You'll find colour experts/fanatics on the Home Dec forum who might be able to help, especially if you post a picture of the house. I know just enough to know that some very subtle differences could make a real difference to the outcome. For example, there are whites, and whites, and then still other whites. If it's a cool white with blue tones vs a warmer white with yellow or pink tones, your choices may look different. Of course, it may just be a white white - ours was too, by the way, when we bought it; white all over, inside and out. I came to appreciate that as I started stripping paint and realized that at some point the house was likely sort of an acid jade green on all surfaces inside and out, as were most of the houses in this neighbourhood. We did paint the house, and I'm happy we did - not an original colour though. I'm not a huge stickler for maintaining original colours for the sake of authenticity. You obviously do feel that way, and I respect that, but I would question your belief that changing the whole house colour would be more work than merely painting the trim. You might like to visualize whether you'd be happy with white trim if you changed the house colour. This is because painting trim is more work than you might think, especially if you have three porches. Having said all that, with a base scheme of black and white, your range of colour choices is enormous, and personal taste is going to play a huge role, as will the kind of presence you want the house to exude. Obviously earth tones won't go (rusts, olives) as they go with beige, not white; nor beiges or navies, being too close to your two base colours. I tend to think soft pastels might be your best family to look at, and you could go either two-tone (light green and darker green) or two contrasting colours: blue and yellow, blue and pink, etc. Those would be a bit country, I suppose, or maybe a little feminine. If you prefer a really dressy look, grey might be your best option, perhaps with some black highlights to connect to the roof. Taupe and black might also work for that look. You might consider photoshopping a few ideas, or if you prefer the non-tech route, taking a few photos, printing them out, and colouring on them. I'm linking below to a blog entry by Maria Killam on choosing exterior trim colours in which she also talks about different whites. The rest of her blog may also be of interest to you. KarinL Here is a link that might be useful: Colour me happy blog

We have a Home Decorators Collection nearby so I was able to go by and take a look at that sofa and chair I posted. Obviously this isn't furniture built to last for 30+ years. But I am not paying the money where I would expect it to be. If this was a room that was our primary hang out space I would be willing to invest (as we are planning on doing for the family room in looking at a Hancock and Moore leather sofa.....if I can afford it), but expect this furniture to be "lightly used". I think with the addition of a couple of pillows it will be reasonably comfortable for guests and conversation (obviously not to snuggle in for a movie). I actually like the printed fabric, it appeared more of a pale blue overall appearance than the gray that I had expected. Hopefully will look OK with the hide rug (which - if not, I have already decided would look nice in the master bedroom). But fingers crossed this will all come together. I think I will likely need a different color on the walls than the Wedgewood Gray, but that can be selected later. OK - I have been looking forever for that red peacock type pillow and cant find it! I really do think that the accessories will hopefully be what ties this all together.

luckygal - Wow, so many great suggestions, I don't know where to begin! Thank you so much! I like the idea of marrying the colors with the fabrics, and carefully bringing in the secondary colors - I have a feeling it's going to take some trial and error to get the right balance of color, but that's part of the fun - right? The blue mason jars, fabric valance, and wood blinds all sound lovely! I'll play around with fabric prints and colors some more too. As for my style, as I look through my inspiration photos, it seems to be simple, clean traditional (lots of white kitchens), with some cottage and french country touches - nothing too fancy, fussy or rustic. I think modern traditional/cottage would be a good description. The rest of our new fixer upper house is a blank slate right now, so I think I need to be careful to keep the same feel in our fairly open first floor. Thank you again for your fantastic ideas! :) nosoccermom - That is a Very good point! My mockups were probably not very fair to H and I. I've added some "beadboard" to the mockups below. (Well, to the best of my ability!) Fun2BHere - So glad you like it! I'll definitely take a trip to the fabric store before committing to anything. And thanks for the ikat link! lavender_lass - You changed your vote! So, green walls/backsplash with tiny touches of blue - got it! :) I have so many different combinations of colors to try! (The key for me is going to be keeping it fun instead of stressing about it!) I'm 99% sure we're going to keep the butcherblock. :) Thanks again for your suggestions! andreadeg - You are too sweet! Thank you! :) I agree with you completely about the beadboard width. I think we definitely need a wide beadboard or v groove plank since our cabinets are so chunky. Do you think the width of the backsplash planks should match the cabinet stile and rail width exactly (3.5") or should be a touch bigger or smaller? That's a great idea to get the lighting installed and let things "brew" some more (I am itching to get the chandelier hung!). I think we'll definitely do that. Ah! Painting the inside of the glass cabinets! I love that! Thank you!!! The windows trim is Definitely getting painted, either Simply White to match the rest of the trim in the house, or Cloud White to match the cabinets. (The trim around the sink window will touch the cabinets, so I'm thinking maybe the kitchen trim should match the cabinets...what do you think?) Thanks again for your wonderful ideas and kind compliments! :) work_in_progress_08 - Thank you for your advice and vote! I too am a lover of soft colors. I'm strongly leaning towards keeping the kitchen palette light (with the exception of the black, of course). I think we will keep the butcherblock. The black counters are temporary (and budget driven), they are butcherblock that was stained black with india ink and sealed with poly. I want to eventually change them out with soapstone or granite. loribee - Thanks so much for your vote! teresa_nc7 - Thank you for your advice! I will be sure to visit the fabric store before making a final decision on the fabric. Where can I find examples of cottage geometric prints? That sounds intriguing! geokid - Thanks for your vote and that rug is very pretty! It might be a bit too saturated for the kitchen, but I'm going to keep it in mind for the den/living room. :) * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * You are all so wonderful! Thank you again for your terrific ideas and advice! (I am so relieved and grateful to have your help to figure this out!) Some decisions made: 1) We are keeping the butcherblock! 2) I don't think I have the guts to go for the blue backsplash (my apologies to the G lovers!), so it will be green, or....perhaps even white (see below) 3) Green will stay as the main color, and I'll try my best to carefully weave in some blue (plus tiny touches of something in the red/pink family for a bit more warmth) 4) I think we need to go for a wider beadboard or v groove backsplash to balance out the chunky cabinets, instead of the traditional skinny beadboard. Backsplash width example: A great point was made that the white backsplash needed beadboard to get the true feel. I tried to add beadboard below ("try" being the key word!). We will be sure to try Both the green and white in real life before deciding. What do you think? Very rough Beadboard Mockups: If we go with "I" below, I think I'd like to have green beadboard for the butcherblock counter, and paint the back of the glass cabinet blue so the kitchen isn't too white: Thanks again, everyone!! :)

Thanks for the opinions everyone. There are times when I just need someone else to make a decision for me, and this time it was DH. He didn't want to be responsible for yet another project on this house (putting all the cabinets together) when we have so many other things we're doing ourselves, and I know I couldn't put the cabinets together myself, so the decision was made for me. We'll be doing the custom Amish cabinets. I spent most of the weekend drafting a letter to them with all my concerns and notes and measurements and pictures and templates. I'm sure they're going to just love getting that package. I just have to sit back now and trust that they do a good job, and tell myself to be happy with whatever it is I get and stop comparing it to the look of IKEA, because there is no comparison between framed and frameless cabinets (at least in my mind). I may get some IKEA cabs down the road for our laundry room, just to show DH how nice they really are (he's never seen them) and to satisfy my IKEA buying urge, but that can wait a while. To answer some questions, it was between only those two decisions because I've priced other brand semi-custom cabinets and the prices always exceeded those of the Amish guys. The only cabinets that were cheaper were IKEA and junk, so there were really only two choices. And no, it wasn't Friese cabinets, although maybe I should check with them too. ;-) I'm sure if the IKEA was closer or the one near us was open already this decision would be harder, but since I've never assembled an IKEA cabinet and DH has never seen one, the solution to go Amish seems best, for now. Thanks again everyone!