The room will basically be a closet + office (we're in a tiny place with 2 11'x11' bedrooms). So it'll have these 3 pieces plus a desk (right now a black folding table; may change later). Room and trim color will stay the same for now, and are as shown in the photos (tan walls, white trim). I am open to changing the wall color, as it's what came with the house, just haven't gotten that far in the decorating plan (still remodeling the kitchen). You can see the golden pine hardwood floors peeking out from among the clutter. It's a 1920's worker's cottage, so traditional style, can't be too modern. I'm thinking no brown paint, as I agree that looks like I tried to fake wood. White comes to mind, and it's "safe." But is it too bland, or too stark a contrast with the EA piece? I think black would be too modern for the house. I do like some of the 2-toned paint jobs in nosoccermom's link. And the trim they added. I could do that on both the non-EAs to make them match. Thoughts on the fabric-panel-on-the-drawers idea? It looks simple enough to execute, but does that make it too hard to change down the road? I'm off to sand the tall chest and prime it right this evening. Keep the ideas (or opinions) coming on the shade or shades to paint.

To remain flexible, it can work to put in your high bar along as much length as you can, and then use one of those hanging bar adapters to create 2 tiers of hanging space in just one area, when you aren't sure you want 2 permanent tiers or exactly how much long/short space you need. Various closet and container stores carry not only the standard 30' or so hanging bars, but also (more expensive) adjustable hanging bars that telescope down to a foot or so. You can also then purchase various organizer things that hang from the high bar to store shoes or purses or whatever and take advantage of the full length of space. All of those can add up in cost and not look as polished as a neat-o custom closet installation, and don't make quite as good use of space as when you create just the niches needed for each known item, but are good when you think your clothing items and needs (and who gets what) might change over time--and they're becoming more mainstream-available so the prices are coming down.

I pretty much followed celticmoon's steps... (THANK YOU celticmoon!! :) My process: Remove doors. Remove hardware. We did leave hinges on and taped them off. (DH was afraid he'd never get them back on and didn't want to mess with getting new -- I picked my battles and went with it! ;) I lightly sanded mostly using sanding sponges which allowed me to get into the cut-outs better. My doors were VERY shiny so I sanded enough to get the shine off. Then tack clothed them, then mineral spirits. I put on a thick layer of General Finishes Gel Stain - JAVA. This stuff is so awesome. Then I wiped off. I left it on pretty thick... too thick. If I was to do it over I would definitely wipe off more because it took a loooong time to dry. I was trying to skip steps but I think 2 or 3 thin coats would have been better. It was a rainy weekend, too, so drying was tough in the first place. DH had rigged up a way for me to hang the doors by the hinges so I hung them to dry which enabled me to do fronts and backs. When they were finally dry I did a thin layer of General Finishes Gel Clear Coat. I spread it on until it all looked wet but wiped away any drips. Once dry I very lightly sanded, then tack clothed, then we put the doors back on. I did another clear coat with the doors up and left the doors open to dry. I've done a few touch ups here and there with a stain and a clear coat. I would highly recommend general finishes gel stain! I babied the cabs for a few days but my 3 and 5 year old kiddos have not and the color seems to be holding up perfectly. The plate rack - we needed to do something with the space above the micro since the doors would not fit back on. I measured it and ordered cheap plate racks from Target to fit across the space. I stained them to match and DH screwed them in. It was really too simple. Our granite was about $2300. We used a granite slab from an installer's shop which saved us about $500, supposedly. I LOVE my granite. Thanks for the brick compliments, also. I painted that quite a long time ago and have debated ever since about ripping it out and putting in a real backsplash. But I do like the simplicity of it and it all seems to tie together now. Igloochic - I'm not sure what you mean with the trim... I've seen it where they put wood fronts on the soffits to make them look like cabs but I'm not clear here. Do you mean there would be a trim piece on top of the cab, then painted soffit, then another trim piece? I think the wall is going to come out end of summer. Yikes. Another project in the making. Then we'll have to figure out new flooring. By the time we're done with this house - I'm not going to want to leave! :) Thanks again for all of the nice compliments. It's really hard for me to get good pics of the cabs and everyone that has seen them irl says my pics don't do justice! I love this site!

If you aren't adept at painting, it can be challenging. cleaning, sanding, deglossing, priming, sanding, painting, sanding again, laying down even coats w/the brush,,,etc. the only paints I recommend for furniture are the chalk paint, milk paint and if using the acrylic, BM advance, SW pro classic or GF Milk paint. Never use straight latex wall paint. Chalk paint is simpler and can look the same. you just don't distress it! this is how I did this one (I've painted over a hundred vintage pieces with every type of paint you can think of) this particular one was done with ASCP in Old Ochre. 2-3 coats. It's entirely possible to paint with chalk paint and not do any distressing. you will need to fine-sand after every coat to get a super smooth finish. I'm posting a close up shot so you can see the sheen. I only used a clear wax. If you don't want the distressed edges, then don't sand the edges and remove the paint! Just sand enough to knock of the rough feel of the paint. ( I would use a very fine sanding sponge for that purpose. just be careful around the edges. if you knock off too much paint, just brush over it w/extra. not a big deal) I obviously stripped and stained the top. I sold this one, but the finishes hold up beautifully. just use a coaster if you will be putting glasses on the top. wax is not waterproof. another frenchie I did w/chalk paint. 3 different colors!