Jhmarie, so funny/ironic you posted the pic with the dark gray walls, because I just remembered a friend who purchased a home with oak cabinets and painted her walls Benjamin moore Storm AF-700 and it actually looked amazing! She had light gray tile flooring and black appliances as well. And she brightened it up with lots of white and bright accent pieces. So the white beadboard wallpaper is a genius (and inexpensive) recommendation. I actually love it so much I'm going to save that idea for my house. Hillaryndillon, it's completely understandable to feel that way! You want to LOVE your house and when you see all these awesome ideas on HGTV it's easy to get discouraged. You have a very nice kitchen. My advice is to move in, clean, unpack. Live in it a couple months before making any decisions. See what works/doesn't work. For example gray walls might seem nice but depending on the direction the room faces and the lighting, a gray could be too dark/drab for the space. You won't know until you're there for a little while. It took about 6 months of living in our home to really decide which rooms we want to repaint. Seeing the rooms at different times of day/different lighting can make a huge difference. Also you may find some oil rubbed bronze light fixtures on sale or clearance.. and that could jumpstart an entirely new design direction (you may want to do ORB cabinet hardware if lighting is ORB)... so see what I mean? Don't rush it. :) I made that mistake before and it stinks when you just want to CHANGE a space so badly that you get excited and do it without really getting to know the space and also researching design ideas. One thing I wish I'd known about sooner is "whole house paint scheme"... google it or search on Pinterest. Really great ideas on how to use color (paint) in each room of your home so it coordinates and looks thoughtfully planned out. I had never heard of it until I used this forum. Lots of ideas on here. Good luck :)

I guess I should have mentioned there's a fireplace on the all brick wall of the living room on the far side of the living room, and the current entrance has a partial (3/4 height) wall/bookcase to separate it from the family room.

I think you should stick with the colors of your seating as you have now. I would rather you not have such an overstuffed recliner? but comfort often must come into play. your sofa from the back looks fine. from looking in your folder, i think you like pale blue and yellow. so perhaps we could softly bring some of those in. lighter tables would also be nice. i can also put together a set of at least 5 in this line.

You could at least remove the wood blinds and replace with fabric roman shades or curtain panels to add some softness. I would consider removing one of the wood shelves in the built in cabinets and putting your t.v. in the built in to keep all your focal points in one area. I also like the idea of painting or papering the back of the book cases. You can have foam board or thin mdf cut to size and paint or paper those to avoid doing anything permanent to the wood. Since there is so much warmth in the walls and flooring, I like the idea of using cooler colors to decorate as in the picture with blues and greens Holly posted above. It's really a beautiful space and the right furniture and decor will show it at its fullest potential.