I'll chime in as a fan of contemporary myself, and a not-so-much fan of country. Your kitchen definitely has a country look to it for reasons already posted. The natural color oak cabs unfortunately don't fall into any description of contemporary, but I would expect touching the cabs to be off the table. If you need canisters for practical reasons (e.g. storage), then consider stainless steel. I got a nice set from Costco for not much money, and Crate & Barrel also have nice ones. Your family room has a contemporary look to it (with the exception of the table lamp). If you look at the elements there in comparison to your kitchen, what you see are solid colors, clean lines, and a lack of nicknacks. Look at the window treatments in particular. Solid color valence, and solid color drapes. Also look at the artwork over the fireplace. Dramatic dark frame that matches the color of the fireplace below, complementary colors in the matting, and a repeating dark brown mat towards the inside. So ask yourself, "how do I bring these design themes to my kitchen?" Well, replace the window treatment with a solid color. I would recommend a dramatic color that matches some other elements in the room such as your counters. Vertical pleating such as you have now is more country. No pleating (like your window valence in the family room) or horizontal pleating (like in roman shades) are more contemporary. Although roman shades always have a summer beach house feel for me, but that's probably just me. For the stuff on top of the cabinets, you should replace them with repeating items in solid or repeating colors. For example you could use a dozen clear/colored art glass plates that again match the counters. The key here is to use multiples of the same item in the same or similar colors, whereas currently you have a mix of disparate items (plate, jug, basket, bottle, etc). Anyway you get the idea - repeating elements, repeating colors, simple lines, no clutter. Those things say "contemporary" to me. Good luck and I hope that helps a little.

I love those pictures with the beautiful curtains. But looking closely at my room, I'm not sure I have room for sheers to the side of the windows. The space between the window trim and room corners is not very big. If I do do curtains, would I only do them over the window behind the love seat? Not around the two windows on the wall with the bed next to the night stands right? I am definitely going to move the art. Building for the CATS, that bedding is very pretty! The lamps are also very nice... but would I have to get an electrician? I'm not sure I want to get into that... I had an electrician come last year and move a plug 12 inches in my media room and it was very difficult, time consuming, and costly b/c of the way our attic is constructed. nosoccermom, I do like the glass table, some of those overstock ones look nice. They might pick up the color of the little birds in my other table. I really like the idea of the ceramic garden stool too and I'm looking for one that would pick up the sofa colors... ingrid, not too critical at all. I do like a cozy bedroom :) k9arlene I will look for lamps... maybe blue ceramic from the prior suggestion. Thanks so much for all the suggestions. I am on the hunt for bedding now!

I think your kitchen is very nice, I don’t think the backsplash clashes with the cabinetry and I’m often critical of that in a lot of kitchen photos I see. You know what your kitchen reminds me of? Those rooms where a lot of different shades of whites, creams, and ivories are used... they don’t really match, but they all just go together nicely... and the thing (I think) that ties them all together is a lot of use of texture. So, for that, I like the chairs you have that are woven, as opposed to the smooth, white chairs. And I don’t think you need that tablecloth, I think the table looks just fine without it. I’d add some natural sea grass like colors and textures and some houseplants, maybe some wood cutting boards against the backsplash... any other colors I would gravitate towards would be soft blues and greens, nothing too intense.

Painting the fireplace will definitely modernize it. I painted a fireplace recently and think it turned out nicely. The fireplace is white and the walls are light grey. Was going to replace the fireplace screen but decided to clean it up really well and stripped off the brass inlays that were on it. Have never been a fan of tv above fireplace but have to say, it works quite well. I would suggest a rug in your room to anchor whatever furniture you decide upon. Would also suggest painting the wood trim in your room. Natural wood trim may make a comeback but for me it really dates a room. Good luck and please post after photos!