If you know what color you will stain the cabinets in the future I would match the new wall color to the new cabinet color....otherwise you will end up needing to repaint the walls again after you update the cabinetry....

Rustoleum make a great DIY cabinet make-over product. You can either re-stain a different color or paint. Maybe think about a cropped runner to go the length of the kitchen, since you aren't replacing the flooring. Recently, we've been seeing a lot of greige colors being used. Greige would be the best of both worlds in terms of matching your cabinets.

If your on a budget I would suggest a simple color such as uba tuba and a subway tile.

On the plus side, you have a ton of cabinets! It is too bad about the 80s makeover, did they at least leave your bathrooms alone? Okay, I have and 18 month old and a 4 year old, and with not much of a budget I won't tell you to go too crazy. I will tell you that one of the first things I noticed was you have no cabinet hardware. That's an easy fix and where I would start. You have a lot of cabinetry, and I've never seen a DIY cabinet paint job look as good as I would hope, plus you have to sand and it's a ton of work, so I'd keep the cabinets. I have a maple kitchen, but the maple is kinda yellowish and I painted a green color and I think it balanced things out pretty well. My mother did an 80s makeover to her 40s kitchen and has up the same cabinets as you, and did kind of a more oliveish green color recently, I don't like hers as much (but then I don't like the rest of her kitchen). In the future I would think about having someone put a different door style on, or I believe you can find places to get the doors and replace them yourself.

For the countertops I have to admit I hate tile counters. They are a pain to wipe down and maintain the grout, so you might want to start saving pennies. I know granite is hot right now, but I would do a solid surface instead. Much warmer feeling and too much grain in an oak kitchen just isn't good. Otherwise laminate is always an option. If you know there is no way you can afford a new countertop anytime in the next few years you could try just redoing the backsplash, that would be a reasonable DIY project.

For flooring VCT is something that you can do yourself, but so is tile, wood and vinyl planks, it all depends on the look you want. In our 1966 home we did VCT and love it.

Appliances are easy to replace as they go, or wait until a Black Friday kind of a deal unless they don't work. And think about updating that lighting. Good luck! I posted a before and after of our 1966 kitchen, although ours was more than cosmetic. Hope this helps!

Thank you all for your suggestions. DRTC Studio, that's a smart suggestion...to paint the walls based on the color I would want to stain/paint the cabinetry. Absolute Painting & Power Washing, love the idea of a cropped runner and thank you for the confirmation that greige is the way to go! Anna Deen, that kitchen is gorgeous, and so is the green backsplash idea. Advanced Granite Solutions...others have suggested Uba Tuba, too. I should go get a sample. Finally, Katie Gooding: thank you for your detailed post. I admire what you did to your kitchen, and I plan to look at the VCT options at our nearby Lowe's. There is hardwood under the carpet in our house, but, sadly, not under the kitchen linoleum. Too expensive to install, so something modern yet "affordable" like what you did with your flooring would be fun. Thank you all!!

If you are interested in getting a sample I could arrange to get one to you. We are actually running a special on Uba Tuba right now, which is why I thought that color would be perfect for you.