Ah I posted before I saw the last two replies! boxerpups, DH would never let me hear the end of it if I painted the built ins teal! It took 3 years of nagging, pleading, cajolling and completely unsubtle hints to get him to let me paint. Then the first batch of colors I picked he deemed *too pastel*. I was in Home Depot so often getting different samples the paint people ask after my kids now. It might work in my bedroom which is Behr Ultra's Natural Gray. I haven't done anything in there but paint the walls, and that rug and those pillows are gorgeous...

I love the colors and the uncluttered look - it's clean and relaxing and warm. But - the couch and chairs look too far apart for comfortable conversation. Maybe you can pull them closer? Really play with the furniture arrangement - maybe the couch in front of the window, the chairs facing it. Is the room big enough to have two separate areas? Is the window a patio door? A couple of lighter Scandinavian-style chairs, with frame exposed, dark wood or even metal, fabric or leather in red or cream or beige would look fantastic in your room - lighter chairs are easier to move about for conversation. Shelves, or shorter shelves with art above them, on one of the walls, if you pull the chairs and couch closer? You'll probably need more than the one painting. A coffee table? Large ottoman? Not every room needs one but I think it would make your room cozier esp. if you don't get any more chairs. A larger rug - maybe an Oriental in beige and red. I like the curtains but I think they will have more rhythm when you get other vertical elements in the room and art on the walls.

Thank you all. Either painting the ceiling or the cabinets would be the easiest way to avoid too much brown wood everywhere. (I actually rather like modern high gloss lacquered cabinets.) White paint with a slight blue tint on the ceiling with walnut stained beams sounds quite pretty. However, my DH hates painted wood. Given the choice, he would much rather go with tile floors than paint the ceilings or the cabinets. The wood ceiling doesn't look too bad as is in the photo I posted. I like the depth of the color it is now - not too dark and overpowering - but the tone of the color is the problem. At certain times of day, as the light changes, the ceiling takes on an unattractive pinking or yellowish cast. One of our big problems in the house is lack of lighting, so we are adding as much as we can during the remodel, including cove lighting on top of the cabinets (we can�t do any recessed lighting because there is no space between the wood ceiling and the roof), so the wood ceiling will become more of a feature with the lights aimed at it. Our contractor is supposed to do samples to see if we can dye the ceiling to a more neutral brown shade, without going much darker. We could try to do a greyish tone, like driftwood or aged teak, but that will probably be harder to achieve successfully over a large area than a brown tone. There are little wing walls that separate the kitchen from the dining/living area, so we could do separate flooring in each space. I do not mind using tile in the kitchen, it is the living room that concerns me. I agree that the trick to using multiple woods in one space is to vary the tones and textures, but they still must be complementary. We could leave the ceiling lighter, like it is, and use darker wood floors in the living room, but the furniture in that room is a mix of pecan stained cherry and teak, with medium-dark brown leather couches. I will buy a new contemporary styled rug in lighter tones (creams and blues most likely) no matter what we choose for flooring. In the kitchen, we are using white quartzite counters, stainless appliances and some glass doors in cabinets, so that will break up the brown wood. I still think wood floors in the kitchen at least will be too much with the cabinets and ceiling. I am really torn between lighter or darker walnut cabinets because I love both looks. Black walnut from Smallbone (not sure if this is stained or natural): Sanjuangirl, we are south of you, in San Diego.

YES - too much beige. While I am not a grey cheerleader, I am really feeing a beige coma coming on. I really like your floor tile and would draw from that for the palette or your lino colors, which also work with the tile (good job!). I would reconsider the wall paint, something not beige. I don't have your colors in front of me, so I would need to see them in the space. Having said that, yes, you did a great job of pulling this together. Mainly, I would steer away from so much beige. Good luck!!