Jesst, the colors are pretty light throughout the house. I thought about keeping it light in the kitchen, not that there's that much wall space in the atcual kitchen area, but in the eat in, there's a bit more - but this brick/rust color red keeps coming back in to play on the virtual painting site I went to - in the kitchen next to the cabinets, it looks good, not sure how it would go over in the eat in area though... Karin, thanks so much for your post - glad you were able to sleep on your reply and not have it keep you up at night - that's what's happening to me. Too much to think about, really. I honestly don't know the difference between paneling or t&g. Someone told me it could be either maple or birch, personally I wouldn't know the difference, but I am trying to learn. Why this house - many reasons, price, location, layout. As for the interior, I see a lot of potential, but prior to posting on this site, I saw the potential of painting it, at least the kitchen, not so much the den. The wood in the den is nice, don't get me wrong, I do like it, and as I've mentioned elsewhere, to me, it's warm and inviting (with the right kind of furniture, not the crap the people have in there now) and it reminds me of my Grandparents cottage in upstate NY where I'd spend summers as a kid (they had it for over 50yrs) What I don't like is that plate rail at the top, and I can't come up with any solutions on what to do with it - THAT bothers me a LOT. It's a dust collector in my eyes, not a plate rail or shelf. As you mentioned: "I can see two things wrong with how it presently looks: one is that no one who's previously owned it has ever been able to think of anything that goes with wood" That's what I'm afraid of with me, and which is why I'm here looking for ideas. I'm going to be only the 3rd owner, and as you can see from the pics, the current owners (CO) haven't done squat, nor do they have squat. I'm not really a blue or green person, I've always been scared of color and usually go with beiges, though I was convinced to venture in to golden yellows in my daughters room and loved it. Don't get me wrong, I love color, and admire many homes I've looked at with the colors they've used, it's just me, being afraid of what to pick and how it will look and the possibility of me hating it (and second guessing myself along the way) I hate making a mistake and wasting money. As I mentioned to Jesst, the virtual website I tried out with cabinets similar to the color in the kitchen, I liked this brick rusty red color on the walls - very unlike me, but would definitely think about putting that color in there. If I had to pick between a blue and green, it would be green, but otherwise, I'd be gearing more towards the golds, yellow, beiges, tans, etc. The house was painted not too long ago and I probably wouldn't change the colors in there, with the exception of the YELLOW that's screaming out. I'm just very surprised I can't find more info on what I'm looking for out there. It seems people just aren't keeping (and showing) their paneled rooms - only their painted paneled rooms. I've looked on TOH website and others, nothing really to mention. But not to worry, I won't be delving in to the den right away after closing, kitchen will be top priority. The only thing I know I'll be wanting to do in there is rip that chair rail out (when I find a suitable replacement idea) and somehow make that built in have a pullout for a laptop computer so we can use it as a desk. Thanks again!!!!

I can't believe I finally figured out how to post pics!! Please, I need some help. I'm posting this on other forums also. Sorry, these are older pics (& not the best). We are getting ready to drywall soon and I need some advice. These windows are 22 feet high. The window on the lower right is actually an 8 foot height sliding french door. My contractor decided to put the left set of windows equal distant from the left wall and the Log post in the center (between the 2 sets of windows). I originally wanted to keep the log, but now I think it looks off-balanced. Seems the two sets should have been equal distant from the Log post in the center. I hope I'm making sense. Anyway, nothing I can do now. I'm thinking we should trim out this entire wall with wood and build out over the log so it won't look off center. Comments and ideas would be greatly appreciated. Anyone have trim pics of their wood window walls?

I would NOT paint the vertical trim or horizontal trim on the walls .. to me, that.looks like part of the stairs somehow. I think I WOULD possibly paint the grid on the slanty ceiling though (making the wood the same color as the ceiling - you would still get the effect of the grid pattern on the ceiling, just not so intense). Why not get some samples of those woodsy colors and just put them up in those spaces on the wall next to the stairs - the thing about wood is that it is such a strong presence in a room (esp. a room like that which is kinda arts and craftsy in style) that it can really look spectacular with a deeper, darker richer color to complement and balance it... you might find the idea growing on you once you see it. Or not! You dont have to commit - just see how it looks. Have fun!

Why not just paint that upper white part the same blue as the door? That will provide same or similar visual effect as your original door. Keep it simple. If you put a header on it, its going to clutter it up and draw attention to it and make the space look more awkward, not less.... besides being a total stylistic mismatch to the house and the door. I dont know if Id put anything in there at all - just blue to make it all look like a single, unified space. If you are replacing the sconce, get one thats simple, discrete, and doesnt draw attention to itself The door itself (is all the style statement you need to make. Its a simple, boxy brick house with a stylish blue door. Thats all you need - boom, done. Sometimes less is more.