Thanks, Mysterymachine. I think that after living with the gray light kitchen the black on the counters just hit me hard. I agree about the cherry. It would have to be very simple...like cat mom's. Please continue to follow me with this. The support from the people on this forum, and the support of the people on the pool forum as I built my pool has helped so much to get me through the tough stuff during both projects. DH tries, but truly doesn't care as much as I do! I'm glad your seams are nice. When mine was lighter is was the first thing that caught my eye when I walked into the room. As I said, my back seam is perfect. I wish that I could have switched them! Minac, did you see? I do have apples up above my counters in a silver bowl. They were on sale at Target! My things on top are not my final choice, just stuff I picked up and put up there to make my kitchen look more finished for Christmas company. LOL. And yes, I guess I was leaning towards the colors in my dining room set. The chairs are cherry with a black leather seat. The table is cherry, the painted glass, and brushed silver. I thought that using that color glass would look great and bring my counter into the year 2008. If I got new door and drawers, I would go with the longer hardware too. I've included a link to my set (I got a much better deal than that!) but mine is cherry and black. It's the coolest table ever! It pulls out to a very big table for large gatherings, but pushes in to smaller for a more intimate dinner. I waited 20 years to get what I wanted! Glasskote contacted me today, and asked for my measurements for a bid. I'll let you know how it goes. I also ordered a sample from 3M. Can anyone recommend a company that would make replacement doors similiar to Cat Mom's for my cabinet guy to buy? The closest he had was a slab door in pear. Here is a link that might be useful: Dining Set

https://www.houzz.com/photos/custom-homes-rustic-exterior-dallas-phvw-vp~53922691 I agree the shutters do not enhance anything and need to go. Do you have the budget to add some stone to add character? Even if you did a veneer of stone under the porch railing, it would help to add warmth and charm. I would box out the traditional posts with rustic wood. Given the new roof color I would paint the body of the house a darker shade of sage green or a deep cornflower blue. Check out Benjamin Moore Avon Green HC 126 and Sea Pine AC 17. Happy retirement in your new life!!!

Personally, I'd be inclined towards the greener tones....and maybe even a gray green like a sage color (rather than the yellow greens in your color swatch). Earthy tones tend to be too warm to me in a hot and very sunny climate and the gray green is cooling and soothing. And it blends well and compliments both plants and rocks!!

We finally decided on white pea gravel, and while it took quite a while to find a supplier (all garden stores nearby were sold out), we're delighted with how it turned out. When weeds pop through we can dig them out (decided on no landscaping fabric), and the kids have decided that gravel is almost as much fun as sand to play with (not to mention it doesn't get tracked in the house as easily.) On dark or rainy days - quite common here - the white reflects some light into the house, unlike the old bricks which just got darker and felt gloomy. We left the brick pathway to the door for now, as well as enough to be a border and hold the gravel in place, so we still have solid walkways and aren't worried the gravel will wash away. The curve of the brick path and the uneven border of old bricks means the patio is an odd shape, which I'm not sure about but my husband likes. The gravel is not as soft as grass, but isn't too painful for walking across barefoot to the table and chairs. I had planned to just do the main patio, and see about the rest of the space later, but we ordered so much my husband got inspired and cleared out the mud and brick pit near the door. That's now a play place for the kids; they love having their own little space and we love that they're happy and that the toys don't get scattered everywhere! For anyone who's interested, we ordered 8-16mm size gravel, at a weight of 600kg (more than 1200lbs), and it cost under 140 euros, including delivery. For convenience we had it delivered in a pallet of 20kg bags instead of the cheaper bulk bags since our back yard is hard to access. That amount covered the lower part of our garden nicely with plenty left over, so I may use that in the the back muddy area, which is currently just hosting ivy and old kids' toys. We layered the gravel at about 1-2 inches deep, but if that's not enough (or if it shifts too much) we may add more or try using the honeycomb-shaped gravel stabilizer grids. So far the amount seems fine for light traffic and playing, and hasn't been too wobbly for our patio furniture. It took months to figure out what we wanted and where to buy it, but in the end it ticked all the boxes: low maintenance, child friendly, not exorbitant, practical for walking on. And as as bonus, every time I look outside it reminds me of an Italian or French garden, which makes me want to brew a cappuccino and go enjoy some sunshine. Thank you to everyone for the input and ideas; may all your design dilemmas have happy endings.