How fun to see all the comments and eye candy. Thanks for the conversation on this, it really is something I go back and forth about. @FoozerX - I appreciate hearing from someone who really doesn't like the split. Thanks for your honesty - and for chiming in. @pawa - I'm worried about the gray-dark brown-white thing for more reasons than you know. I've NEVER liked gray and have always leaned to the warmer tones but I find I am really being influenced by the current gray trend. I can't decide if that is because the current grays are more earthy/muddy/warm/zen or if I am just that suggestible afterall... That being said, the dark lowers/light uppers really does seem practical - and easier to keep looking clean. I'm all about that! LOL @palimpsest and jterrilynn - How interesting to learn that this isn't a new phenomonenon, but rather one that is just rarely done. It really does seem to work to ground the kitchen and lighten up the upper half... @MichelleDT - What a great island that is in your inspiration pic. Your kitchen sounds great. I am totally a fan of chunky floating shelves, too. I can't wait to see your kitchen come to life, hope you share lots of pics. @sas95 - There is sooo much to like about your kitchen, including the uppers and lowers working so well together but being different colors. I have always loved that backplash - and those windows are great. @deedles - Those brown doors on white boxes in that picture is not something I would think of, either. While I'm iffy about it, what surprised me is that I didn't despise it. There are other pics that show better how they relate to the island color, but again, not really seeing it for me. If you think of that GW kitchen, please do chime in with it. @rosie - It's a good point about the need to harmonize counter/tile to make something like this work. I just don't see color really working well with it, necessarily. I think the counter would contrast with the lowers and flow more with the uppers, but the backsplash would then need to work with that whole thing to keep it working. I have that backsplash window to work with on the long wall, and remain stumped about how to work with tile PERIOD on the other wall... @chiefy76 - Thanks for the pics. Neat to see all the different ways this can work. My partner isn't sold on this idea, either. Which I find interesting, given I first came up with it as a compromise point between us. @marcolo - Are you saying you think it works as long as there isn't a lot of contrast or that brown/white doesn't work? I often hear the case made to go black/white or brown/cream, so I'm not sure if that's what you are talking about. A lot of the pics posted here by myself and others do show high contrast. Are you saying none of those work or seem intentional? @nap101 - It's interesting to hear you talk about darker lowers to ground the soapstone, and going light above. I don't think I've seen that application and I keep being drawn to light counters on dark lowers/white uppers. If you find pics, please post them. You do make a good point about how dark counters work on white cabinets and soapstone/black granites tend to be the strongest example of that. While I like the look, I've had chocolate brown counters on white cabinets for the past 13 years and am ready for something different. @loves2cook4six - You definitely have the 2-tone thing going and I've been lurking on your BS thread to see what you come up with there. How is that going? You and others show an interesting reverse of what I was thinking with the lighter lowers and darker tones in the uppers. I wouldn't have thought that could work but it seems to! @francoise47 - Egads, that picture really shows how the uppers can fade away into the walls, doesn't it? I love that... but you make such a good point about whether it is too much for the house. If it is too much for your house, it is definitely too much for this little 50's ranch stretching towards 1,000 SF. Hm...but then I look at bossanova's carriage house kitchen and it seems like it really works there without being too much? Same with the little IKEA kitchen with the beam... It's confusing to me, I admit. Thanks so much for sharing your own reasoning process and feedback from a honest friend! (Those are worth gold) @secondhalf - So glad this thread is helping you find clarity! I'm not clear what my house is really suited for, except for simple. lol @sis2two - See, you are making jterrilynn's point! How fun is that? Mixing it up a decade later. Please do share plenty of pics. @jterrilynn - What a neat kitchen. I love that it is shaped so uniquely - and those tall ceilings are great. Love that light fixture! And, the portrait of your FIL is wonderful. You clearly have talent! I like how the lighting fixture plays off the color of the lowers and brings a bit of it upwards. Hm...I was thinking silvery fixtures but this gives pause if I decide to go this direction. I'm going to keep this in the "maybe" pile and when it comes time to put some ideaboards together, I'll likely do at least one with 2 tones. In the meantime, we'll see if this thread has continued eye candy to provide! Thanks again, everyone.

I wouldn’t go with sheers. You’ll want to extend the rod way past the window trim and you’d be seeing wall behind the sheers. You’ll have to remove the mirrors to be able to extend the rod. I don’t think there is a room where white drapes don’t work. Lol.

If I want a chair there I would have to buy one specifically for that space. And I am not so keen on that, plus we do have a lot of seating in that room - it’s not like we need another piece of seating furniture there. I guess that’s why a plant was suggested for that corner. Although, if the perfect chair fell onto my lap I would not be opposed to putting it there just not sure I want to go out and search for and buy the perfect chair for that space. I may replace that tree with one suggested earlier from Crate & Barrell that is lighter and smaller. I just need ideas for art arrangement in the desk/computer monitor area (if any art/prints should go there at all).

Mary, I hear you when you say you struggle. That is never a good feeling. I would like to offer a few things that may help you put things into perspective. . . 1. You have more experience than you think you do. You may not dress your house very often, but you get dressed every day (or most days). You can coordinate an outfit, pick makeup and accessorize with jewelry. A lot of the concepts are the same. Would you wear those two colors together? If not don't put them together in your home. Would you wear the styles together (Pearls and a silk blouse with baggy sweatpants?) If not don't put a velvet Queen Anne chaise lounge with a denim bean bag chair. Don't be so hard on yourself. You can do this. 2. Your home is the place where you and your family build the memories that you will cherish when your old. What is important about your home is that it is filled with love and laughter and friends and family. Fill your home with the things that bring you joy. (BTW - That is the purpose of owning art - looking at it should make you happy). Don't worry if it isn't perfect, it just has to be good enough to make you happy and make others feel comfortable. I am 61 years old and I love spending time with my sisters and brothers talking about our families and reminiscing about our lives. The memories that warm my heart are of the good times we had growing up and raising our families and being together. Not what color my bedroom was or what a great sofa I owned. I have collected art along life's journey, picking up pieces when I traveled or went to craft shows with my sisters or art shows with my friends. The art that brings me the most joy are the pieces that remind me of the things I did and the people who shared those experiences. Everywhere I look I see things that make my heart sing. That is the goal.