Lighter beige or grey would be pretty. I would do either the riverrock or the small tiles that are in the shower, for the backsplash. I too though was thinking of doing nothing for the backsplash because it does look so pretty already. As for the Weird Wall I suggest three, say 12x12, framed pics of nature. White mats with wood frame to match the mirror frame. I would do sepia colored pics of leaves or trees. You could save a bundle by going outside and taking some pics yourself, get readymade frames if you can get color to match. I like the idea of a simple plant on the vanity. Maybe a white, ceramic pot. I would cover the "dirt" in the pot with small river rocks. You can get them at the dollar or craft store pretty cheap. Or to save even more you can get some out of the yard, like pea gravel, and shine them up with spray on sealant or I think when I was a kid we used glue.

Wow, thank you to so many people for chiming in! I do appreciate it! Deedles: I continue to like #2, too. Boy, I thought almost everything that mattered in the kitchen was already in! The copper appliance covers are the big unsettled element, I guess. Jessica: I like the diamonds, too. (My problem: I like everything!) The difference between the two patterns is very small -- the diamonds are offset from each other in the second one, but stacked in the first.) jmcgowan: I appreciate your support! (I was going to say "your constancy and support," meaning that I appreciate how you are continuing to help, but I guess I had to remove the "constancy" part to allow you to flip-flop! But seriously, the "anti-clown" argument continues to have merit. Melle_Sacto: Oooh, thank you so much for posting your running-bond 4x4s. I appreciate your effort. They really look classy. Examples of this are a bit hard to come by, so it is really nice to see it in a photo. Thanks. gregincal: Thanks, I like these directions, too. I am kinda torn between KISS (with the running bond) and incorporating diamonds to tie in the floor. Hey, maybe your idea of using fewer diamonds may be the right compromise for my situation. Sweeby: Thank you for the positive feedback. I appreciate your comments on the colors, because I am really weak in that department. Happily, I think all my schemes have the cypress downplayed to small doses now. Melissa: What can I say? You are welcome, and Thank you for giving me the inspiration. Also, thank you for the feedback on the alternate designs. On my long list of things to do is to draw up your idea on the same scale as the others. At first I thought I did not need to do that, because I had your picture to go by, but I think I will do it to give a fairer comparison.

I love my glass backsplash for the look. Use Starfire (Starphire?) glass if you want the back painting to be truer to color and not green-tinted. However, my first one cracked on installation and the current one has a stress crack in the same spot. In order to change it I would have to remove the plumbing on the sink (complicated in my case), so luckily the crack is hidden. I know of another case where a replacement was needed (something happened to back painting, company replaced) but they had to cut a slot in the wall into the next room to slide it into place. Its a great look, and I would do it again. Just be aware that if you go for a large monolithic piece, it is not "forgiving" if something happens to it.

I think the key to your color choices for both the kitchen and the morning room have to do with how each is likely to be lit most of the time. Your kitchen is spacious and seems well designed, but you are so right about the yellow not working very well, as well as about the need to consider how colors work with one another in your relatively open living area. Your kitchen gets its natural light via the large pass through to the morning room, with its generous window areas. In the photo you show, however, the windows are largely shaded and the kitchen gets correspondingly little natural light. It looks as though the kitchen has great installed lighting, but we cannot really tell what it looks like on. Were I you, I would find something -- fabric, even garments, paper -- close to each of the color ranges you are interested in. Stick each of them on various walls of the room in question and try looking at it in artificial light, in the natural light of your morning room windows when they are uncovered, and in the light of your windows as you most often shade them. This will give you a crude idea of how each color works in various kinds of light. Based on that, you can pick a couple or three colors to buy a pint of paint in to test on wallboard, plywood, or even cardboard that you can move around to various walls of the room in various lights. It seems like a lot of effort, but I don't see any other way that you make a decision you will be happy with. For the record, I like red and orange both, but although they both glow in incandescent light, they both can go kind of flat in natural light. I know you have downplayed the prospect of terracotta in the kitchen, but terracotta is a color I like and so it what I happen to have a picture of in artificial light, in a paint that seems to have a bit of a quiet sheen. The pic has to be clicked to make it big enough to see how nice the walls look with the white towel. Good luck. Here is a link that might be useful: terra cotta in artificial light