When you say remodel, how extensive are you talking about? LIke gut the whole thing with a new floor plan and everything, or just give it a facelift with new cabinet fronts, some paint, and a bit of backsplash?

I'd love to gut it but our budget is small. Facelift is what I'm looking for.

Try removing the upper cabinets to the immediate left and right of the window (replace them with simple open shelves if you need the storage), which will allow in much more light - and hopefully you'll just need to paint the wall behind, no structural work required.

What does she - and do you - hate about it? I can't say I like the layout, but apart from that, the materials look quite nice...

I would start by painting the cabinets white/cream and give them a little sanding after to give them the country chic look. If the Island is a problem then I would remove it and add block table like you see in the image below. Once you have completed this part I would then save some money and replace L of the kitchen counter top and backsplash along with the lighting, these are thing you can work to complete when you have more money.

We do like the idea of the table instead of island. The cabinets are small especially on the island. I actually bought the stuff to paint the cabinets but my wife stopped me. Maybe after reading your posts, she'll agree. Lol!

My wife primarily does the cooking and things but she does not have any decor preference. She wanted yellow (believe it was Goldenrod) in dining room, so we painted it yellow. I think white cabinets, a different countertop, a backsplash and the block table would improve it significantly.

I think the island needs to go, you will create more space with the block table and you can add casters to the bottom of it so she can move it around if she needs to.
Since the dining room is yellow you can do two things to create a flow from dining room to kitchen.

1# you could do the block table in a soft yellow with a would counter top

2# Use yellow accents in the kitchen to tie the two rooms together.

Just a thought, lol.

I like the idea of replacing the island with a somewhat mobile version. What's the floor like underneath it? Ikea has some good solid trolleys.

You can paint the cabinet doors - lots of how-to's around the net, youtube, etc, and endless discussions here as well.

I attached an image of a yellow island just of give you an idea of what I was talking about :)

I like that table. The floors are like a light colored hardwood. I'm definitely changing the floors if we take up that island. Thank you guys for your responses.

First, I would paint the island.....all one color. Maybe black, or dark brown, or even white. If that doesn't look good.....all you have lost is the price of one can of paint.

Removing that island and replacing it with a table is a great idea, and will give you a lot more flexibility with the space. Using some reclaimed wood as the table top might give it more of a rustic feel.

You could get new cabinet fronts that fit the style you're looking for, and keep the boxes. If you go that route, I'd think about a door that incorporates glass; a lot of the images you'd find in the "country chic" genre will feature them, and it will change the feel of the space greatly. But if you're on a shoe-string budget you could just sand and paint them. I'd definitely agree that white is a good way to go: it will lighten up the space quite a bit. I'd definitely take the crown molding off the top of your cabinets too, it will feel a lot less traditional and stuffy without it.

Overall I'd tend towards an all-white look, and bring in variety with texture and natural wood tones (like a table top, or flooring). A lot of "country chic" kitchens do incorporate open shelving as well where you can bring in some colored items for pops of color.

Keep us posted I would love to see the kitchen when its all completed.

Radical idea but fairly affordable: if you remove the wall cabinets entirely and replace them with open shelving you'll open up a lot more area. Painting the other shelves an antique or an off-white color while also going for a tan or light brown wooden counter-top would give it a lot ore of that country look while maintaining a sense of modern elegance.

You can then also take advantage of the fact that your kitchen is tall, by adding even more shelving all the way to top (use the top portion for less-used items or decorative pots and pans). The benefits will also be that the shelving will allow more natural light to filter through the window, and a white color would brighten it up. It will also allow you to potentially remove the back splash, or replace it with wood.

I can't wait to get started with all the new inspiration and ideas. Probably will be first of 2015 before we get started on it with our jobs being so demanding this time of year.