Oceanna, here I am. I love that ceiling mural. That's exactly how I feel in this room. It's awful in the winter when the sun goes down early--like being in a cave. I've painted two of the doors (to back porch and to garage) and the trim around them white and it makes a HUGE difference. I love it! DH is having a heart attack every time I brush white paint over his beloved dark stained pine. He gave me permission to paint it, but now it's really bothering him. Too bad - no turning back. I'll finish all the woodwork and doors in white, and paint the walls above the dark paneling in the Believable Buff, then see how it all looks. Then I'll decide what to do with the paneling. Before doing anything drastic, I'll get some posterboard, paint it to blend with the Believable Buff (maybe white, maybe the BB, maybe a shade or two darker), then see what looks best. Then there will be two more rooms and a foyer to do. I'm dreading the living room and dining room because they both have dark stained crown molding in them - lots of time up on a ladder but at least it's only an 8' ceiling.

Congrats on new house. Please don't paint the stone. Would probably pick one of the medium shades of color from the stone and paint all the painted exterior siding surfaces of the house, including the garage door, the same color -- except, of course, the white fascia and trim. Is the small single center upstairs window a bathroom? Perhaps you could create the look of an arch atop it using your exterior trim.

I'd leave the cabinets alone right now not because they're OK but because you want to eventually remodel and painting is NOT an easy quick fix. It's a ton of tedious work for the homeowner with probably poor results and/or $$$ to have it done professionally. A DIY paint job can result in textural probs, paint wearing off, cracking within a year or so depending upon the finish, the prep, the products used and the technique/exp employed. I've done my share of painting cabs including our current one and I'm OK with it but it's not a pro finish so I try hard not to stare too hard! I will say I've never painted NICE cabs such as yours and I probably wouldn't. We wanted to gut our current kitchen but a new heating system and several other more critcal redos bounced it out of our top 5 projects so we settled for DIY new cabinet doors/drawers and paint. My second comment is based on the fact you just moved in. You're going through the normal "I want to" thing we all go through initially after moving in. Your wife is in the dream stage because she's already thinking of gold rose hardware...lol. But, please take it from someone who's lived in and remodeled/gutted 6 homes. If possible I have never redone a kitchen or made major paint decisions in the first year of living anywhere and it's always, ALWAYS been the right decision (unless I throw some white paint on a crazy color wall) What I think intially is much different one year later and a lot of that has to do with exposure. Do you realize right now, that June is the darkest this kitchen will appear? It's the summer solstice and that means the sun is high...therefore not coming in the windows as much as when it's lower. Decidious trees will also shade the house. Concentrate on the cosmetic and take some of the advice already given re: lighting, the backsplash perhaps (I wouldn't bother to replace with tile though...go cheaper) We supplemented our undercab lighting with IKEA inexpensive LED tape lights that plug in so you might try that first if there's none currently. And congrats!

It is a painting technique and really like the idea of white, how do I pick a color that does not clash with the fireplace or window trim, ceiling, etc. I don't want to add anything, (crown molding) ..I love the windows and don't want to take away from them, really like a clean, simple and sharp look, my decorating style is coastal. Thank you so much pricklypearcactus, I would have never thought of that. (would hate to have pinkish cabinets, my husband would kill me! Navajo white, I'll check that out....thanks everyone! (Move in is August 1st and our painter is coming then and paint, due to him painting and our kids coming in from out of state to help us move, don't have the timing to reflect on color after all the prior family's furnishings are out.