or zinc counters. Circuspeanut did his copper counters DIY and they're absolutely to die for, and I think they're not bank breakers, and probably cheaper than replacing the current counters. If not, either formica or granite is fine...you're smart to consider your price point there. I have a home full of beautiful stone counters...and one formica one because it suits the use better (sewing room) but it's a wonderful granite look. I did a wood edge on that counter and I love it. It's the color of absolute brown granite and the trim is walnut tone. personally, if you're going to go with a black and white floor I'd go with either a black counter or have a blast and go red :o) Then go totally retro with a metal edge.

You said white for your cabs, but spend some time looking at the kitchens in the kitchen forum. Gray is devine and very upscale looking in a kitchen for cabs. Black is rich and wonderful especially if you antique it. And, you can paint laminate as well :) So don't rule that out until you investigate. My last kitchen I painted the cabinets a rich chocolate brown. They're now in a friends mother in law appt and they look fab with creamy counters. I'd kill for a gorgeous devine dove gray...and may do that in our victorian for our first step remodel...so look at other colors just for fun :o)

And when done...share!!!

Igloochic said it all and more, so all I'll add is if you're using spray paint, do it outside, downwind, and on sawhorses or a table or a box of a similar height, so you can lean away, rather than toward, the paint. The current accellerants are particularly noxious, and you don't want to inhale them. Even better if you can get a respirator mask rated for that kind of use.

If you have a big box store - the kind where you priced out post-formed counters, ask them about ordering bull-nosed, no back splash tops to suit the look you're seeking. You can also speak to local laminate countertop fabricators - they can be very inexpensive and you can choose from a wider set of laminates.

I have some caution about peel and stick flooring in a kitchen - been there, done that, never again. It's really hard to install and to keep the seams looking clean (you'll have plenty of them). So count me as another vote for sheet flooring.

Thank you all so much for the input! It's so nice to have other interested parties to "talk" this whole thing over with. My poor husband is sick of hearing about it! (When he left for work this morning he told me, "Think of me as the monkey with the hammer...just tell me what you want and I'll do it. Get back to me when you've decided.")

cheri127: Yes, the Formica will definitely be cheaper than granite tile. We took our measurements in and got a $498 quote from Lowe's (actually it's $486 after the military discount and tax). I hadn't considered vinyl sheet flooring, probably because I can't wait to get rid of the stuff we have, but it's worth looking in to. (And we've been stationed much worse places than here even if we are in the middle of nowhere so I'd like to stay a few more years!)

linley1: I LOVE Ikea, but the closest one is over 5 hours away in Dallas. By the time we rent something to haul our stuff home in it becomes cost prohibitive. Interestingly enough, my realtor told me to avoid butcher block at all cost for resale as some people just loathe it. Tghe kitchen lady at Lowe's agreed. She said people in this area worry about upkeep and it being hard to keep clean and germ free.

mamadadapaige: Thank you for the links! In the slate-like flooring discussion I saw a beautiful floor and the owner was kind enough to give me the colour number. It was Stainmaster sheet vinyl in Breakwater

http://www.stainmaster.com/resilient/resilient_3040.jsp

I'll check it out and see how much it costs. As for the white kitchen link...oh, how I dream of having a huge white kitchen like that!

igloochic: I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks a black and white floor would be awesome in the kitchen! I love the look and not just because, as my husband contends, that I'm homesick and trying to recreate a See's Candies shop. (Though that may be where I fell in love with the look as a kid, now that I think of it.)

Thank you so much for the painting and hinge advice! I will definitely look for that primer. Since we have so much painting to do (in addition to the cabinets we have a bunch of shuttered louvered doors between rooms) we were thinking of buying a good interior paint sprayer for the doors. My husband is a whiz with a can of spray paint so the hinges would be no problem. (When we redid the dining room he transformed our ugly old brass ceiling fans with silver and white spray paint. Now they have cottage style and it cost us about $15 total.) I will look at other colours (the dove grey sounds gorgeous) but I love white cabinets (especially with clear glass knobs).

bmorepanic: We have a Lowe's here (the closest Home Depot and big Lowe's is an hour and a half away) which is where we priced the laminate post form counter. The $498 was for the bull nose edge that goes all the way under (to avoid chipping) without a backsplash; I prefer tile to go all the way down to the counter on a backsplash. Thank you for the advice on the peel and stick tile., It wouldn't have occurred to me that it was harder to keep straight!

Happy AF Wife,

I was one of you many moons ago! My hubby was stationed at Tinker in the late 80's to early 90's. Hi!!! :)

Everyone has given you great advice, but I'd like to chime in on the peel and stick/Traffic Master tiles. We put them down throughout our living room, dining room and kitchen last year, peeling up old, icky peel and stick tile as we went. We swept each area thoroughly, then put down the wood-look peel and stick tiles. IMPORTANT: We added special laminate flooring adhesive underneath each tile.

We didn't have a problem with keeping the tiles straight, but our tile looks like random blocks of wood. I'm not sure how to describe that any better, but it looks really good on the floor.

To keep the tiles straight for something with noticeable lines, like the black and white pattern, you'd need to snap a chalk line and line up very carefully, but you'd have to do that with any kind of tile or flooring.

BTW, your kitchen re-do sounds a lot like what I'm planning. I want beadboard for the backsplash with white cabinets and black or chocolate brown mottled laminate counters. Tile for the backsplash just doesn't appeal to me. I'd rather have something I can repaint if it gets stained somehow.

I love igloo's comments on the hinges.
I had cabinets from 1959...I hated the color of the hinges and knobs.

They don't make hinges to fit the cabinets anymore so I spent $600 (makes me sick) to have them re-plated in brushed nickle. Oh that was just for the hinges!! I bought cheap knobs.
I wish i knew about the automotive paint.Great trick.

lissa_z9b: I wish we had been stationed at Tinker! (I am not a small town girl and after being stationed in Hawaii for 4 years (a great assignment, but that was where we had the disintegrating house with the rats and bugs) I really wanted to be near a Target again. Oh, how I miss Target.) Are these the TrafficMaster tiles you used? Have they held up well?

http://www.depot-tile.com/product/IM76014.html

I considered a beadboard backsplash (I love the stuff! My husband installed beadboard wainscoting in the dining room, entry and hallway to the bedrooms to replace old "wood" panelling and I love the look) but my husband vetoed the idea. He was concerned about maintenance and scrubability, especially behind the cooktop, and felt that ceramic tile with minimal grout lines and a good sealer would hold up better.

alterit: Wow, I bet your hinges are beautiful! I really don't like the shape of ours but I will definitely spray paint some silver first and see how they look before changing them out. (Right now they are copper, like the knobs and the lantern-style light fixtures I got rid of the day we closed on the house!) If we keep the hinges I might be able to get nicer knobs. I'd love glass but it might be too taste specific for resale.

Thanks to everyone who has taken the time to give me advice (and encouragement!). I am stressing less now!

Happy,

We used the same brand, but a slightly different pattern. Mine looks like 4 rectangular pieces of wood surrounding a small square block of wood.

From the box, purchased at Ho*me Despot: SKU 361-057, Pattern: Redwood Pattern No.: 62331. Residential 10 year warranty.

There's no need to match the pattern, although there are pattern matching lines on the back if you want to match it. Most people who come in the house think it's wood flooring, but I just think it's low maintenance and easy to keep looking good.