We decided we didn't want any carpet so our major upgrade was to hardwood floors throughout. We chose Brazilian Cherry. It's not quite as dark in person as the picture. It looks like this:
Our cabinets will be a dark cherry color. This picture is of the same cabinets but in some other place (with some ugly appliances):
We also upgraded the counters to meganite. It's better than laminate, but isn't quite granite. I guess it's basically a high performance acrylic and other stuff in a language I don't really speak but I know this: it's pretty, it has a kind of a stone feel, and according to their website it helps "contribute to healthy, sustainable, and safe environments..." blah blah blah. Healthy and sustainable is good. We chose the "south beach boulder" design. Below is an example of it, but in person those big bright speckles are not remotely that noticeable. It most looks like white stone.
As for appliances, we found a couple sweet deals on french door stainless steel fridges at the Sears scratch and dent outlet, so we'll be getting something from there. Otherwise we're getting these:
Over-range microwave:
Dishwasher:
That's all we've got picked so far, but it's quite a bit!
