I have my 1 yo in my lap. Thanks for the help so far. I tried Shaker Beige, Carrington Beige, Bleeker beige, and Putnam Ivory (swatched) when we first moved in and both looked pretty rough. I forget why. Baby turtle is very brown when paired with our light and the blue slate floors. I did a lot of research but every sample pot seemed to be really off for me with the fixed elements we have (blue slate, seafoam carpet, medium-toned woodwork. Uggh...described that way it seems worse than it is LOL, but it really seems to make colors hard to choose!) Subtle would work great in my foyer, but I need to extend the paint up the stairs and into the upstairs hall (it would be tough to transition otherwise I think?). Upstairs it reads *yellow* vs. ivory because there isn't much natural light. So whatever I use downstairs (natural light) seems to look awful upstairs (primarily artificial light/darker overall, same bluey seafoamy green carpet). The greigey tones (which I love in other people's homes!) look not so hot with my medium toned woodwork, that must stay for now (DH rarely gets involved with decorating and he's not ready to say goodbye to the wood work yet. To be honest, I'm not 100% ready either). Ivory tusk looks good in both the foyer and upstairs but I wonder if it will look okay against the subtle in the visible adjoining room. Something seems a little off about it based on looking at the swatch and then looking into the next room. It seems very glowy and reflective in the foyer, which I like :)

Sorry if I got some people confused - the picture I posted is not an inspiration picture, just one I found with chairs similar to what I have. I think if I don't paint the hutch, I have to find a new home for it. I think it is the main thing not working in my "dream" view of this room. I would say it photographs way better than it looks in person. I got it many years ago at an auction, paid $350 for it and my husband was appalled I was willing to pay that much. But that was when it had no back and the mirror was falling out. The doors don't close right, needs the hinges taken off, the holes patched and redrilled so the screws are tight. I'm normally against painting any furniture, but I knew when I bought this piece that it needed to be refinished. I also did some research on it (from the label on back) and it's nothing special. I don't want to put a mirror, picture or anything like that above the hutch. All along it was suppose to have shelves of some sort there, which is why it's got beadboard, it's meant to look like the back of a cupboard, not part of the walls of the room - another reason I don't want to paint it the color of the walls. This is helping me a lot. I've had to think long and hard why I didn't like the idea of painting the recess and putting a picture or mirror there. They are very good ideas, but just didn't feel quite right to me. I learned the hard way to be careful not to let myself get talked into something that is beautiful, but does not make my heart happy. After we built our house in WI, I decorated it based on a lot of magazines and resell and stuff like that, and in the end I felt like I was living in someone else's house. Since the house was brand new, it was almost like I was afraid to put my stamp on it. Now that place had a view! This was out the dining room window.

Newcastle, I'm embarrased to say that, while I THOUGHT my quartz was going to be installed last Monday, the email from my fabricator clearly said Monday, 10/4 -- next Monday. (Whoops. Guess I got a little excited). That said, I got a call from them today saying that the slabs are ready ahead of schedule and ready to be installed! I set an appointment for first thing tomorrow morning. Whee! I am excited! But, are you ready to hear my drama? After putting up with months and months...and months! of B.S. and delays from my contractor, I pushed hard for a final, drop-dead, done-done-shiny-done completion date, not letting him wiggle out of the question like he has been doing for months. Really, there's just a bunch of little stuff to do! There's no reason he shouldn't be able to knock it out in a single day (you know, a full working day -- not that he ever worked one of those during the ENTIRE project). Anyway, he started to be really mean and bully me. DH asked me later that day whether I finally got a completion date and I told him what happened. He then called our contractor who WENT OFF on DH (about nothing, really -- "I injured my f*ckin' shoulder and couldn't work because you MADE me install the f*ckin' fridge! It took me 87 hours to paint 3 f*ckin' walls because I was doing a really really good job! You didn't f*ckin' pick out cabinet pulls when I told you to so I couldn't get anything else done around here while I was waiting for you to pick out cabinet pulls! You're unlawfully holding back a retainage! I'm gonna f*ckin' sue you and put a f*ckin' lien on your house!" -- he was just bullying to try to deflect attention from the real issues) and...that was a mistake. DH fired him on the spot. (D'oh! Don't bite the hand that feeds you, buddy!) Things had been tense between us for quite some time, but I really had hoped that we could all just keep it together until the end of the project. Oh well. So...sigh. Although the countertops are going in tomorrow, I will be left with a bunch of finish work and no one left to do it. Guess DH and I should get ready to put on our overalls and tool belts again! I'll probably end up finishing AFTER you, breezy, and athomesewing!

jerseyshoremama: I like most all the granites posted here: great choices! Have you visited a stone yard?: Most all of these granites posted here have a lot of variation with colors & movement. Each slab is different from the next even in the same lots at times: with simularities of course as well. Do you have a budget? You know what colors you want to stay with & that is good. Do you like movement or consistancy? Do you know your square feet of countertop space needed? Each slab you purchase gets about 2 "runs" say: 115"x26", 115"x26" and and maybe 115x8"-12" left over to work with. So, you want the movement to go all one direction and match up as well. Think about seam placement if any. Most of these granites posted here run about 110-115"x65" in size mostly these granites are from Brazil. (These are "Exotics" posted) Then you want to think about do you need 1 or 2 or 3 slabs to keep kitchen seamless. Or are you ok with seams? These are all thing you want to know if that is important to you up front. Make sure with these exotic granite slabs: they are sealed extremely well! If you seal the granite yourself: you know 100% the countertop was sealed properly! Very easy to do: and wait until granite is 100% dry after install. Most fabricators use wet saws & wet grinders to put edges on. Make sure they use an "edge match" sealer on the edges while putting edge on in the shop: Exotic edge match: Color enhancer sealer for exotic stones. Suitable to darken up the color of exotic resined granite. "Ager Tiger" will match the color of the lighter edge with the surface in just one or two applications. "Tenax-Ager Tiger": should be the best: most all fabricators know about this: for exotic granites: Only Fabricators use that: for the edges during fabrication: Although sealing the top of the granite: is easy to do after installation of countertops and the granite is completely dry: not seal wet granite! Do not use a waterbased sealer: Buy a commercial brand: VOC compliant sealer! Google it! Best wishes: The granite in your area: will vary from region to region; Possibly: so go shop around and look at 3 stone yards. take camera and pad of paper for notes: Most wholesale slab companies will not give pricing out: FYI: you still are able to look: Have fun!