I like your house color as it is; very craftsman-like. I do think the garage doors should be painted so that they do not stand out and call attention to themselves. I think your front porch is lovely and should be where our eyes want to go. I definitely agree with Patricia...white is not a good choice for this home.

Wood doors/drawer fronts -- most Americans like wood, but it's not necessarily the "best". Research it and see how it applies to your situation. Paint, door/drawer front construction, etc., will impact what's "best". Plywood construction -- similar to wood doors/drawer fronts. Research it and see how it applies to your situation. Soft-close hinges -- nice to have but not a "must have". In fact, it's far cheaper to make cabinet doors soft-close after the fact. In our case, they wanted $50/hinge for soft-close; we did it (DIY) for $3/door and it was a quick 5-minute (or less) easy job per door. Full-extension drawers -- I agree! Full-extension drawers allow you to see and access the entire drawer contents without scraping your knuckles! 😄 Soft-close drawers -- a "nice to have" but not a "must have". However, it's not as easy to make drawers soft-close after the fact as soft-close hinges, so if it's important to you, take that into consideration. Note that IKEA has soft-close drawers as standard. Drawer box construction -- dove-tail joinery is often said to be superior to other forms of joins, but I don't know whether that's true in all cases. I second the IKEA comment -- why not consider them? (Unless there aren't any within an hour or two of where you live.)

Yes, that is very familiar. Okada will be selling other pieces from his museum to settle his legal debt. Its a shanpme. I hope the art stays where the public can see it. Steve Wynn tried to buy an iconic piece of art called The Dream Garden in Philadelphia. He wanted to move it to his casino in Atlantic City. The citizens of the city balked at losing this fabulous glass mosaic, a collaboration of Louis Comfort Tiffany and Maxfield Parrish.. Here’s the story https://www.associationforpublicart.org/artwork/the-dream-garden/ For those coming to visit Philadelphia, I highly recommend stopping in to see it in the lobby of the Curtis Building. No charge. I always stop in when Im in the area. Unfortunately the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall are closed due to the government shut down.

-- Elephant in the living room:the wall paint is horrible for that room. Paint it all a warm white or the white of your cabinets. That is the #1 thing people are saying, yet the very thing you don't want to do! --If that is a fake fireplace over a window, then get rid of it. The furniture isn't even oriented to the fireplace, so why have it? --Get a square or round coffee table and bring the brown chairs closer to the sofa. That will create a cosy, conversational group. You don't need to tacked on fireplace for that. Get ceiling to floor textured white curtains for the windows that match newly painted space or wood bamboo shades for all the windows. --Blue and brown go very well together so that's your palette. You already have a rug in sofa/chair area. Good. Get rid of the rug underneath the dining set. --Add a large art works on the walls behind sofa and behind brown chairs in subjects you like--landcapes, skyscapes, abstract, seascapes. These palettes will tie together newly painted white walls, blue sofa, golden floor, dining furniture. Go for this feeling: cozy blue/brown living rooms with great art. Note bamboo wood shades . Those windows should be dressed up.