Oh, if I could do a wider opening and pocket doors between my kitchen and DR, I would. But I'm losing mine when we remodel. Like heidihausfrau, our pocket door between kitchen and DR is narrow; even narrower than hers, mine is only 27"! It's ridiculous. We're widening the doorway to 31" or 32" (can't go wider than that). We had initially planned on installing another pocket door but since the wall that currently houses the pocket door can't accommodate a door any wider than we currently have (runs into exterior wall), we would have to switch the pocket door housing to the other side of the doorway, which meant changing the location of the light switches, tearing into the stairway support wall, changing the shelving in the pantry so that it wouldn't interfere with the pocket door ... in the end, we decided to nix adding a pocket door. We're also widening the doorway between kitchen and hallway, from 29" (swing French door) to 47" (no door). We can't install double pocket doors, either one on each side or double-upped with bottom rail nor do we have room for swing doors (would block light switches, etc). At first we weren't sure about going sans doors for both entries. We used the doors between kitchen and hallway and kitchen and DR when our kids were little but we hardly ever close them now. In fact, we took the hallway/kitchen doorway off its hinges months ago to see if we would miss it and we don't. judeny: thanks for the great idea to do a hinged swing door! I had nixed going with a swing door because my DR is narrow enough as it is; I don't want a swing door eating up space (it would also have to swap sides so it would run along the wall between wall and table). But if I can do a hinged door like you did and keep it folded up against itself along the same wall the pocket door occupies now, I just might be able to install a door between kitchen and DR after all. (I wish you had pics to share with us.) Do you remember how far from the wall the door extends when it's folded against itself? TIA! AujS, don't forget to plan for where your light switches will go on the pocket door wall. I'm sure you want them close to the opening so make sure your contractor knows so that he makes sure there's room for an electrical box to house the switches.

I will look to see if I have a floor plan, but if not, how would i go about creating one for you. I know I sound like an idiot but obviously I am clueless as to this kind of stuff and wish my husband would just let me hire a decorator lol! However, he just now gave me another big fat NO to hiring one lol! So needless to say, I am going to have to learn how to do this on my own and asking for help, however annoying I may be, is the only thing I know to do! So I apologize in advance for my ignorance! I will look for the floor plan! Thanks for responding!

It is really hard to visualize without pics. I know you aren't in the space yet, but could you at least link to a pic of the dining set? And the sofa? And a photo of your chandelier since it sounds like you have that in your current home? It sounds like the kitchen is a black/white color scheme. A lot of people pair that with greige walls, which (if my web search turned up the right sorts of images for "mink") seems like it would work with your dining set. I think "fawn" walls would not work well with "mink," at least if my understanding of what you mean by those colors is on point. Fawn conjures up a warm color with orange undertones, and while that could look nice with a sage green living room set, I think it will fight the cooler tones of the kitchen and the proposed dining set. It sounds like the peppercorn floor is not installed yet, so I will throw this out there: Dark floors have a reputation for showing every speck of dust. The elements you've described would look just as nice with a less dramatically dark floor. Just something to think about. I haven't found it to be difficult to find black tables in styles other than country. What style are you interested in? More modern? More traditional? I'm sure we could help you find something. But if you stick with the peppercorn floors, black furnishings might be too much black. You could do white (tie in with kitchen cabinetry), chrome (tie in with your proposed chandelier) or something else. Congratulations on your new home! (I probably should have led with that...)

You may be trying to force the warm wood tones and the cool grays together. You don't need to. Farmhouse is more about decor and less about colors. I am seeing many more farmhouse kitchens with white or cream walls: This is supposed to be a Joanna Gaines kitchen - note the mixture of white and warm wood tones. While the cabinets are white in this pic, they don't have to be. My own kitchen has similar to yours, though I have done it more in a vintage style: https://www.houzz.com/photos/my-pics-work-in-progress-phvw-vp~110720042 https://www.houzz.com/photos/my-pics-work-in-progress-phvw-vp~109854052 Here is a wood kitchens idea book - you may get some ideas from it. Some are newer kitchens and some are older refreshed kitchens: https://www.houzz.com/ideabooks/75202366/list/wood-kitchens I retrofitted one of my cabinets with a plate rail - there are kits for that or a carpenter can take that on. Avoid to much cliche farm house decor and spend some time walking through a few antique shops. You might style your hutch with some antique china, platter, milkglass etc. It does not have to be expensive or done at one time. This picture gives somewhat an idea - I am having trouble accessing all my pics today:) There is a bit much in those cabinets for a hutch - I would pare it down a bit. You also might want to consider bin style pulls for the drawers as in both pics above. I can take a while to make your kitchen feel like the space you want - take your time and keep your eyes open for decor etc that you like. Don't try for magazine perfect:)