anele -- I doubt a light color will make it feel any brighter, it's currently semi-gloss white! I think it feels stark and depressing. I like light and bright, but cozy would be okay since I don't think light and bright is really possible with just changing the paint. It's a small room, our home is small, so I would be happy with a cozy feel! I don't really like greenish undertones, either! jamies -- I appreciate your comments about choosing a shade depending on how dark the other things are in the room, that is very helpful! The curtains are a little lighter than the teak; they aren't similar colors (the curtains have more gold and the teak more brown/orange). The floors are definitely light, sort of an oatmeal color carpet. If we ever changed the flooring, I would not pick anything darker. I did paint our master bath a medium shade of grey, and I love it. It feels really right, not too intense, and not lackluster. Maybe I should try for a shade about the same in value? That way the change in color will be somewhat muted by them having similar value?

Red and green are complementary colors, so I think with the right shade of green, it would look great with the fireplace. I like the celery green pictured above. Don't know if you've thought about lighting, but several florescent or LED fixtures, with color corrected bulbs, would really brighten up your space. We had our offices down in the basement in our previous home and without those lights, it would have been a dreary, depressing place to work. With the lights, it was as bright as our west facing rooms upstairs with windows. We didn't notice that there were no windows. If you do decide to add additional lighting, you might want to do your painting afterward because the colors are going to appear very different with and without lighting.

Lovely house! Normally I love dark houses but for your house I'd go light. Your setting among the trees is already dark. Maybe go the lightest colour of your stone. I like your idea for a simple metal railing, and make it black.

DIY paint on this island..older cabinets? do more prep and I'd abandon the blue. Get a white with the correct undertones for your space [ best you can afford] semi gloss cabinet paint. You will be touching this up...[busy spot] as well blue will fade/ so touch ups and knicks and everything will give you headaches. first pic is a busy spot and the semi gloss or full gloss white paint will be easy to maintain. the blue and black options show much higher gloss levels than your paint swatch ....which will be essential. but touch ups due to the color will present issues/ and there will be touch ups.