Ok... you have given me some courage. Dh said not to do it because it may not come out right, yet wants to buy a new bed. I told him he might as well let me try and if it stinks, we can then buy a new bed. I would make it primarily black with just a little silver washing as an accent. I do not want an solid black bed frame as that may be too stark. I want to do a light metallic silver/gray base on our walls and a deep purple matte damask stencil on top on 2 of those walls. I am even considering putting the silver micro glitter type add ins in the wall paint to make it have some sparkle in the background. We have a vintage chrome sconce for each side of the bed and I'd like the light to dance against the wall. (not doing the stencil directly behind the bed, but on the side walls). Pantergirl - if "both paints cure in a week" does that mean each coat? Should I do the black and then wait a week for the silver on top? Our bed will be taken apart as we will be camping on mattresses/boxsprings in our finished bsmt while the work to the main level gets done. I will not be in a rush to use the frame as our work will take approx 12 weeks to complete.

Ash, if you want to keep your current large layout with the new door, I do think you are worrying about nothing. You're looking at a diagram now that shows your kitchen, quite bizarrely, from a birds-eye view that doesn't exist in real life. The issue is how it'll look from the family room and secondarily from inside. The wall whose balance will define how the kitchen looks is the stove wall, which is very nicely strengthened by being framed by those little wing walls that define and separate the kitchen and family spaces. The wall you're concerned about will be seen mostly end-on from various angles and simply won't matter in the way you're imagining, which is in comparison with a more birds-eye-view "perfect" diagram no one's going to have in front of them. End-on views from us earth-bound sorts shorten distort and hide "perfect" sidewall layouts anyway, which is why attention is grabbed by the wall in front that can be seen. Even from inside the kitchen looking at the window wall, though, it'd look quite good. So you're going to start all over again, do it for another reason. :)

I know you are waiting, but I'm going to put in a vote for the Kichler Ralston. I thnk the very strong, square lines of your house are plenty of linear design -- something with curves has more interest and the hanging lantern compliments the iron scroll work on the door. I like the rectangular lanterns very much, but they accentuate the straight lines of the house and the door itself, making the scroll work on the door an odd man out. The hanging latern wirh some curve brings it together. I also like that last lantern your DH doesn't, but I don't think it is right for your house. I can't put my finger on why -- contemporary -- a little too simple or delicate? Looks like it would be better against stucco rather than all the brick lines. You said you have other projects to tackle, but even if you didn't, I think it is good to look and leave -- come back at least once or twice. That helps me weed out things I like but don't love for my use or for the long term.

So let me point out the obvious, that's not a brick wall/fence. That's a stacked tumbled paver wall that doesn't have mortar between the courses. It may or may not have an epoxy binder between the blocks. I'm almost certain it's not a veneer over structural concrete block. That's why it's limited in its height. Unlike your examples, it doesn't have vertical "posts" that go all the way up and would provide the needed structural support for the wood fence portion. Those "posts" in your examples are made from structural concrete block with a brick veneer and will provide resistance to perpendicular horizontal forces such as wind, or a climbing kid. That's not at all what you have. The only thing worse than a kid on the loose is a block structure that falls over on a kid as they scale it. A fenced in back yard for kids/pets isn't a bad thing. It can be chain link or wood privacy fence. Yes, jokes about shock collars, leashes and such aside, it's also time to parent.