Everyone was so wonderful with all of their suggestions I just thought I'd share an update. I decided to do a trial run and see if I really wanted a wall there. I was sure I did, but so many people had questioned it, I figured better safe than sorry. So, the other evening I drug my old long skinny table top (which is 30" X 72") from the basement and propped it where the wall/divider/whatever would go. It wasn't what I wanted of course, but I figured I'd live with it for a day or two and then see how it felt. I loved it. It wasn't quite wide enough but it did a good job of making the south side of the room feel more private. I moved it away from the wall 8" and that was just about enough to make the other half feel more private too. So, I set out to find the right divider. The day I was set to actually plunk down some cash, I woke up with a migraine and couldn't go. A few hours later, the realtor called. You see, I'm living in this apartment because my beautiful, wonderful, grand house is for sale. It's been on the market over a year without a single legitimate offer (there were two low ball that weren't even worth negotiating). The first few months I lived here, I didn't want to do anything because I just knew the house was going to sell and I'd move. Eventually I came to the realization that even if/when it sold, we'd had to come down so much on the price that by the time an offer was negotiated out, I probably wouldn't be able to buy anything livable with the proceeds and I might as well make this "home". Well, if you wanna make God laugh, tell him your plans because as soon as I planned to fix this apartment up and stay here, the house sold for our full asking price! Ok, the asking had been reduced, but still .... So, I've decided not to buy anything for now. I'm still going to continue with projects I have started (such as my half painted bathroom and my half-done-trying-to-build-my-own-faux-fireplace-project) but I'm not starting anything new or buying anything. In a couple of weeks, if the deal is still looking like it's going to go through, I'm going to start house shopping!! I've already done some internet shopping and have found 3 in my price range that I could really see myself in. None are any where near as nice as I've had, but it will be MINE again and I'll be free to do as I choose instead of having to make everything I do temporary and in accordance with coop rules. So, stay tuned for house shopping and then decorating! I'm excited; can't want to have a new project to do, top to bottom, any way I want!!!

Hi Francy! I have had no problems with that shade and light...the only thing that bothers me about it is that I screwed up the calculations and it is not centered between the hood and the walll.. :(. My ceilings are 8 feet and I also have the open shade above the sink and honestly I never really look up at them to catch any glare. My rationale too was not to have too many different shades/styles. You can see that the fitter and canopy on my sink pendant match the small stove light. All my light shades have the black stripe but they did not offer the stripe on the one over the sink. Good luck and I would love to see pictures of your finished period kitchen! Tina

I just wanted to chime in to say that I've seen pictures of homes with doors and window sashes that are unpainted wood paired with trim work that is painted, and I thought it looked beautiful. Basically, anything that opened/closed/moved was unpainted wood, and the rest was painted. So that's something to consider as an option. I wished I'd thought of that option before we went with all wood trim and doors in our main floor living areas and all painted trim and doors upstairs (bedrooms, bathrooms, and laundry room). We have lots of stained wood (trim, doors, built-ins, etc.) on our main floor, so I understand the challenges of decorating around it and finding colors that work with it. But when you find the right colors to bring out the best in your wood AND give you the vibe you want, it's worth the challenge. There were times (after spending too much time looking at trendy design magazines or web sites) when I second guessed our decision to go with so much wood, but I've come to love it more over the years because of its character and richness. I grew up in a house that had unpainted fir paneled walls in every room (even the bathroom, though the walls in there were varnished), so for a long time I just longed for light, bright, painted walls. After having those for years living on my own, I guess I finally came around to appreciating natural wood again.

HA! Resurrecting this old thread because we ended up with a house that has a pretty unattractive Tuscan Traditional kitchen with the worst style -- cathedral for uppers (except one door that was maybe too narrow for the arch???), salmon/rust granite countertops that go up the walls on all four walls (bet that cost a lot), and yellowish floor tile, peach walls and ceiling AND sanded skip trowel walls/ceiling... it's so completely not the style of the house overall. And I'm going to be living with it as is I hope I can stop seeing it after a while because the only thing I can change easily is the wall color. Its the kitchen where our kids will learn to cook and I won't be stressing out about whether or not they are working carefully not to make a mess... can't ever tell if there's a mess because the busy granite counter has so much going on already! And there are boxes and boxes of extra floor tiles, maybe they were on clearance...