Updating My Kitchen

In case anyone else remembered I'm in the long process of updating my kitchen (as DIY as possible). Well I have a mini update. As I said in the previous kitchen post I don't have a picture of the original fabulous fluorescent, but it looked similar to this:



I had an electrician out to take out the fluorescents and run wires to where I need them now and my kitchen ceiling looking something like this.



After tearing down wood surround and flourescent fixtures



I got my drywall on and spent the better part of two weeks covered in dust. Then repainted the ceiling (I never realized it wasn't white!).



And then called my electrician back out to install the lights.



I rented a compound miter saw and attempted to cut the crown molding and failed miserably. I'm going to ask a friend of my brother's to help me with that once school's out (college). But even with the LED lights and wire still showing, I like this better than the fluorescent! So here's my full list of what I want to do in the kitchen. It will probably take me the better part of a year to finish it all but here's to one step at a time. I crossed out three and added one - at least I'm still moving forward!

• Buy a hutch/additional cabinets (found one on craigslist FREE!)
• Eliminate the nasty light fixture and do something like this but the center fixture will be a semi flush mount. 
• Change out the light fixture over the eat-in area.
• Refinish kitchen table and chairs - from craigslist.
• Refinish the cabinets in a dark brown. I haven't decided whether to sand them down and commit to painting them or trying Rustoleum's Cabinet Transformations. I think paint might be slightly less expensive, but Cabinet Tranformations seems a little less labor intensive and is water based. Oil based paint and my dog makes me nervous!
• Paint the walls a neutral color - probably a creamy white. I like color and have it in most rooms in my house but the kitchen has been dark for so long I want something bright.
• Find new window coverings - vertical blinds are ugly and a pain!
• Replace the countertops. I'll probably price a white Corian, but end up just getting new laminate.
• Put in a glass tile backspash - I'm hoping to find a mix of red, white, and clear tiles.
• New sink
• Run a gas line to the kitchen, I hope. It will depend on price because this is not something I'm comfortable DIYing.
• Buy new appliances. If I can't do it all at once this is the order they'll happen.
  • Oven/Microwave
  • Refrigerator
  • Dishwasher - This may be a ways down the line. This one works great and dishwashers have such a short life span I don't want to waste a min of one.
• Learn to cook ; )