When I bought my house 6 years ago, it was cheap, dirt cheap.  But almost nothing had been updated in nearly 40 years!  The bedrooms had shag carpet and the kitchen had indoor/outdoor carpet (eck!) and ugly cabinets and plain laminate counters and matching laminate backplashes.

First, I tiled the floor, since that was in our budget at the time.  Later it cause slight problems with the new cabinets--we basically stuck with the old footprint.
Then we had new cabinets, a new counter, a dishwasher, and new lights installed. And put French doors out the back of our kitchen and actually put a fan over the stove!
But it took me over a year to finally figure out what I wanted to do with the backsplash.  I am a mosaic artist and sculptor but it is always hard to get to work on your own house.


You can't even tell it is the same kitchen!

You can find more info about my art and remodeling adventures at  houseinsideout.blogspot.com