To me, the pictures above where the ceiling, cabinets and floor are all the same tone (in one case the floor is tile but a very close match for the wood cabinet and ceiling beam color) to be kind of muddy and depressing - it is too monotonic for me. It isn't quite as bad where most of the cabinets are white but the island, floor and ceiling beams are similar but I'd still prefer more variation. Our kitchen has natural cherry cabinets, natural maple floors, oak table and chairs. I like the contrast between the floor and the cabinets and the table works fine (it is in the breakfast room but there are a couple of matching oak stools that we use at the island). There is also a darker stained wood in the built in bookcase in the breakfast room and the doors - it was there when we bought the house so I don't know what the wood species is. Try to ignore the toe kick area - the cherry skins were off them for the floor installation and hadn't been put back when I took these pictures. I need to find time to take new photos now that it is done. We went with cherry cabinets in the family room - I love walnut too but we felt that it would make that wall too dark. We put walnut knobs on them so we have a walnut accent.

Now you got me started. I was going to comment that the molding and the floors look wonderful and should stay the colors they are. In many older houses with stained ww, the floor is lighter, giving some interest to the room. Then you got me started on base shoe, my FAVORITE topic. IMHO, you must put the base shoe up. It's the finishing touch on fine woodwork. I've always wondered why it is called base shoe and finally determined that it's like putting on your best clothing and then going barefoot. It just looks unfinished. My former house had all natural molding, what I wouldn't give to have it now. I love my house, but the white moldings can go...and the upkeep. My guess is if you're using the original baseshoe and it's held up all these years, it'll will hold up for many more. New stuff, unless you buy oak, not so much. Have fun. The house is beautiful.

OP here - so I posted my original post because I was dreading going to a holiday party at a friend's brand new house that has all white woodwork and kitchen. I was envious and not looking forward to it. Guess what - while I liked her house and the white was certainly pretty, the first thing she says is that it's hard to keep clean (she's been there 5 months). I loved her large island but the house overall was small and cramped. I came home with a new appreciation for my home. It may have oak which can certainly be painted but I wouldn't want to sacrifice our square footage just for a new and different look and have a new mortgage. Ours is paid for. The grass is not always greener on the other side. Anyway, hubby and I know we eventually want to live in a one story house and the plan is to move to one when last child is done with college in 4 years. We will have plenty of time to plan the new home. And isn't that a big part of the fun - the dreaming and anticipation?!

Here’s the deal. Logs are a little different from other building materials. Even dimensional lumber like stud 2x4s can be painted. The difference is that logs contain moisture. Quite a bit of moisture in fact. You see, logs are much thicker than dimensional lumber. And they contain the full tree, not just a cross section like most lumber. So these logs start out with a lot of moisture in them. Giving them a year to dry out is great, but it doesn’t get rid of all the moisture. Plus, there’s a certain amount of moisture that will always stay in the logs. So even when you’re constructing a log cabin, the logs contain moisture. https://outdoortroop.com/can-you-paint-a-log-cabin-do-this-instead/