How to make your kitchen "new" without spending $20k!

We finally decided to pick a color and pain the kitchen. I'm so sick of that carrot orange! It was here when we moved in so it's never really felt like it has out stamp on it. It remains to be seen if we'll like the stamp we just plastered all over the walls today! :) We brought home two samples of gray. Craig liked the lighter gray and I liked the darker one. I just liked the contrast of the dark gray a little more with the cabinets (which we can't afford to replace anytime soon!) and the hardware and our stainless steel windows. The light gray was almost the exact color of the stainless steel. So we've applied the first coat and will likely apply a 2nd tomorrow night, or sometime soon. So far, I like it. Oh I guess I didn't mention.... we went with the darker gray. "Dark Granite" I snapped some pics with my phone while the paint was still wet. I'll post more later. Oh and I also bought this cool little kit that makes (after you paint them!) your white appliances look like stainless steel! YAY... sorta kinda new appliances. Now the dishwasher and range will match out refrigerator. It's going to feel like a new kitchen for less than $200! Let's just hope we like it. hee hee

Before & After - the first 2 were taken right after I used up the sample can. The remaining pics were taken this evening (paint still drying) after we finished the first coat.