Donna, Thank you for sharing your experience. Here it is, May, and I am just now starting to read the posts on this forum, but wanted to tell you how beautiful your bathroom is. I hope that you are enjoying it and that the stresses of the remodeling have dissipated. In the middle of January, I was in the midst of my bathroom re-do too, and mine is still in the early stages. We had to fire the contractor as he made many mistakes, ruined materials because he didn't follow the directions clearly printed (as in, you must seal crackle tile before you grout it.) I have a Porcher Ardennes tub, same as yours, but mine is still sitting on the floor in the hallway! I do have hopes that we will be getting started again next week with a different contractor! I especially appreciate your candor, and the candor of the other people who posted, about the importance of not getting swept up in all the products that seems so wonderful but are probably not necessary. The bathroom is not yet done and I am already planning the kitchen. Have been spending time on the kitchen forum where I am reading about BlueStar ranges and fireclay sinks, and of course granite and marble. Taking a detour here to the bathroom forum and finding your post was like entering a temple and hearing words of wisdom when I most needed to hear them! Thanks again, and enjoy your bathroom and kitchen. PS We're not out of the woods but looks like the market is turning around. . . .

Your kitchen looks great, wish they were in the Boston Area - I'll be starting mine, hopefully soon, just starting the process of looking for what I like. I have the same layout as you but with 8 ft ceilings, 9 cabinets in mine - (one corner no cabinet do to structurally jog out) small and a condo too. The living room, dining room open to kitchen layout you have looks just like mine also. I am really looking forward to see how the 2 tier tear down to one level looks because that is what I am thinking of doing also. Can't wait to see yours finished! In your first post you mentioned a link to other photos you have that are not posted here. I don't see the link though. Can you repost the link if it's still available?

I also know what you mean, and totally agree, emmarene...all the other flat wall colors merely provide contrast to the brown, not take away any of the " brownness"..but I just hate wallpaper because it is to tightly repetitive. TOTALLY biased opinion here, because I'm a decorative painter, but if I were the OP I would consider consulting a decorative painter to come up with something unique that works with the brown, OR look for a paper with less...repetition. ETA or go with the pale neutral wall w/ colorful artwork option but I believe the OP has ruled that out. This post was edited by coll_123 on Wed, Dec 17, 14 at 21:13

One thing I’m struggling with (might make sense to do a separate post) is the master bedroom and dressing area. I know I want rugs there and under the bed, but not sure if they should match? Coordinate? Also wondering about a room divider. The previous owners had IKEA track panels and they look much nicer in the photo than in real life. I’m not really a fan of barn doors, plus there are currently door on 3/4 walls, so adding another doesn’t seem like a great idea. So maybe get track panels again, but mount them differently?.. And I have zero ideas about a light fixture to replace the way too low swagged chandelier they used to have. Here are the old listing photos and current status