I want it to look light and bright and was thinking of painting a light color, but everything I'm reading lately says that for dark rooms, you should go with the midtones, not pale colors. Why. Why are midtones better than pale colors for dimly lit rooms. Dollars to donuts those who give advice like that are working from bad and or misinformation about color and light. Same thing with stuff like white will never come to life in a dark room. Ridiculous. What colors work or do not work in a space depend on the specific characteristics of the light and *reflectance aspects of the paint color. White can indeed 'come to life' in a dimly lit room if you know to choose the right white. And you can use lighter colors in your dimly lit rooms too. *Reflectance aspects include tone. Or in other words, how grayed down or knocked back the color is. When you look at a paint color consider how light/dark (lightness value) it is and also how grayed or toned it is (intensity). Light/dark and grayness combined is called a color's nuance. To loop this whole thing together, the answer to choosing paint color for dimly lit rooms is to partner the dim quality of light with with perfect pitch of nuance. And for low-light, dim rooms that means you want to look for colors (light, midtone or dark) that are clearer vs. grayed. Might sound complicated but it's not. But the fact that the right way to do it sounds complicated is why stupid stuff like white will never come to life in a dim room and/or don't use lighter colors in dark spaces is perpetuated.

View of kitchen, family room (with washing machine in the middle!) and adjoining wall. Note: windows still have plastic on them

Chairs are perfect!!! So comfortable and big, we all fit here now. Room got crowded with a dog cage (we just got a dog this week) and the big plant which is temporarily here until we take the Christmas tree down.

There is nothing wrong with their floors. There is nothing wrong with yellow and gold. If you do not understand and/or like the wood and colors, you really cannot help them. They would absolutely need a warm white for the walls. Not a cool white. They have a house full of warm wood. And I gave you some warm white paint options in my comment above. It also looks like a house full of children in these pictures, and the best coffee table to have with children is an ottoman style. It is also on trend and has been for a while, and it is a style that would work in their space. With what I can see of the sectional shape and style, I think maybe a large square shape for ottoman. Many styles and colors, this is just one example: And maybe a couple of these ottoman style cube type pieces on side of room, for extra seating. https://www.wayfair.com/furniture/pdp/east-urban-home-south-bend-stripes-cube-ottoman-w002480563.html