Are you updating the hardwood floors in the living room? One major thing that would help the 1980's kitchen 'flow' into the old school living area, would be to have the same floor in both. Hardwood in a kitchen looks great (I have it in mine!) and it's perfectly functional. 12 years later and still no water damage on my floors.

Another big thing to my eye is to paint those cupboards, and to remove rome of them for open space shelving. If it's mainly going to be a guest house, you don't as much storage in cupboards anyway. I'd go with a traditional looking backsplash like white subway tile, paint the remaining cupboards in white and update the hardware. You might opt to one day replace the rest of the counters in butcher's block.

Bedrooms look drab. Can you paint the doors in there white, get some nice quilts to put on the beds? Possibly antique iron headboards too. Not a fan of the grey and brown colors already in there, I'd get some more vibrant greens or blues going, update teh art work above the bed in something with more color.

Same thing in living room- the color scheme you going is lovely, but you need some green accent in there. Update artwork and pillows and it will look lovely and homey. Pretty floral planter on the porch and a vibrant colored front door. I love it!

i think you should work with true colors. not too bright, light or drab. you have a busy time coming with building a new house, so my biggest suggestion is to embrace the difference s in the house. it will be cool being able to tell the different ages. slowly upgrade things that you really like, for example, i would definitely change out the hanging lamp. I definitely would not paint wood work til you have lived with it for a while, then try a few unimportant rooms, see what you think. wood is going to be an important part of the house look. bring it into this century by your furnishings rugs, pillows, curtains or not. I am thinking a lot of really calmed out boho. this will allow you to combine ages and looks.

oh yes,the colors you have chosen will not allow your home to be cheered up. i really do not think this is a good home for monocoloring in dull colors.

The guest house needs more color and some walls could have a richer neutral paint. Better lighting would help enormously. Brighter shades of golden brown mixed with lively green or blue would be attractive. Your ideabook is full of neutral colors. THis photo stands out as an example of golden floors, neutral but definitely colored walls, and good lighting.

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I think that the inconsistency is part of the charm. I would not paint any of the old wood trim......paint any of the " new" brown doors. I love your house!

Consistency - why? "Updating" - why?

This is guest lodging. Let it be the quirky historic place that it is. If you go onto air bnb and other bnb lodging you will see that the quirky interesting places get top dollar and seem to be popular. People want to GET AWAY FROM the same old same old. Does your own personal taste for modern craftsman style really have to be asserted here? If you do that, I think you are only adding to the inconsistency, not really "fixing" it.

I would take out the extraneous 1980s gack and take it back to its original bare bones state as much as possible - just keep it simple. The only "consistency" issues I would address is perhaps replacing new doors with salvage

The kitchen is where I might have fun and make it into an authentic early 1900s kitchen (not a 2017 interpretation of one) with salvaged pine cupboards and a restored monitor top fridge (the type with legs). Of course a modern microwave and good coffeemaker would have to be provided - not saying do away with all modern conveniences LOL.

I would suggest a good old house forum - thehistoricdistrict.org is one. There is an old house forum here on gw as well, though Im afraid youll still get a lot of "paint it white" there as well.

Basically I LOVE that youre keeping this old gem - just want to nudge you toward embracing its quirkiness and its history.

Hi Laura --

Wow, big project (this house plus a new build)! Congrats.

I definitely think there's a lot you can do to bring your vision to this house while keeping your energy for the build.

Disclaimer: I'm a lover of old houses here (but also one who can get frustrated by them)! Love a "modern craftsman" look as well...along with many other styles in an old house. FYI don't know if you've searched on "modern farmhouse" -- a lot of overlap there.

As others have said:

• embrace much of the inconsistency -- it's part of this home's charm and history (plus fighting it will cost a lot of time and/or money)
• embrace much of the wood -- at least downstairs -- as it's perfect for the setting and gorgeous old-growth timber (but yes, feel free to paint modern bedroom doors)...and if you haven't scrubbed your trim and floors down, do so (google This Old House for advice; you may need to "feed" the wood to restore glow but the right products matter!)

While I think it's great you painted everything uniform just to get a fresh start and really see the bones of the rooms, I also agree with others that colors with more richness will probably work best in many/most of the first floor rooms.

To really make your (guest) home shine, you've got to consider wall and decor colors that suit 3 things: the room's lighting, your personality, and the wood!

It looks like the LR is surrounded by trees? So pretty shaded? If they're evergreens you'll have that filtered light year-round, otherwise accept that your paint shade will look different throughout the year (esp if you have winter vs summer sun).

Upstairs you may be able to get away with the SW Alabaster or similar pale tones -- it depends on the light.

Posting a bunch of pics below -- some with unpainted wood -- just so you can see if anything clicks in terms of style or color(s). You'll note a lot of green...variations of the shade just look sooooo good with wood. ;)

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Nice house with a lot of interesting history. I would embrace it! It would be very easy to ruin all of the character of the house by trying to make it "consistent."

The wall color looks very cold and doesn't appear to do anything to compliment the wood. A creamer wall color or a pale yellow-green would do a lot to add some cheeriness to the house. I would never paint the wood.

The kitchen cabinets (uppers specifically) just don't work with the house. I would either take the doors off, or replace them with a cleaner design more in keeping with the history of the house.

The charm of this house is in its history and rarely to you get to see it as presented here. Let the house be - and build your new house with all the style that you like.

How about some natural woven shades for those windows. Natural Wovens bring the outside in and create a warm and cozy environment.

I really like the white walls with the wood. Personally, I'd add more white and naturals, cream, woven shades, natural wood, re duvet covers, linen, baskets. And maybe one additional accent color.

I agree with NSM on whites, creams, linens, baskets and woven shades. All things found in nature.

This is a fabulous house!!

I think it is a wonderful job. I do think you might want a larger rug and you should not be basing your pillows off your woodwork. look at it this way, you cannot change your wood work all the time, so there fore it is not part of your design, it is a basic need.

Also, you should try if possible to use a computer when looking at my things, i work hard at shopping for very reasonable prices.

i too like the jute rug, the roughness should go well with the room. you can always dble layer if you will sit on the floor.

I think you should do the new doors anyway that you feel comfortable.

Here are the Pictures in the Daylight. I will try the Jute rug and keep you posted Havingfun, I did have the rug layered in my previous home to make is more comfortable to sit on. That was a great solution. I also agree a new light fixture would really help.

It looks very nice in daylight!

I am not big on overhead lights, but i like this one..

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it seems curtains would not be necessary? if so,sheers and lace can still make such a difference. lace may be out of the budget, but sheers never are at under$10.this makes them nearly solid tone

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Hi Laura --

The jute looks great in there -- and wow, you DO have a ton of light in there.

Look: your house, your choice.

BUT

That is gorgeous wood that -- IMO -- adds a ton of warmth and charm to your place.

Upthread many of us said the current paint, while great as a move-in placeholder refresh, isn't doing anything to help the trim. The two should set each other off, and TRUST ME it's a lot easier to paint a wall to test this theory than to tackle all that trim!

ETA: I think your walls would probably look great painted the shade you just posted for trim.

I know there are a zillion white trim inspo shots. But if you post another thread looking for "light walls with stained trim" and your house others will jump in and add more to what's here.

I have to run and these are rough-quality snaps...but quickly --

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I wouldn't paint the trim. I think it adds the right amount of color and texture to your relatively light, monochromatic furnishings.

However, I'd pick some pillows in a color that's not that similar to the wood color, maybe some green, blue, or black with pattern.

Here is a home with a mix of white and wood trim - I would leave the beautiful trim wood, but if there are rooms with cheaper wood trim, those could go white.

https://www.zillow.com/homes/for_sale/Pacific-Grove-CA/fsba,fsbo,fore,cmsn_lt/pf,mmm_pt/house_type/19323966_zpid/33300_rid/globalrelevanceex_sort/36.65933,-121.861554,36.568252,-121.980858_rect/12_zm/?

If you have solid wood doors, don't paint them, though do what you like to hollow core or MDF doors. Wood with white trim is a pretty combo: Painted wood panel doors can be a pain to upkeep - the painted door show more scratches and the wood moves with changes in temp and humidity causing hairline cracks at the joints. Wood paneled doors are classic - less susceptible to changes in paint / style trends

I have a similar kitchen which I did in a vintage style without painting the cabinets. I used the Kohler Whitehaven "short apron" style farm sink which can be installed on a standard sink base cabinet:

https://www.houzz.com/photos/my-pics-work-in-progress-phvw-vp~93784356

https://www.houzz.com/photos/my-pics-work-in-progress-phvw-vp~93784291

If you don't want to do a farm sink, but give the feel of one, curtain the sink base. This is my basement kitchenette which I put together with some of my original kitchen cabinets (refinished) and my old cast iron sink.

https://www.houzz.com/photos/my-pics-work-in-progress-phvw-vp~65270573

Some inexpensive ideas for decor are vintage china plates (I spent less then a few dollars on many of mine), botanical art, floral art and vintage finds.