I agree with Pam about the function things, but, at least where I live, having the kitchen fit the style of the house, aesthetically, will have the greatest visual appeal. Make the whole house cute! Use the original kitchen as a style cue. Sochi phrased the plea not to lose the MCM as personal--I'll extend it to the rentability. Renters want function function function since there's nothing they can do about anything. Having the whole house read as a single style makes it so much easier to furnish and live in, and makes the house make sense to the renters when they're walking through while it's empty. I've lived in a '30's beauty of a rental with an unadorned, clean '70's kitchen, which wasn't bad. It was all function, white slab cabinets, white tile, and newish appliances. The kitchen had no charm but had lots more function than the '30's kitchen would. Lots of cabinets. Separate cooktop and ovens. Garbage disposer and dishwasher. So that was fine, if unexciting. The rest of the place was really cute, and had the original hardwood floors and walk-in closets, plus original tile and huge tub in the bathroom. Then there was the early '60's place with the panelled wall in the living room, panelled den with built-ins, and pink kitchen. Original, very clean, appliances. It was cute! The whole house was cute. The original kitchen, with it's display cabinet peninsula was cute. The panelling was a bit of a gulp, but it was clean and unmarked, and went so well with the style of the house. My furniture looked just fine. And the kitchen was very functional, other than too wide an aisle. Lots of cabinets, and more in the laundry room. Okay, as a former renter? LOTS OF CABINETS!! That's the ticket to pleasing a renter. And cute. Renters want the place to look like something. Keep that MCM thing going. Anyway, slab cabinets are easier to clean between renters. :) I also have experience from the landlord perspective (including surveying the competition), which also says that closets and cabinets are worth extra $$$, but generally, you'll get your rent based on location, pleasantness of surroundings, space, upkeep and storage. Utterly bland will rent at full price. Too much character (e.g., mauve walls or anything "weird") won't rent well, but a little style with neutral colors goes a long way.

Very interesting feedback. I didn't mention in my first post but the wall tile in the bathroom will be porcelain but will have the "look" of marble. It is a fairly gentle pattern but because of the "marble", I think that will help with toning down the "modern" a bit. I also like Joanne's suggestion about using wood. I think I can do something with my choice of flooring that can make the floor be a moderating factor as she suggests. trailrunner: - I think your comments have convinced me to go with asian rugs. I've been struggling with this and thinking about going with more contemporary rugs but seems like the rugs are a good way to add the traditional element leaving some room to do contemporary/eclectic with the furnishings. I may even look for an "asian" bathmat for the bathroom. I bet they exist somewhere. I also think besides going with wood or wood look on the floor in bathroom, there will be a rather tall floating cabinet against one wall -- I had been looking at Ikea for this but this would be a good opportunity to bring in something less modern. So the main modern elements will be the floating fixtures and floating vanity (sink will be drop in) with a less modern floor and cabinet. I may pay particular attention to the sconces on each side of the medicine cabinet. I can see how accessories can make a huge difference. Thanks everyone! I have hope it won't be a freakish experience for a visitor to walk from the main part of house into the hall bath.

Erica, this is not just decorating advice, but life advice. If you care a lot about decorating, and you are not going to be happy living with that table for the rest of your married life, then find a nice way to say "NO" now. Or negotiate an end-date. Getting sentimental over something like that table, which is not an antique, not a family heirloom, is something that is in your marriage's best interest to nip in the bud now. I'm speaking from experience. You know what's worse than taking in a table that your partner is sentimental about? Telling him years later that you want to get rid of it. Because now he's going to be even more attached. That said, if you want to accommodate someone's sentimental feelings about giant pieces of furniture, congratulations! You are definitely a better human being than I am! If it's just a place-holder until such time as a table with a style you both like can be acquired, then it is going to be very nice to get that table.

Hi Jason- Congratulations on your new home! The kitchen would be improved by changing the paint color to a less yellow color. (Or is it the lighting?) Please get cool spectrum light bulbs right away. The kitchen would look more modern if you refaced the cupboards. You mentioned shaker which is an option. More modern still is slab front which I like too. If you replace the door fronts in the kitchen, you might want to replace them in the living room as well. You might also think about changing the hardware. Cup handles are definitely not contemporary. As far as your island, blue is a very nice color. Painting over kitchen cabinetry is not easy at all, and when not done properly will peel and bubble. You do need some sort of leg there to support the edge of the island. You can talk to an experienced finish carpenter about substituting another type of leg. If you are going to get a white countertop, what is it about quartz that you like? You may get the same thing in Corian with more advantages. Why not invite a professional, Joseph Corlett, LLC into this thread and he will tell you why Corian is superior to quartz. I like the photos of the kitchen you like, but imagine those kitchens with your floors, how much richer they would look! Your floors are gorgeous, and with white cabinets and countertops and a blue island, dark floors might be just the right look. Tiling is not as easy as you think. However, you don't need as much as you have now, either. You only need a backsplash behind the stove, and if you want a modern or high tech look, you could do stainless steel up to the hood and no tile at all. After all, your hood will probably be stainless, right? What looks great is a mix of metals, and you could do a stainless hood with brass "straps", and brass light fixtures over the island as you have in your photos. I favor the ones with covered bulbs, and with non-transparent glass, because glare gives me a headache, but that's just me. I don't know that I would remove the fireplace altogether. You could just move the TV to the wall perpendicular to it. The other reason to move the TV is that the TV's width is too much for the fireplace. Generally something should be 2/3 to 3/4 the width of what it is above. So a painting or TV should be 2/3 to 3/4 the width of the piece of furniture below it. If you wanted to change the staircase, you could remove the vertical wooden spindles and install multiple thick metal cables with vertical metal bars periodically. However, if you plan to have children, you will need to cover it with acrylic or unbreakable glass panels so their little hands don't get stuck between the metal cables. You could also just do the thick acrylic or glass panels without the horizontal cables except having metal at the top and bottom. I would save this for very last, it is frightfully expensive. I hope you and your wife enjoy your new home in good health!