Deathray, we kept the cats confined until the self leveling cement dried. A few paw prints wouldn't have mattered, because the vinyl flooring will go on top of it, but we didn't want to deal with cement on their paws.
It's lovely to see you again, Duckling. It is a nice kitchen space, and we have room in there for a small table you can eat at. We also have a computer on the table for family use.
We certainly won't lack for storage space, as we are getting more cabinets than we had before, and while packing up the kitchen, we threw out about 15 large bin bags of various things accumulated over the years but not needed or in use.
If you own your house, you might consider doing the kitchen remodel if you think you'll be there for a few years. An updated kitchen should bring you a higher price when you sell. In the US, it's one of the few home renovations that almost always pays for itself when the house is sold.
The electricians have been working for the last few days, so there aren't many visible changes. To meet the current building code, each appliance has to have its own circuit, and all of the outlets have to be GFI.