how about thinking outside the box? two problems are too little light and what you do have is your lights have a blue cast to them. so when you put yellow on the walls it probably winds up having a greenish cast to it. also contrary to belief, painting a dark room with very light color will only make it feel gray. so what to do? be bold. How about pairing a more peachy yellow like bm glowing apricot 165. then try a color like old glory 811 in a semigloss or high gloss for the cabinets. use atrium white for trim. if you can replace countertops I'd find a white that matches the trim cabinet. nothing with gray in it. how about a glass tile backsplash that picks up the peachy yellow and whites?

CP-- Our engineered hardwood was installed in 2007, so products may have improved. It was also installed floating, so that may have contributed to problems. After 7 years with it, there was raised wood grain around the dog's water dish, the fridge water dispenser and the dishwasher/sink even though I learned to just keep a cloth handy to quickly wipe up drips. Even though we're shoe-free we still ended up with scratches because of our dog, kids playing and probably my husband and I dropping stuff. I also think it would be nice to just steam mop tile floors since you can't steam mop engineered. That house went into contract in a few hours and closed in three weeks, so the floor probably wasn't an obvious problem to the woman who bought it. Thank goodness:-) I might be picky. If joint fatigue and pain is a possibility at all, I would avoid tile. That's a good tip.

Hi Reesepbc -- My first reaction is that you should steal a variation of your towel color for the walls! That's a nice warm, bright, medium-depth blue that will suit the room and look great with your other elements. Because of the lighting situation, you may need to paint a shade or two lighter than the towel to get something that looks more or less LIKE the towel. But of course you could also go a little lighter overall. ps Don't worry too much about the photos -- beautiful, clean tropical oceans gave many shades of blue and green in it and it all works together.

Open concept is one big room. Design it like one big room. The colors you pick should not be isolated to “kitchen” or “dining room”. They are used overall, everywhere. Low contrast, or the same color cabinets as walls will make it seem more spacious if you have an adequate lighting plan. Consider a single color, in different sheens, for the walls, trim, cabinets, and even ceiling. That might read boring to some, but it will read bigger and more soothing to everyone. It’s a neutral palette, ready for the touches of emphasis of natural materials like wood, stone, leather, fabric, and art. Create the whole design plan first. Never do demo without a design plan.