Kitchen Reality Check

Lets be honest. After the costs of closing, the cost to replace the carpet, and the cost for the new appliances, we are going to have to wait a bit to tackle the kitchen. We are "cash-money" people, meaning, we don't want to borrow money to buy things we want. If we don't have the cash, we don't spend the money. So, I need to come up with a way to make the kitchen work for now, until we've saved up enough for a bigger update.

The first thing that is going to need attention is the range hood. I don't know how long I can cook with a non-venting range hood; I need the bad smells to have a way to get out of the house. I'll have a post about this down the line.
I'm planning to tackle the kitchen drawers next. The drawers and cabinets are ugly right now; just that purely functional, glossy white formica cabinet from the 80s. None of the drawers have tracks either, so they just don't slide well at all. Sometime down the line, I'm going to replace all the doors and hardware (and build a few new cabinets). To hold me over until then, I'm going to add tracks to all the drawers so they slide eaisly, and super-clean and degrease the cabinets. I will probably also start moving the cabinet boxes around as well, and adding some open shelving.

I am contemplating painting the formica countertop as a temporary solution. I found this great tutorial:

http://www.remodelaholic.com/2011/08/painted-formica-countertop.html#more

I think for my counter top, I'd make the counter have less contrast. I know from crafting that those pour-on protective coatings are extremely durable, and extremely messy! I think it would definitely be worth it to change the look of the kitchen for the cost of some paint and supplies. Plus, I'd love a reason to buy some of that glitter!

Sometime when the money starts piling up we can do the kitchen for real. ;)

Would you ever paint a countertop? What hold-over fixes have you done in your kitchen that worked well? Do you have a great source for new cabinets or cabinet doors?