New/Old House = New Retro Kitchen

So, this is the first time I'm moving into a house with a strapping young man, so you know what that means: home improvement projects with a free & always available, albeit unwilling, workhorse that I shall exploit for my own personal gain.

Of course my ultimate dream house would look something like this:

with interior furnishings along these lines:

(notice a pattern?  Yep, you got it, green is my favorite color!)

However, the reality is that I have a 1950s house, so it looks more like this:

with a kitchen that looks more like this:

**Actual pic of me in said kitchen; like my dress?

Not that I'm complaining, far from it, I love my little house, and j'adore my big ass kitchen.  But I would love, love, LOVE to update it while keeping the retro feel, so that is going to be my new project.  Much like my lifestyle diet change, the remodel is still in the planning phase, and consists of me gathering together pictures of kitchens to draw inspiration from.  Like this one:

Or this one:

Considering that this is the current state of my "dream" kitchen:

I have a lot of work to do.  Hey, I just moved in, don't judge.  But definitely feel free to give ideas and suggestions...or free labor or supplies.  Or just plain old hard cash, whatever, I'm easy.

**UPDATED:  Ikea, you read my mind, how awesome is this? Design your own kitchen, why thank you, I will!