may flowers - I'm still not 100% sure which corner you mean. To the right of the sofa, to the left of the sofa or to the right of the window or something else??? powermuffin - The walls are SW Blonde, which I chose because the room faces north and I wanted to 'warm it up'. The previous color was a much lighter beige, off-white or cream. There are times I would like to go back to something in that family, not so 'gold'. I also picked the color to go with the gold in the plaid. I'd like to repaint, but it's a big job (LR, DR and hallway) and I'm not sure DH will be on board. deb - I'll be there again next week, but I'm sure you need to get to Costco sooner than then. I love the idea of a shared ottoman! The plaid chairs work there, but I still would like new chairs. I have thought about recovering them, but I'd like something a little larger scale. I think I'll take my chances on a bergere chair at the shop that is on it's last month. If it's still there, it will be marked down even further. If you have the chance to stop by next week and it's still there, I'll show it to you and see what you think. Today at the consignment shop, I looked at a cute triangle shaped table that might work between the newly arranged plaid chairs. I'm going to mock up the shape with paper tonight and see if I think it will work. I don't know why I didn't take a picture of it while I was there. :(

I wanted to post some after photos and thank everyone who took the time to comment. It turns out that the wall was "indented" when we removed the chair rail so my DH has spent several weekends to build it back up with joint compound and texture it to blend in with the walls. It was a painfully tedious process (first trying to do it by hand, then with a sponge, then with spray-on compound that dribbled everywhere, and finally with a trowel lightly loading dabs of compound on). If you look closely you can still tell, but it's not as glaring as it was several iterations ago. Suffice to say, we are thrilled to be done with sanding, priming, texturing, and painting! Now, I need to figure out what wall decor to put up as the removal of the chair rail makes it a much easier space to deal with! Any and all advice would be appreciated. I was thinking of doing a photo gallery near the front entry, but that is a HUGE wall and I don't know that I can put photos high enough where you can still see them but not so low that the wall looks off-balance. Forgive the quality of the photos, taken without a flash on my iPhone.

bronwynsmom: I really appreciate your candor and understanding of what I'm going through. It isn't that easy an answer and you spelled out why! My FEELINGS are telling me to get a (slightly bluish)grayish carpet color (but slightly brownish too if that makes sense??) (which is a tad on the "cool" side) as it looks like it comes close to matching the grout/mortar in the fieldstone fireplace. It's possible though that the most COMPATIBLE carpet in terms of being on the same range of colors may be a normal "warm" tannish color due to my orange oak woodwork and camel colored chairs but that feels so same-ole same-ole. That's why I'm having trouble deciding which look will be better or more comfortable feeling. (I am a worry-wort by nature so if I can get a calming color scheme going I feel I might calm down too? Could this happen with color?) "Relax" might be the most applicable suggestion you make, because I'm not relaxed about it is why I think everyone in my family runs the other way when they know I'm trying to decide on a color for something... Anyways, I know you're absolutely right on with everything you wrote so I will do just what you suggest, give it my best and cross my fingers. Thanks so much!

I think you are probably wise to go with your lesser choice and have the sink in the island. You loved the island plan and it had the sink there. Anyway, you are so much closer to the look you'd hoped for than when you first posted the plan with the bilevel peninsula. I tried to draw things out. I'm not sure how you want to move the fridge and how large you envision the pantry. So here's just an attempt in which I tried something a little different, because if you want a hutch looking piece I'm afraid it has to be wider than you have? I might have some of the measurements off from what you plan for that wall. Also, if you want the sink centered in the island you will have to have 2 ft on each side, which squeezes your dining area. Maybe you didn't plan it centered, though. I have it centered in this plan and you can see how it affects the length of the kitchen to see what you think.