Before: I am not a fan of oak cabinets at all!! Not to mention the ugly white laminate countertops.
After: We knocked out the upper cabinets, plaster the top and added wiring for pendant lights (which I LOVE). Our biggest splurge was our granite countertops and touch stove top, the granite installation was the only thing we did not do ourselves. The granite has alot of earthy colors so I painted the walls a bronze like color. Also, every piece of oak in the house (trim, doors, etc) I painted off white. To add extra pizzaz we took off the door trim and added 4" wide casing with fancy squares that go in the corner. Just doing that added alot. The kitchen tile was an ugle peachish color, I did paint our floor tile which lasted a long time, but we finally got some really nice porcelin tile and just finished putting that all down ourselves as well.
Here is a pic of our tiled floors.
Before: View of the cabinets, sink, ugly stone backsplash and white dishwasher.
After: I painted the cabinets and antiqued glazed them. We also found some rail casing and added to the top and bottom of the cabinets to add extra interest. We also replaced the stainless steel sink with a granite composite sink in copper. Then added bronze faucets/soap dispenser/water filter. We also tore off all the old tile and put up porclein tile and made it look like tuscan by grouting it with a very dark brown color and letting it get in the groves of the stone. Obviously we replaced the dishwasher to a modern stainless steel. The cabinets took me a VERY long time, especially all the glazing (dark lines). I also spray some dark bronze cabinet handles to match the glass exactly. Painting your cabinets can make a HUGE difference and save you thousands of dollars.
Before: As you can see there were alot of cabinets and the upper cabinets took up alot of space.
After: Trying to convience my husband that taking out the top cabinets would really open up the kitchen, took awhile but eventually he said it would be okay. My dad came and helped us take them off and do the wiring for the pendants. You can see how much more open it is into the living room, especially for when we entertain guests. The backsplash tile goes all the way around the kitchen. 
Before: I didn't paint the insides of the cabinet yet, but here is an up close look at how ugly the oak color was.
After: We LOVE our granite, there are so many different stone designs. One piece of advise is to definitely splurge on the countertop, it will also increase the value of your home.
After: Another cool view of some granite.
After: Here is another view of our cabinets and the casing added at the top and bottom.
After: You can see the detail in the antiquing I did.
After: We special ordered some metal corbels under the countertop which was expensive but adds so much. To make it modern I bought some cherry wood leather saddle chairs from Ebay. The corner shelf was a cabinet, I decided to take the door off and put waines coating inside and trim on the outer edges. Inside I painted it the same color as the walls and put some vases in it. I want to add lighting down the road.
Before: Built in oven and microwave with white refrigerator.
After: Bought all new stainless appliances (expensive for built in and needed special size refrigerator). We added more casing to the top of the cabinets and on the bottom and then I painted all of these and antique glazed them myself.
After: We put 4" casing and decorative squares on all the doors and closets in the house.
After: A closer look at the casing and the entry way into our dining/wine room.
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