Flooring, Painting, and Kitchen's on my mind!

It looks like I will be moving in the next couple of weeks. Several and when I say several I mean forever ago, we made an offer on a house being sold through a short-sale. It was a house that was not in an area we had previously been considering. We decided to look at it anyways because it had the number of bedrooms we wanted and we figured it would give us layout ideas.  Now, my husband and I have looked and many, many houses over the years from brand new model homes to fixer-uppers with the swap-thing living in the pool. We had a pretty good idea of what we wanted but the two main things were 5 bedrooms and a large backyard. We had been focusing on a particular area which would have moved us 20 or so minutes further north but with the location came the $$$ price. We looked at the house, the BACKYARD and then left. Over the next few days both my husband and I were thinking the same thing, should we seriously be consider that house.  It has the two main things we want and it is offered at a much lower price than anything we have seen. We talked about it and decided to go take a more thorough look at the house. Even though the house is only 10 years old it needs some help. It is a house where at one time had 5 teenagers living in it and it shows. It was built with all builder grade materials with absolutely no upgrades. We looked past that and saw what we could do to make it home. Walking into the backyard is a highlight of the house, with palm trees, pool, deck all wrapped up in about 13,000 sq feet! We again questioned the area, it's not in the hood but wasn't where we planned. We had to adjust our thoughts on that, we realized we would not get anything like this anywhere else, we could put a little money into it and make it amazing, and still be in for less then what the new houses or even the older house are going for in other areas. Our offer got accepted a few months later but then we had to enter into the loan phase of things. This was the hardest part but in the end we got the loan approval and signed loan docs on Friday. We should have keys this weekend!
Although I am excited, I am also very nervous. I am so exited to move in and start the upgrading but the whole change part of moving is tough. We have money to start upgrade but the furniture part will have to wait. We will have a mish-moshing of stuff for the next couple of years but seriously if we had money to fully furnish a house we would be buying in La Jolla, so it's okay.

We have picked out our new flooring, which I love but every time I mention my flooring selection I am met with "dark floors show everything". Here is a room scene with the flooring:

It made me second guess and I went back to the flooring store to possibly change but in the end I love the dark floors and I will invest in a Swiffer! We are going to focus on the first floor upgrades only and will be adding the flooring to the entrance, walkway, family room, kitchen and dining room (leaving carpet in the living room and stairs) The best part about the flooring is we got them for 1/2 off what the normal sales price would be. In all honestly I had planned on a color a shade lighter then this but the price difference was double and it just didn't make sense.  The other major upgrade will be to the kitchen, yikes!
Oh, this is what I want to be the highlight of the house. I have many kitchens pictures saved, they are all white cottage kitchens. Of course my kitchen isn't close to the size of any of these pictures but I am hoping to have a mini version. Here are a few of my saved ideas:

The last picture is a good representation of the actual size of my kitchen and what I have planned. There are 3 elements I am planning for the kitchen, creamy white cabinetry, an amazing back splash: 

 An apron front sink:

 and a nice cooking range. Of course the budget will dictate what actually becomes the kitchen but boy it is fun looking at these pictures!
Painting will take place all over the house but the one area that I have no clue about is the living room, entrance and stair area. These area's are all second floor high. Which means what ever color we paint has to be the right color because repainting will not be an option. In my last house I painted rooms more then once, one room 4 times! I want to have a warmer color or even a cooler mid-tone color. It also needs to be a color that can be considered a neutral color so that I bring colors in through accessories. I am really drawn to greys as well as grayish browns.

I have to remember that this isn't going to all happen overnight, that it is going to take time, possibly years before we get the house looking the way I would like it to look. I know decor doesn't make a home, my family makes it home and what a lovely home I have!