Okay...all the junk is out! Plan: clean up/mop dust, mortar chips, etc. and spend the evening with my paint samples...narrow down to three or four...paint sample boards, and pick a color. I would love to have time to see the sample boards in different light etc.; but my get-er-done DH scheduled plumbers on Monday and convinced the tile setters to partially grout the shower and come back to finish on Monday too....Grrrr! So...I plan to only paint behind the toilet and area and by bullnose edging. If I pick wrong.....I will not have to do redo the whole room. If I pick the wrong color, I am not worried about repainting near the bullnose; it is the toilet area that worries me. Anyone have a tip for painting behind a toilet that is 1/2 inch from the wall just in case. This is our attempt to correct a horrible inefficient layout...not thrilled about looking at the side of a toilet; but that compromise meant a towel closet in the bathroom (finally), a 60x60 angle shower, and room for a 77" double vanity while eliminating the 3 right angles in the second entrance from the master bath.

Oh, Marcolo, that picture makes me laugh because I had been teasing DH that our daughter's play kitchen would be a perfect color scheme for a 1940's house. He just gave me that look. I know exactly what you mean by putting in the wrong decade and I agree with you for the most part, but then our neighborhood houses' original finishes were I think closer to the '30's than the '40's (maybe the builder was using up stuff left over from before the war) -- though I don't really know. All the kitchens I've seen on the street have been redone, or at least repainted, at some point in between and the new ones all look very much like 2000-2010 kitchens. Granite as far as the eye can see. Christine and mama_goose, thank you for the input! I've looked at Barker Door and I will check out DoorStop too. I will have to go sniff some Cabinet Coat and see if it would work for the resp-sensitive family members. Unfortunately (or not), we don't have a garage or other separate enclosed space for painting. Mama_goose, I remember your kitchen and it is just charming. I love how you have made it all your own. I believe our house's original cabinets were much like yours except with slab doors, from what DH tells me (he was the one who replaced them with frameless melamine in the late 80's).

So, just a quick update. Still waiting on the rug & pillows to arrive. In the meantime a World Market *just* opened up near us and they had cinnamon pillows! I also found a funky wooden "tray" that I liked. Do the old pilllows go? Or do I need to find something else to tie it in? Also, thinking of hitting West Elm tomorrow. Browsing their website I found this cluster of vases I like - might put these on the console. Maybe the mantle? I need something warm on the TV console too.. I also found these blue ones, don't think I like them as much. They also had some cherry wood ones, but I think if I redo the large framed artwork I won't need them up there. Maybe use these for the TV console? Or keep looking? Also saw this chair at World Market that I like, but I'm going to wait until the carpet comes in. It's getting there!

Minwax is a DIY level product. The stains they produce can be used with other oil based finishes...which means you are going to be "locked into" oil based finishes. A properly finished water based polyurethane floor should last longer than 2 years. I'm going to guess the product used was "off the shelf" with too few coats. Which would be a massive problem. Sigh. Sadly this is why SOOOO many people talk about how "bad" water based finishes are. It isn't the finish. It is the "PROFESSIONAL" (so-called) who puts down the low-end stuff (and offers a GREAT price) that create this misconception of "water based" finishes. Minwax stains are used every day. They are ubiquitous to the flooring industry. They've been around SOOOOO long that every wood flooring professional has either trained with them or continues to use them today. The problem with Minwax is it can have issues with water based products that are far more up-to-date (chemically) than when oil based finishes were the ONLY OPTION. Please be aware that any oil based finish (even oil modified water based products) will turn your wood orange (or a heavy yellow). If you want a softer gray tone, you will find an oil based finish WILL turn it orange. This is VERY upsetting to anyone who is looking for the strong gray (like the planks you are holding in the pics) you want. Personally, I think your kitchen is already "country" simply because of the style of the doors. A soft white paint will offer what you want without the distressing. My personal favourite would be antique blue...but you have to change the counters for that. The natural wood colours are timeless. If you look at any country home (anyone on a farm in an old farm house) you will find natural wood floors - because they can't be too fussy about 'fashion'. Flooring has to be functional. And natural is the most functional of all. And just for fun, I KNOW the cherry table/chairs will clash BADLY with any gray tone you put down. Cherry wood + gray wood = big clash that will make you cry. Right now the natural wood is doing VERY well with the cherry. The "problem" child would be the black stools. Ignore them. Focus on the cherry+natural oak. They are the two valuable items in the room. And they are working VERY nicely right now. I woudn't mess with that combo.