The homes in our area that are from the end of the Victorian age are usually done in dark green, gold, rose, deep red and maybe some dark blue. Eastern Washington didn't see any big money until the late 1800's. Many have early Craftsman elements, too, with a return of the dark timbers and earth tones. If you like earth tones, what about dark green in the library? It's a beautiful color with most woodwork (think english pub green) and would look nice with the tiles around the fireplace. The music room would be beautiful in gold/mustard, very much like the tiles around the library fireplace. In both rooms, neutral or tan/brown furnishings (maybe some leather in the library) would look great. Do you have much furniture in the music room? Something soft (like a velvet type fabric) for a comfy side chair would look beautiful in the rust/terra cotta, or maybe use the color on pillows for accents? What color is your dining room/other rooms on the first floor? Would the terra cotta/rust tone work in your dining room? Warm orange tones are always nice in a dining room and stimulate appetite/conversation. Some green and gold accents would really tie the spaces together. The entry way might be a nice place to try a little wallpaper, or maybe some stenciling. Perhaps you could find something in a natural motif that would tie in the golds, rust and dark green. It sounds like a great project and a lot of fun. Remember, paint is one of the easiest things to change if you don't like it...but I would still try some test areas and see what it looks like under different lighting/times of day, before I painted the whole room :)

Congratulations! Good luck in your new home. Are your cabinets made of wood? What type of finish is on them? Assuming you stain the cabinets a wood color, greens look great with wood. There are lots of greens to choose from. From your pictures, at this point, any color will coordinate. What are the colors of your furnishings or what do you intend to purchase? There are 1000s of paint colors so it is much easier to select a paint color to coordinate with furnishings rather than selecting furnishing to go with paint. If you have to paint 1st, at least look at furniture to get an idea of a plan or direction...I digress...Start by looking at greens with wood tones. Even though green is a cool color, many greens give a warm feeling (that goes for blues too) Wishing you a brightly colored day, Mary

I think the problem with your new house is that there are no problems at all...besides the ceiling. It's a very sweet house and you must be over the moon! Depending on where you live and how hot it is, you may not want a ceiling fan in the bedroom (or elsewhere)...but that's a personal preference thing... I see the floors in there are lighter, so you could do almost anything in there....a beautiful chandelier, a paint color you love... I notice that the current drapes (even though they may stay with the house) are a bit underwhelming...full drapes translate to luxury to me....just something to think about. Agree with the others, though. Get your own things moved in and then re-post if you like :) Congrats again!

This is where you have a big disconnect with what you want, what you’re willing to do, and your budget. You just don’t want your complacency with mediocre challenged, even though you want better. You aren’t willing to do what it takes to get better. Which is fatal to design. The kitchen needs help. It was an unfortunate design, and needs attention and changes to turn it into something that will have been worth that expense. You’re not willing to listen to suggestions to revisit the design and improve it. That’s a giant red flag for a designer. What makes the rest of the house different as a project? Will you listen to anything about it? What about this whole home redesign is going to be appealing to a designer to work with you, if you just don’t listen to the suggestions that you’re given? What’s in it for a person who wants to see the joy of something coming together better than the homeowner ever imagined it could be? Because that’s the why behind it. This is not a “portfolio job”. It won’t reflect well on their skills if you’re resistant to doing what it takes to get a result worth having. It’s not even a job where they are going to earn from product sales. And that isn’t about money, although that will rear its head. The communication style and fear of letting go to listen and trust makes for huge frustrations. That’s not fun. If they can’t really make a difference in the home, because you don’t let them, they are not going to be into you and your 2 year plan to timesuck more than they’re actually getting paid. Money isn’t enough for that frustration level. And there won’t be enough money either, because no one would be willing to pay the real time costs for the $500 lifeline 15 minute Zoom to fix a problem that could have been prevented with better listening and more trust. You‘re just are not a good candidate for a good designer. A newbie, who hadn’t yet learned? That you might get. The experienced one that you need will be “too busy”. So, DIY it to death, and just live with the results you create. It seems that you’re happy enough with that, and don’t really care to have a next level home. So why go to the angst and expense of having your worldview challenged for the better? Spend your money on the 1001 suggestions of a crowd sourced plan, and don’t take it up a notch. Why bother with wanting something better and more? It will just challenge your complacency.