Thanks! So now the question is.... what "solid" do i go with. I definitely don't want the creamy white that is on now.. I was thinking a taupe that i am pulling from the rug or a lighter tan. Remember I will be re-finishing the set in a rich espresso color. And I finally was able to convince my dh to sell the armoir down the road and possibly buy a longer but higher buffet. I don't love the look of showing off my "stuff" in the glass doors- and also think by removing the top it will make the room look bigger. Final question- do you think fabric #1 or #3 in the last group would look ok as window treatments? I am waiting for my shades to be installed, but they are the silouhettes in the same white as the molding! TIA for your suggestions!

Since it's the largest piece in the room, I think you should start with your sofa and work from there. What colors are available without doing a custom job? Maybe you can find a color that's in your painting or map. Bring home some decent size fabric samples and we can help you better. After you get the sofa squared away, I'd start looking at laminate. I think it would look nice if you had all those pieces under the laminate uniform in color so it seems less broken up and busy. I can't tell if they're stained or painted on my monitor. You have a lot going on around the room with your bookcases so I think I would go with something solid or wood grain for the counter tops. When you start to look at laminate, go to several places because when I was looking, I found that no one store stocked all the samples available in the lines of say, Formica and Wilson Art. If you call the companies once you've narrowed down your selection, they'll send you larger samples than those little pieces at the stores. There are others here more knowledgeable about window treatment options than I am ,so I won't go there.

Thanks for your comments, opinions and suggestions. Love em! Now that I look at the color palette- it sure does look like I'm decorating a circus tent living room! Lol Chickadee- the dots are not really shiny but have different texture than the background. It's 69%rayon 31% polyester blend. Dots are slightly raised with a chenille-y texture. Circus-would love to do a velvet but dh has weird textural issues...reminds him of peach fuzz... Gives him the chills. Wanted to do a peacock/turquoise Or yellow sofa. But it's not in the stars ( may do a velvet chair down the line ). I posted some inspiration pics below. The dot fabric is not loosely woven but doesn't have a coating in the back like the pebbly fabric does. Les- the pebbly fabric is woven with both dark golden beige thread and off white threads and the background is the darker golden beige. The dot fabric is more of a taupy/gray Laurie - yes, the dots is a little more dressy so that would go on the English arm sofa rather than the track arm. I would want a more relaxed fabric on the track arm. Here are a couple of more pics of the fabrics. This is a side view of the dot fabric: Not shiny: just different texture: Pebbly fabric: Both fabrics: Inspiration pictures: Thanks!

Brutuses, I'll try to answer this as an interested consumer. I am by no means a scientist, and I can't vouch for the veracity of the tests/reports quoted in the articles I've read and linked to. If you google this, you can find a lot of alarmist type reports, which I tried to sort through and not include here. I am a fan of natural and organic, just because it makes sense. I don't want to unnecessarily alarm anyone with this info, and urge you all to do your own research on this topic. Basically, the chemical that kept stains from adhering which was used in Scotchguard in until several years ago was found to contaminate human blood and wildlife. Over 90% of the population in the late'90's had the chemical in their blood (also used in Teflon, etc). Testing revealed it to be lethal in high doses to animals, however Scotchguard, Teflon, etc used much smaller doses. The new formula does not contain those chemicals, though it has been criticized for not working as well. Furthermore, the company hadn't revealed the test results for the current chemicals, though they will say that these new chemicals do not stay in the body as long as the old ones and that the new chemicals are safe. There is some uproar over why these chemicals do not have to be proven safe before they are used and just who is responsible, if anyone, for monitoring companies like the makers of Scotchguard. The EPA concluded around 2000 (? not sure of date) the chemical was toxic and was linked to birth defects. It is no longer used in Scotchguard. These chemicals are in carpet, clothes, etc and have entered the food chain to the point of being found in baby eagle's blood (who have never left the nest, thereby leading researchers to conclude that the chemical has entered the food chain). They are not sure yet HOW these chemicals enter our bloodstreams (water, air, etc). Given this info, I'm not sure how much impact it has to choose to not use these items in our homes. Clearly, there is so much we do not have control over and therefore can't impact through our choices. But for me, it makes sense to opt out of stain/water/oil repellants whenever possible. links: http://www.enviroblog.org/2007/06/ask_ewg_why_is_there_teflon_in.htm http://news.minnesota.publicradio.org/projects/2005/02/toxictraces/ http://news.minnesota.publicradio.org/features/2005/02/22_edgerlym_3mscience/ http://www.ewg.org/reports/pfcworld/ http://www.protectingourhealth.org/press/2003/2003-0622-SJMN-scotchgard.htm Here is a link that might be useful: stain/water etc replellants