(((Sal))))) I was just thinking of you! I have some really healthing seedlings from you! Do you believe this orchid is STILL in bloom in the living room? It is one of my NEW favs. As for Flamingo Star...she is shooting up another scape! (Hrey, I thought Flamingos were PINK not Orange!)

I was originally going with Bellawood Bloodwood in my kitchen, which will have Bordeux stain on cherry cabinets. Seeing it all together made me change my mind because it was very dark, especially with Uba Tuba or Verde Butterfly granite. I'm keeping the cabinets and granite and going with tile instead. The Bloodwood is a darker, much redder hw than BC, but you might want to get samples of all of them and see what you think. I ordered one small cabinet door in my stain and got a fairly big sample piece of my granite, took it to Lumber Liqudators and put it up against the Bloodwood square that they had laid in their floor. I knew immediately it was too much dark. We are keeping the Bloodwood in the rest of the house, except for the laundry and bathrooms, but I liked the contrast of the light tile against the cabinets and granite better.

Hi mom2sethc--Please don't be discouraged. Sorry that we all misunderstood and assumed you were wanting help to try to make your curtains work. Now that you've given us the info that your pillow fabrics are your inspiration/direction you want to go, I can see you're headed in the right direction with the Susan Jablon mosaics you asked about in the other thread. You do want your backsplash to be your star! You knew your answer when you posted: you do have to ditch your traditional curtains. You instinctively knew they're not "you". There was definitely a disconnect style wise between your curtains (traditional, low contrast) and your pillows (contemporary, bold/high contrast) and I think that is why so many of us were advising to tone down/simplify the backsplash to try to bridge the disconnect and turn it merely "eclectic" RE: getting the "wrong" curtains, I've made similar mistakes, but sometimes it's impossible to see "oh, no this is not what I wanted!" until after I see it in place. (Like the fact that the color of my sink doesn't go with the color of my cabinets and it turns out I don't like the finish of the faucet I special ordered. sigh.) Another point in your favor--at least you tried something. I have been without window treatments in the kitchen for 3 months with zero privacy--and lots of neighbors--but none of the dozens of fabric swatches I've brought home had the right "feel." It is discouraging when you have an idea what you want, but just can't seem to nail it, especially when these are precisely the finishing touches that can lend such great personality and style to a kitchen. Just wanted to say we all meant to be helpful, I promise. Now bring your inspiration pillows to the fabric store and pick out a complimentary bold print for some new curtains! :) Here is a link that might be useful: bold Susan Jablon mosaics

Just to add- without changing anything but the paint color- the right taupe tone- you said you see blue tones now with brick- you could very easily use some blue accents vs. orange. If you get the right taupe wall color- you become pleasantly room neutral with color- adding either orange or blue accents depending on your taste or season! If your walls were taupe- you could change pillow color on brown couch- blue, turquois? Blues and brown go very well together- the new neutral taupe wall color will allow you to change accent colors and therefore your rooms. You did an incredible job on the whitewash- invest in a wall color that keeps it warm and extends your flexibilty for color- :-)