Just adding that I've included pictures of my living room

Hi, I certainly don't think you need to (or should) pull kitchen colors into the living room, especially if you're not crazy about them and there is a door between the rooms. I do wonder how YOU like the maple furniture - if you do, keep it. If on the other hand a quick tour through a local furniture place gives you other ideas, then explore those. I find it hard to believe you don't have some favorite colors, if nothing else. What would help immensely is seeing your sofa, so if you can post either a picture, or good description, it make it a lot easier to know where to go in the living room as it's a central piece. I'd box in the fireplace (cover over the brick) and decide about a new mantel. You haven't mentioned either keeping the (how big is it?) gray rug, or buying a new one - again a decent sized rug often is the anchor of a room and taking either central or secondary colors from it can be an easy way to inspire the rest of the room. A lot of people think they're not good at decorating, but I don't think that's 'real', as decorating shouldn't be about setting up a static looking arrangement of things, but about how you like to live, where you feel most comfortable, then picking pieces one by one that naturally go with that 'flow'. There's no right or wrong, just a little common sense re not blatantly mixing too many different periods, clashing colors or buying uncomfortable (or unattractive pieces) because someone else thinks they're 'in'. Or do you want a showcase?

Thanks for the thought provoking questions and comments. The door between the kitchen and living room is open most of the time and there is a lot of traffic between the two rooms, so I think that I need to coordinate the color schemes. On second thought, it may be the boldness of the print in the kitchen which I dislike more than the colors. I prefer a softer look.

The living room is painted paneling. I wonder how it would look to put up a chair rail in the living room and paint the wall below the chair rail a green, blue or taupe which matches the wallpaper in the kitchen but maybe in a lighter tint? A chair rail might look strange with the vaulted ceilings though. There would be one-third color on the bottom of the wall and two-thirds off-white on the top. Is the chair rail a good idea or do any of you have other suggestions?

If I go with green, blue or taupe wall color beneath the chair rail and keep the off-white color above, what color sofa would look good with each color -- green would look good with sofa color? -- blue would look good with sofa color ? etc.

When I look at the maple furniture against the off-white walls, I think that has a harsh look. I would like it to look softer, but am just not sure what color would accomplish that.

You may be getting the idea by now that I'm color challenged -- LOL

The current rug in the room is taupe and burgundy (it does look a bit gray in the picture). I do intend to replace the rug with a much larger rug -- probably 9 X 12.

I like the maple furniture because it's what I grew up with. My mother and aunts have this type of furniture in their homes. But, a friend of mine recently suggested that the furniture is a little dated. So, I just wanted some other opinions about whether I should think about replacing this.

I was looking for solutions to the fireplace and came across a web site called Brick Anew -- http://www.brick-anew.com/. Any opinions or experience with this product? I like the suggestion of covering over the brick, but it's probably not in my budget right now. Maybe Brick Anew would be a short-term solution and later I can box in the fireplace.

I don't think a chair rail is a good idea with the painted paneling. And I wouldn't try to coordinate the living room with a kitchen that you don't like. You can always just paint the wallpaper for now. That would be no different than painting paneling. I like the maple furniture and the brick fireplace. You just need a larger mantel and I'd make it the color of the floors. I'd leave the trim and doors white and go for a beige on the walls. Since you don't really know what you like yet, that'd give you some color and warmth for now, while you work on the rest of the room. Look at SW Universal Khaki, SW Kilim Beige, SW Relaxed Kahki (although I think it's too light). Also there are a lot of great colors in the gallery. I'd leave the ceiling and the beam white, as I prefer the contrast between the walls and a white ceiling.

Southerner, I agree with the others about not having to carry the kitchen colors through. If you don't like the wallpaper, you can either strip it or paint it. I'd do the former because I suspect painted wallpaper is harder to remove. But you can put that project off for later.

In the meantime, I'd go with whatever makes your heart sing in the living room. I don't think a chair rail would look right on painted paneling.

Have you visited our Gallery to look at the Living Room, Dining Room and Fireplace threads? I think you will enjoy the photos. If you see some you love, save them to your hard drive, then you can ruminate on them and see what it is you like about them. Once you've picked a wall color out generally, you can look in the color-specific Gallery threads to see if there is a paint color there you love.

It's awfully hard to look at a blank canvas (white walls, not much furniture) and know what to do, IMO. I think a few inspiration pics will get you started, don't you? There are some gorgeous rooms in those threads.

Your maple furniture might look better even against white walls if there were some pictures over ... some of it, and maybe a plant or two around, though I do agree in principle that it can look dated unless you go for an all-out look that calls for it. I do think you should go through decor mags and find a 'look' (a period, style, etc) that grabs you though, rather than trying to just fit in a couple of older pieces into an essentially newer-look room. You don't have to do everything all at once (financially), but adopting/deciding on one will make your life easier - you'll have objectives when you shop, rather than be lost in a sea of stuff.

I think it would look nice if you painted the fireplace the same as the wall color. I think a warm white would work. If you could add a new mantel that was a bit bigger in scale and keep that the same color as the wall/fireplace color. As far as your sofa wall, a collection of various framed family photos in differnet sizes. Keep all the frames the same color. You could buy them all in the same color or spray paint them the same color. Do a layout on the floor first to see how it would look before hanging them on the wall. I wouldn't go as high as the vaulted area just keep the collage below the normal ceiling line. Your furniture is fine just a bit small in scale. Maybe choose just the pieces you need for the space and relocate the rest to somewhere else in the house. Do you have a sofa? If so maybe a neutral slipcover. Then choose an accent color to add around the room(ex. pillows, objects on coffee table, etc.)Keep window treatments simple, perhaps roman shades done in color to blend with wall color or neutal panels that have a border of your accent color. I hope this helps. Sorry if it is so long.

There are so many colors in that paper that just about any solid color you bring into this room will coordinate with the paper. The paper has multiple tones of blue, green, beige, burgundy, and white. Unless you are leaning towards a purple and yellow living room, I think you are OK. :)

First things first: Buy a sofa and a rug that you like and then come back to us to give some advice on drapes. Then we can talk about wall color and accessories.

If you like the maple pieces, keep them and finish the room off well and they will look great, assuming you want to keep the country look. If you are looking to move away from country, then they may not be your best choice. You can create a beautiful fresh country room that your friend will envy. Any style can look good if done well.

Southerner,

I think if you fix the rest of the room your fireplace may not feel dated. It is daunting to know where to start. You need an inspiration piece. Look around for an item you love. Then try and determine what it is you love about it and build on that. It may be a color, it may be a texture, or it may be a memory that it provokes of a special place. All of these things can help give you a starting point. Then buy something that will get you going, like a sofa. If you want paint the walls tan/beige if you can't bear the white for a while, but otherwise put your time and energy into building a foundation with your furnishings and then chose your window treatments and then the wall color. I am sure you know it is much easier to pick a wall color to go with your things than pick things to go with a wall color.

Sorry to hijack, but Oceanna, how do I get to that Gallery? If I click on Photo Galleries at the top I can't find that catagory. Sorry if this is a stupid question, but I would love to see what other people have done.

You can do any number of neutral colors that will work with your kitchen, it doesn't have to match it only needs to go along with it. I think the room looks good size and could handle darker color, browns/taupes or sage green both very neutral colors that would work with kitchen. There is also a greenish blue in the wallpaper that I think could look really nice as well. You can't go wrong with neutral colors, but trying to use the kithcen colors will be tricky and unnecessary.