I was thinking about iron - and my wife like the "chanel staircase" look, but I'm afraid it's too decorative for my taste, and also as kswl said, it might be out of style soon. I'd like something a little more timeless. Kswl, thanks for all of your comments - the only real marble is the floor of the entryway, everything else is painted on, thank god. Lazygardens, that was hilarious - and some great ideas. Do you happen to know of a nice example of the california beach house feel? It sounds intriguing. And suer0 - my wife says the first thing she wants me to do after closing is tear down the mirrors - and I couldn't agree more. Yikes! I will absolutely keep you all updated as I go - all of your comments so far have been extremely valuable. Our closing is on Feb 16th. Thanks!

Hi Lindsey, thanks for your ideas about the house! We have an addition out the back of the house with a garage and large shed that meet our needs for storage, tools, etc. We have several farming friends who indeed have many unexpected costs and trials throughout the season, and I agree with your advice for that kind of life! Especially living debt free, too many of our friends have not been able to do that. However, our main source of income is not from the land and we don't consider ourselves to be farmers. I say this with much respect to farming families, and for means of clarifying the needs of our house. As for the standing seam roof, yes it was indeed costly but worth it to us. We only covered the house on the right side and middle, not the roof of the section we plan to dismantle. I know most of the commenters have advised against taking that part of the building down (including my FIL who built it) but we really are set on it. It's not of highest priority, it will be some years before we get to it Yes, the peaked portico is my favorite suggestion so far! As well as spacing the windows more symmetrically. I also think a window box below the farthest right window with trailing vines would be lovely. That room is our bedroom and we look out the window often.

https://www.upsidetosmartside.com/blog/fresh-color-palettes-for-a-brown-roof/ Use the Portrait Blue for the walls, and the Stone Door for an accent trim and Enchanted Cottage for the Front Door and porch post. Don't contrast the trim around the garage doors, let the walls, garage doors all be the same color.The house will look much larger.. Do make the guttering the same color as the surface behind it is. If you search "What brand of Paint is Portrait Blue" this whole assorted page of links shows up in Pinterest mentioning Behr and SW... The house will look larger with a lighter color. Grays and Blues are very close in color. WIth your brown roof, a shade of blue is the closest to gray that will match it. There are many shades of gray from confederate gray on up..Maybe this Portrait Blue would be more gray in the day light. The house could use some lighter tones probably to make it look more inviting. I hope you find a paint color you like!! Keep us posted! :)

I wouldnt to an LVP. You have one type of wood on your cabinets, the wood on the side table and another on the oak trim. (and all of them are diff shades/colors) now you want to bring in a 4th wood-look using vinyl?? nope. bad idea. do real wood. I'd do a natural, white oak, and paint out the dated trim around your door/baseboard/crown to a nice white. leave the other wood in the kitchen and peninsula as is. But just painting over that 90's orange oak will have a huge impact. Or, a black slate (or porcelain slate) would look really nice. or a large format tile. do you plan on keeping the brick? if you're doing the flooring in the living area, just bring it up into the kitchen. I'd also consider doing lighter counter stools. everything is so dark right there. Have you considered painting your island a nice white (same as the proposed trim?) reverse of this one this type of flooring would look nice w/your cabs/granite I