Your proposed wood table reminds me of Bristish West Indies style such as Ethan Allen's British Classic collection. If you look at their peices, you will see that some accent pieces have rattan. It really makes the furniture lend itself to both a formal look with the dark toned wood, yet some casual feeling with the rattan. Pricey, but you can find cheaper furniture in this same style (except for the bombay chest which is way overpriced and nothing similiar / cheaper exists! Errrrr). But then again, your photshopped sconces and chairs have a modern style (to me) and your fabric on the bench also is more modern. Maybe the darker table shown by Francoise47 would work better. I love your kitchen which has a farmhouse, cottagey feel and if it were mine, I'd stick to this style for most elements. I'd also put a small chandelier over the table instead of wall mounted sconces.

rmkitchen, thanks for those pics of your beautiful WTs! Do you mean 'relaxed' roman shades that pooch out a bit at the bottom in the middle? I think yours are more beautiful, myself. Where did you have them made? So much very useful information in your post. If we ever get roman shades (I'm trying these other ideas first) I'll refer to your discussion of issues around them. Funny, but I've now painted all the trim around windows and doors in the semigloss or satin version of the color of the paint on the wall around them, just to try and minimize the trim! (our house is more modern, though, I think). You could always get a bit of trim and just tack it up there with a few nails to see what you think of it--if you don't like it you could take it down again and fill/paint over the tiny holes... And wow, such good information in the rest of y'all's responses! We didn't put up the film yet--DH put a cat-away spray (one called "Boundary" and one called "Cat-Away") around the slider (and the front door--did I mention that they do it to the front door too? UGH), but I think because of the rain it wore off, and what do we have greeting us when we get within 5' of the door? More pee this morning. UGH again. I'm going to order that predator pee granules today--thanks oceanna! I wonder how long it will last in the rain--but it's definitely worth a try. We'll look into the Cat-stop too--thanks, annz. We'll look into the Cat-stop too. I do know where they come from -- one is from a house that belongs to a couple who inherited it from their grandmother, and they are really *not* as caring about anything as much as most other residents in our neighborhood (yard is an eyesore, etc.). When they moved in they immediately let the cat, who's at least fixed, out all day (and part of the night, judging from seeing him out around 11 p.m.). At first he was nice, sweet, a bit timid--now he's a full-on street-fightin' man, one of the ones who got sprayed with a hose and kept on going. Another one (unfixed) used to be fairly sweet, too, when he had a home to go into (the next door house) at night, but when that family moved out of state, they *left him here* to fend for himself. It's unconscionable what they did to him--they displayed just as much of a community spirit by leaving Blackjack (named by the pirate-loving neighbor boys) out as they did in so many other ways while they were here (as in NONE). The little guy's adapted and has survived for --what, 4 years now?--but he's gotten nasty too. Because we know his story, I just don't have the heart to trap him and take him to the H.S., where he'd probably be pts. Not a desirable adoption candidate. Poor little guy. :( There's a third that we don't know at all. The thing I was thinking about neutering them was that my first cat was neutered, but he still sprayed on things in the house (like a heating vent, very smart...it spread the lovely aroma every time the heat came on) -- it may very well be that with these guys, they're so used to spraying that they will not stop if they're neutered. They'd just have an operation site that might get infected or ripped into before it's healed, which could be really dangerous for them. Maybe I'm not looking at that the right way, I know... Off to order granulated predator pee...

First a HUGE THANK YOU TO ALL OF YOU. Omg I can not imagine my life with GW. Everyone here is beyond kind helpful supportive and understanding. NO one has ever judged me on GW. And this was hard for me to post images of my home. Insecurity is my middle name. I wish I could change this room this second. Like betwitched. Nose twitch done!!! I have no magic. I am going to really study all your suggestions and implement them. Stir the pot and see what works and does not. Truly GW is full of amazing minds, voices, ideas, inspiration and supportive people. Les917, Only in the heat of the summer do we like those windows covered. We have electric controlled blinds. Right now they are closed but I love them open. Everything you describe is exactly as I have been thinking I plan to paint the rest of the built ins White. I have thought about moving the cornice all the way up. It should have been done years ago. But the red sofa may be going to another room along with the chair. My DH has suggested we either buy new leather pieces for this room or we move brown leather from the basement up to this room. We use the red in the kids media room and figure out that space later. We could move the TV to one of those adjustable wall mounts. My best friend said I need to reconfigure the fireplace mantle and mount the tv there. I need to convince DH on this one. Loribee, YES, I love stripes too. Kiko, Yes, I do like the drama in those drapes. And I love the cute pooch on the porch. Vampiressrn, Wow, I feel so honored to have you respond to me. I think your style is amazing. I read all your posts like a groupie. I love your posts. I do like brown. I used to have my kitchen painted this medium brown color called Camel coat. The slight problem with the brown walls is do I paint everything? Or only the brown on the wall with the built ins or maybe three walls, all the walls move open to other areas. Something to consider. Paintergirl, Great ideas. I do need to embrace the space. I need to frame more art. I rarely paint my dogs. Too Hallmarky. I love those images you suggested. Especially the paint color. Notice how much in the image above. Gwbr54, Thank you for your sweeet words. I get very confused with the terms modern and contemporary. I wish the term Modern did not connote the style in the 70s with plastic, metal and clean lines. Or maybe I am a complete idiot and the term is Modernism and I am getting that confused. Send me back to class. And is it possible that we change our style as we grow up? Which means some of this rubbish about me was bought with the understanding I was a French provincial girl. I could flush that style. It is not me at all. But the table in the kitchen so French, I like it painted white. Organic modern or contemporary look? I like it. I have never been a fan of Bamboo or even natural fibers but the images you posted could work for me. I love the chunky candle sticks the rich rug and the drapes over shades. It is ironic you have the Ethan Allen image, years ago my DH and I got into a huge fight because I wanted EA sofa and chairs for the same room. He felt is was too fussy, This coming from a guy who would be happy eating off a dog crate. SandyP, I agree more in the fireplace area. Definitely need to hone in on that space with drama My budget is maybe a few $1000, yes I am limited in this frail economy. I have sentimental only to the vases and the vase picture. I could toss out everything. Including the floors. But that would be a $100,000 budget. Gosh, I wish I were a Rockerfeller or Kennedy or even Gates. I do not like black rod iron, never did and never will. I am searching today for some better tables. As for Naked windows. I love naked veggies, never thought about the windows. I think for this room to come together the windows will be a key to pulling the room together. Ideas so far and feel free to add any more... Option 1: Sell the red and repaint the kitchen. Buy something in brown leather, bag the hideous end tables and put up drapes from ceiling to floor. Repaint the built Ins too. Option 2: Keep the red sofa, paint the walls, , bag the hideous end tables and put up drapes from ceiling to floor. Repaint the built In. Option 3: Get lazy and hire someone which in turn angers the DH as he thinks I should be able to do this. It would anger my oldest daughter as she says I am constantly changing all the rooms in the house I would need to hire a designer on retainer. And that could only happen if my last name were Rockefeller. Rooms I love and maybe I could make my own, but how? Yes, Plants, Trees that is it I can see this could help along with repainting the walls to a possible white color... The rug helps too but I have a similar rug. I think I even saw chairs like these at Marshalls I like what they did with making a corner conversation area. I like the drama on the wall. I might be able to borrow these ideas.. Why does this room work? Could I paint one wall like this? Or is this a bad, bad decor plan? I like these colors but the wing back chair is not me, I wonder if I use more crisp white with navy blue could that be a direction. And the kitchen could be painted the navy blue... would this work with the dark floors?

Well, so much for my list. LOL. I'm sure I'll be mortified when my guests arrive and the house is still a shambles. Why can't I get motivated? To answer your question, we have a set of double French doors in the eating area, and then two single French doors that flank the fireplace in the family room. Here are the doors in the eating area--again from post-construction: And here are the doors and fireplace in the family room: And here's the view from the kitchen, toward the eating area and the family room. (It's hard to get a good photo of all three areas.) When you say the fourth, are you counting the one from designer fabric?--the one you found? I don't think you mean the last one because that one doesn't look turquoise to me at all, although I guess it all depends on our monitor settings. I, of course, still love the second one, the cobalt background, and am impatiently waiting for a sample. SH: the pattern of the first sort of echoes the vines in our current family room rug. (Am vaguely thinking of ditching it and starting over.) I have no idea about whether the colors will work although the amber is sort of like one of the colors in our slate fireplace surround. Okay, I really, really have to start cleaning! Here is a link that might be useful: supposedly