I think we'll go with 2 coats of stain also. I just put one coat of English Chestnut on a Carlisle pine sample board, and although it's very pretty I can see why 2 coats would make it a much richer color. Thank you again. I also just pulled my color card for ecru and it seems more green than it appears in your pictures, but I really like it. Now I just need to see if it complements BM Linen White, which is the color we chose for our trim and ceilings. I like the Muslin on the same card, but although I might convince my husband to paint over the Wilmington Tan, I'm not so sure I can convince him to toss all the unused cans of Linen White! Thanks much for all of your help!

Aw, thanks mybrowneyedgirls! :) I have yet to take "finished" pics of my kitchen, still need to finish up lighting and do some fixes. But, I'm glad you like it! We do too. :) The wall color is Benjamin Moore #1510 - Dried Basil. It has more than a hint of green to it. It reads green, but a nice organic, khaki kind of green. Before the remodel we had BM #2142 - Dry Sage. It is similar, but a little bit darker. We used the slightly lighter color #1509 - Spanish Olive in our hallway near the bedrooms so it wouldn't get too dark. It's not too pastel-y, so if the Dried Basil is too dark, you might give that a try. Good luck!

Can depend on the color. Valspar premium is very nice paint. Recently used it to repaint kid #2's room. Got a wild hair late Friday night, went and bought paint so I could paint Saturday morning. I would get my LA color in Valspar premium just to keep it simple. But if you want to use Aura, which I understand, then BenM should be able to do match. As we all know, crossing brands with color is always a risk so it's a matter of making your best guess about the right channel to choose to get your color.

Thanks! This is the first time I've ever had such a 'light' colored room and so far so good! I've tried and failed many times w/ white rms. (I find it easier to decorate w/ color) but I've been moving painfully slow on this and reading and looking a lot at the things that you guys post and a few select blogs. I love being able to pick up the box w/ candles and remove it quickly when the littlest one is around and then after bedtime swipe their toys off the coffee table into the basket below and plop the grown-up display back! I'm also looking forward to decorating it for Fall w/ acorns and stuff and evergreens and berries in the Winter. WIP - the euro shams are from RH Outlet - They retailed for $70 and I picked them up for $14.99 each over the Spring. I'm not opposed to a dog bed but at 12'X13', my LR os possibly one of the smallest LR's around! My next additions that I'm saving up for are a seagrass type rug and this sofa (I already have the long white slip cover):