I live in Ankeny and recently retired from ISU so I've got a fair amount of time on my hands. I decided to completely redo the kitchen in my son's house which was on the smaller side and very dated (original kitchen from the 70s).
Took down the wall between the kitchen and dining area to really open things up. Tore out all the cabinets and floor. Completely reconfigured the kitchen so I had to bring in an electrician to do some re-wiring. Installed a new floor, all new IKEA cabinets and a stone countertop.
I'm biased, but I think it was a dramatic improvement and I only spent around $10,000 total. Going with LVP flooring from Re-Store and IKEA cabinets saved me a lot of money.
The whole project took about a month. I'm guessing a contractor would have charged at least $50,000, so I think I probably saved at least $40,000 doing it myself. Owe a big thanks to YouTube videos.
