I am always either far behind or far ahead of the "colors of the year"! I have some black accents in the house (the black wood legs on my 2 club chairs, a black sofa table that is probably gonna be relegated soon to the finished basement, the black surround on the fireplace that was there when I bought the house, black-wood and black-metal picture frames), but the rest of the house is lighter: brushed aluminum and stainless colored furniture, including the TV table, which I had re-powder coated from black (!), the dining room table and chairs, the ceiling fans. And some maple (a TV armoire, a console table in the MBR). I looked into getting some end tables refinished from a denim blue (don't ask!) to maple, but the furniture refinisher just shook his head and said they'd always have a blue cast. Bummer. I just wish retailers would not forget the nice maple finishes when they sell the espresso stuff! (Some of the light alternatives, to me, look ugly. West Elm has a natural finish it calls "blonde," but I think it's way off. But contrast IS nice to see. Check out the dark Parsons-type DR table paired with the very light chairs on the West Elm website I just figure "real" blonde will come back soon, affordably. But by then I'll probably be searching high and low for the espresso! Love the one you're with, I guess!

"The paint colors are driving us crazy. The pale oak (on the lower left) appears so much more blue than any photo Ive ever seen online." I lived with Pale Oak for about seven years and really liked it . . . but, yes, there were times that it turned a blueish violet in my west facing room living room. In the east facing dining room, it read exactly like I wanted it to - a warm off white greige. So, it could be your exposure that's turning it for you. As others have mentioned I think it's good to choose the counters first, then paint. I am concerned with how your travertine floor will interact with counter tops you're considering. Travertine has a tendancy to nod towards pink. So be sure you take that into consideration in selecting your counter tops. Here are a couple of kitchens with travertine floors and white cabinetry. Take not of the counter tops.

Love it shead! And I'm now reading the book Virgil posted above... for the 3rd time. I've had it a long time, well it's actually my dad's copy, but it's been a while!!

While I generally agree with the 'decorate for what you love' crowd, some trends and styles always seem simply unrealistic or suboptimal, so I wouldn't ever consider them for my own home. That includes the ubiquitous barn door. The first time I saw one used as an interior decor option I rolled my eyes. They simply don't make much sense: as a door they fail to completely close off an opening so that alone is a huge thumbs down. Especially for a bathroom (ahem) or a bedroom, makes no sense. Not to mention the design closes off a large area on the wall which can no longer be used since the barn door will need to push over onto that portion so again, less utility. Same with open shelving in the kitchen. Many/most people don't live a life in which a minimal amount of tasteful monochromatic matched pieces can be styled on a shelf. Then let's get to the utility: open shelves not only look cluttered but things can easily fall off and break. Everything on open shelves is susceptible to kitchen grease, dust etc so that's certainly less useful. Moving on to outdoor showers-unless you live in the subtropics how useless is the opportunity to stand outside shivering for most of the year while you shower?!?! Who in their right mind will even want to do that? And even in the subtropics take it from me, you probably aren't going to enjoy your shower while dodging cockroaches (they love moist warm areas), lizards etc. Once again, simply not useful in real life. Sure some people may like having a place to rinse off after gardening etc but really how large a group is that? While not wedded to a non-aesthetic aesthetic, putting stuff in your home decor that looks good but either creates more work or simply doesn't work well makes no sense to me and never has.