Thanks! That's a good idea. I'll have to get some of this years photos together for an update. Yeah Pete, I'm in Patriot Indiana (the middle of nowhere) about two and a half hours from Columbus. The hill side drainage is great except for the top soil washing down the hill leaving rocks and clay with the occasional low spots of great soil. There's also springs of water that gush out during rainstorms from all the water coming down the hill. It is a fun and interesting landscape to work with. Pete, are you a member of the ACS (American Conifer Society)? There's a conifer weekend happening in Columbus next week the 14th and the 15th. Two days of touring great private gardens and a few public gardens in the Columbus area. The evenings wrap up with stuffing your face with fellow coneheads. There's sometimes an auction with cool plants for sale too. The deadline for registration was the 5th but I'm sure that they could squeeze you in. I think the membership is $35 a year. If you want the info, PM me and I'll email it to you. Would be cool to see you there. If not, no pressure. I'm not the most social person but I have fun when I push myself to go.

sashamommy - thanks - challenge probably, but hoping less so than finding one that fits size wise and we like the style of too. Been 3 years of searching now. We found one, but it was discontinued. Deb - Yeah still haven't done anything with it. DH wants it out of the garage so I figure once I have closed on this idea I'll pitch it to him. He's not huge on a white bed though. We have black framed art/photographs on all the walls in the bedroom and the master bath has black framed mirrors and some accessories. Hence my thought of black. I'm all for white though on any furniture. work_in_progress - the bed is in the only spot where it will fit. Do you think a whitish creamy color would go with the description above for Deb. We have no other white except the trim, WT, and white sheets. I do have a white on white duvet too. Also will be a tougher sell for DH. palimpsest - Thanks for the vote of confidence that the additional styling I added would work out. You are right though on the muted greyed colors. The other ones tend to be natural pine (not a likely option due to matching of woods and hard to strip existing) or white. I don't feel I necessarily need to stick to traditional swedish since I'm modifying it anyways, but would be nice if I could, although I can't see them as neutral. Gray would be neutral, but not really go with anything else in the room. Here is another direction, and some of the photographs to the left of the bed too.

luckygal - Wow, so many great suggestions, I don't know where to begin! Thank you so much! I like the idea of marrying the colors with the fabrics, and carefully bringing in the secondary colors - I have a feeling it's going to take some trial and error to get the right balance of color, but that's part of the fun - right? The blue mason jars, fabric valance, and wood blinds all sound lovely! I'll play around with fabric prints and colors some more too. As for my style, as I look through my inspiration photos, it seems to be simple, clean traditional (lots of white kitchens), with some cottage and french country touches - nothing too fancy, fussy or rustic. I think modern traditional/cottage would be a good description. The rest of our new fixer upper house is a blank slate right now, so I think I need to be careful to keep the same feel in our fairly open first floor. Thank you again for your fantastic ideas! :) nosoccermom - That is a Very good point! My mockups were probably not very fair to H and I. I've added some "beadboard" to the mockups below. (Well, to the best of my ability!) Fun2BHere - So glad you like it! I'll definitely take a trip to the fabric store before committing to anything. And thanks for the ikat link! lavender_lass - You changed your vote! So, green walls/backsplash with tiny touches of blue - got it! :) I have so many different combinations of colors to try! (The key for me is going to be keeping it fun instead of stressing about it!) I'm 99% sure we're going to keep the butcherblock. :) Thanks again for your suggestions! andreadeg - You are too sweet! Thank you! :) I agree with you completely about the beadboard width. I think we definitely need a wide beadboard or v groove plank since our cabinets are so chunky. Do you think the width of the backsplash planks should match the cabinet stile and rail width exactly (3.5") or should be a touch bigger or smaller? That's a great idea to get the lighting installed and let things "brew" some more (I am itching to get the chandelier hung!). I think we'll definitely do that. Ah! Painting the inside of the glass cabinets! I love that! Thank you!!! The windows trim is Definitely getting painted, either Simply White to match the rest of the trim in the house, or Cloud White to match the cabinets. (The trim around the sink window will touch the cabinets, so I'm thinking maybe the kitchen trim should match the cabinets...what do you think?) Thanks again for your wonderful ideas and kind compliments! :) work_in_progress_08 - Thank you for your advice and vote! I too am a lover of soft colors. I'm strongly leaning towards keeping the kitchen palette light (with the exception of the black, of course). I think we will keep the butcherblock. The black counters are temporary (and budget driven), they are butcherblock that was stained black with india ink and sealed with poly. I want to eventually change them out with soapstone or granite. loribee - Thanks so much for your vote! teresa_nc7 - Thank you for your advice! I will be sure to visit the fabric store before making a final decision on the fabric. Where can I find examples of cottage geometric prints? That sounds intriguing! geokid - Thanks for your vote and that rug is very pretty! It might be a bit too saturated for the kitchen, but I'm going to keep it in mind for the den/living room. :) * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * You are all so wonderful! Thank you again for your terrific ideas and advice! (I am so relieved and grateful to have your help to figure this out!) Some decisions made: 1) We are keeping the butcherblock! 2) I don't think I have the guts to go for the blue backsplash (my apologies to the G lovers!), so it will be green, or....perhaps even white (see below) 3) Green will stay as the main color, and I'll try my best to carefully weave in some blue (plus tiny touches of something in the red/pink family for a bit more warmth) 4) I think we need to go for a wider beadboard or v groove backsplash to balance out the chunky cabinets, instead of the traditional skinny beadboard. Backsplash width example: A great point was made that the white backsplash needed beadboard to get the true feel. I tried to add beadboard below ("try" being the key word!). We will be sure to try Both the green and white in real life before deciding. What do you think? Very rough Beadboard Mockups: If we go with "I" below, I think I'd like to have green beadboard for the butcherblock counter, and paint the back of the glass cabinet blue so the kitchen isn't too white: Thanks again, everyone!! :)

I have a few faux wood pieces that I painted and made fit in my Prim country decor. All I do is prime with Kilz and put on like 3 coats of paint to be sure that it's covered well. That's usually about it. If you want extra protectionn, you can seal it with varnish or poly or something like that. Just painting the piece will look totally different...