LKplatow, thank you! cooperbailey, those are great ideas. I'd love to adapt them to our more subdued style. I tend to do creamy neutrals on walls and furniture, and add color with pillows, curtains, bedding... so for upholstery I was either thinking of tan or beige velvet (boring, I know) or a Sunbrella linen tweed like one of the lighter fabrics on the page linked below. But I was going to do punchier accent pillows depending on the bedding I chose. I really like, and am thinking of buying, the Dwell Studio Regency bedding collection at Target (can't post the darn pic, sorry!), so maybe I'd do some aqua/geometric pillows along the Regency lines. And now let me try out another idea. Part of me says it'll be smarter and easier to just do each chair all in one classic, simple fabric. (DH will want to do this, for sure, and will think I'm nuts to even suggest what I'm about to propose....) The thing is, I also love the way Domino magazine does two-tone upholstery jobs, esp with using modern fabrics on older pieces. I wonder how those older chairs would look in two related colors, both neutrals (say, beige and mocha), one on the "inside" of the chair where you sit and another on the outside? Or is that hopelessly trendy, and will I hate it five years from now? Organic, thanks for the good karma, especially given your amazing recent Craigslist finds. I have to admit you were my inspiration! But: I was actually going to take that skirt *off*, not keep it on. If the legs aren't an integral part of the frame, I can swap them out for something airier. At the least, though, I'd refinish them in walnut stain. (I will also refinish the exposed wood on the older chairs, darkening it to walnut, so it matches our bed.) And yes, the older chairs are a great deal: $175 for the set, so $87 or so apiece. (the more modern chair was a whopping $25 at the local Restore.) I seem to be the only person interested right now, so she might even knock the price down further... OK, this is a novel, and I'm supposed to be working! (: Here is a link that might be useful: sunbrella

Very strange my last text is no longer here or maybe it didn't post? I'd written how much I appreciate all the time, thought, research and effort everyone has put in. It has been very helpful. I took the advice of a poster above and after school went to a BM store where I thought they might have a color consultant. They had two very helpful women who suggested after seeing my pictures on this site Wickham Gray for the kitchen and gray mirage for the dining area (it looks like a moss green) Both colors are soothing. The Wicham is similiar to several of the other colors people suggested. I put large sample squares of it up on the soffit over the window and it looks blue. I like it and if my youngest wasn't coming home from college tonight I'd run out and start painting. Instead I'm going to make a comfort food dinner. Homemade mac and cheese along with roasted brussel sprouts and salad. Ever since I found out you can roast the sprouts I'm a big fan of a formerly disliked vegetable. Regarding the fridge-it's actually just a normal size one door fridge and works just fine. Maybe it shines because I gave it a good cleaning after we put down the floor! Cannot justify the expense of replacing it for aesthetic reasons. I have a kitchen cat g-d vertical flag that one of my daughters brought back from Japan and could hang it on the fridge! That should add color. Wishing everyone a great holiday. Thanks again for your help.

owerpwr45 I presume the lid on that chest lifts up, but not all the way I guess unless you move it out from under the console table? That seems kinda goofy. I have a couple of storage pieces in my house that I may go into once a yr and aren't the most convenient to do so, so it's no biggie when I have to. There's also the possibility the one shown is empty.

You don’t need to paint the house a similar shade as the garage doors. The doors are very close in tone to the windows, so they already correlate. If you live far to the north, a dark exterior will help assist your heating system on sunny winter days, but if you depend on air conditioning in the summer, dark walls paired with the near black roof will have an effect on the efficiency of the cooling system. Consider how much contrast you need between the dark roof, windows and garage doors vs. walls vs. trim. As for the bathroom window, you could put a medium tint film on the inside and then put a frosted film behind it and enjoy light and privacy at the same time. the tint will obscur the frost making the window just dark from the outside. during the day and working with the frost at night.