I think it is a matter of personal preference. I do like them to match ... one of the things I liked about doing a whole house reno and addition at once was the continuity of palette and finishes. So it was an important detail for me, in fact I put in all antique white ceramic hardware. That said, we have a pre-existing pseudo-indoor-outdoor space with something like 10 sets of french doors and a few solid doors. They had lovely brass hinges and levers, and I didnt think the antique hardware would look right (ye olde poolhouse?) so I kept them as is.

I remember the craze, in the 1980s, to strip every old piece of furniture to "expose the beautiful wood grain." And you'd see pieces in the antiques shows/shops with these crazy grains, mismatched woods, etc. My mom always said, "the guy who made this would be beside himself to see his ingenious usage of scrap wood exposed like this. If he thought you were going to stain it, he'd have at least made sure to use the same species of wood, and he'd have hidden the crazy grain on the shelf or in the back." Oh yes! & I, personally, think the appearance of old wood rarely benefits from application of poly. When I rebuilt a pantry window (1913 house) I found the casing was painted quarter-sawn oak. I'm sure it was always painted - and that much of the house was trimmed with scrap wood. That window remains uncased while I do other things. I haven't uncovered the other casing to confirm my scrap-wood theory. If it's not all nice 1/4-sawn I'll find somewhere else to use that and put something new (paintable) on the window. My first experience stripping paint was in the 1950's, as a child. My mother had an impulse to strip all the oak woodwork in her 1911 house and, as always, enlisted the passel of kids to help. We used stryp-eze - the harshest stuff almost - and no masks or gloves. We did a staircase, 8-10 double hung windows, some doorways. It's not something I would recommend, obviously, the use of the kids (or stryp-eze) but it's an indication that stripping paint is not rocket science. In her next house mom stripped '30's era "blonding" from a whole lot more oak woodwork, without help from any kids but this time she wore gloves and used a LYE solution & a WIRE BRUSH. (Blonding involves grain filler, I believe.) It was, for some reason, her habit to stain wood without any further finish and that made for an easier job - at least one that required less finesse and skill. So, besides self-indulgently remembering a couple of stories, my point is that it's tedious and annoying to strip paint but it doesn't require that much skill and it can easily be diy.

I think the pix of your kitchen and other rooms look lovely. I'd hesitate to take something that is working and mess with it. I just went through painting all new window trim and baseboard moldings and then stripping and painting all the existing stained trim and baseboards. It sure gets old fast. You can go faster with probably 1 coat and then touch ups, but it is still a lot of precise painting. I agree about maybe painting a piece of furniture or adding some gray accents in other ways. Maybe a gray accent wall would work for you. If you confine your gray trim to the master & mstrbath, that might be enough without biting off more than you realize. I go into projects thinking I will get things done faster and easier and am always surprised that it takes me as long as it does (a bit of a perfectionist about painting). I love your yellow with the light trim. I'd keep it simple. In our house, there is always so much that needs doing before I ever get to anything that may be whim-like.

Hi Chocolatebunny, I like the backsplash. I think it looks simple and lovely. I have the same simple white sq tile backsplash. And my granite counters were installed right up to them. I kept the backsplash because I could not find something I liked better. I thought about white subway but then my DH said. "Won't that be too similar to what you already have?" And so I kept the sq white. And 1 year later I am so glad I did. I like it. Granite or Quartz or Corian or even laminate can go right next to the old backsplash. And with new counters you won't even notice the backsplash. It will be simple skirt with the beautiful blouse. The simple side dish to the rich meal. I know there might be issues of height and having to cut. But this is what we did. We put plywood on top of the cabinets. It was a support system for the upgraded counters and it brought the level of the granite up to the space we wanted on the BS. I had ugly thick white tile with white grout before so there was a thick backing but still not high enough to meet the BS. There are many things you can do. I wanted to raise my counters as I am fairly tall and like it up 1/2 inch higher. Have you visited Dupont's site? Not to buy Corian or Quartz or even granite but to see the different colors available and how they match up to similar cab colors. I loved this little tool to play with while I searched for what I wanted in my own kitchen. I think an exotic granite might be different than your neighbors. Something with movement and yes leather them or honed the surface and get some fun. And lastly what about white Marble. Marble would look yummy with your cabinets. And white would match those tiles and go with any color. ~boxer A granite with great movement Copper Canyon Golden River Honed Granite with beautiful movement Eco Counters with great colors and this is NOT granite. Quartz white and pretty Copper might be a fun different counter... Marble