arcy, I can reposition the island. Funny you mentioned that because my mom hopped on the wagon to help me figure out what to do with the kitchen and she, too, suggested I reposition it. She also pointed out that the otherside of the island is much more attractive than the side that's exposed to the dining room. I will turn it next time I'm at the house and see what it's like. Thanks! Also, thanks for the wallpaper suggestion. I'll check out the collection at SW for ideas just in case. :) annkathryn, your cabinets are GORGEOUS! Thank you for the inspiration photos. They are gentle reminders of ways I can live with what I've got for now until I'm able to do what you did with transforming them. Great job! As promised, here are better photos of the kitchen: Here you can see the two green samples as well as a TINY bit of the Toasted Cashew I tried to sample peeking through Backsplash details (there is some splattering from cooking, that's not the tile) Close up of the tile in the kitchen (the grout will be cleaned when we move in so it'll lighten up a bit, the tile that will be installed in the dining room and living room will be similar in color to the lighter tile in the dividing strip shown here) Looking into the kitchen from the DR Someone requested a photo of the view from the back of the kitchen looking out to the DR -- pardon my lovely SIL, she was rinsing paint from her hands and the mini rollers, and my hand wasn't very steady here My mom suggested I take advantage of the side of the island shown in the above photo and turn it outward towards the DR. She also mentioned the idea of painting the island as some suggested here. I really like that idea! Hope this helps you all more than the previous photos did.

I hope I am not too late - you have probably painted by now or maybe you are still living with paint swatches on the walls. But we have the same problem but ours is because the whole house has orangey wood ceilings. Every paint colour I pick out reacts very strangely and it has taken an awfully long time to come up with ones that work. We also have strong S. Cal sunshine which washes some colours out too. So for the LR/kitchen what has worked is Farrow and Ball Off White - a grey/green off white - almost a pale khaki. You can order a sample off their website for $7 I believe. It looks great - changes with the light but is a great neutral. For one bedroom we have BM Azores which also looks good but it is a fairly small room so looks a bit gloomy - we are going to repaint with C2 Bella Donna which is a light greyed down lavender. I think BM must have one too and I think P&L has a nice one called Gentility. It seems to counteract all that orange. For another bedroom we have Silver Sage but I don't think it works - looks too minty and almost fluorescent; but right now I cannot be bothered to repaint it. Hope this helps!

Hi. On the second level of stairs, you have those three wall hangings. If you ran a blue tape paint line directly through the center square of all three wall ornaments you'd should have a profile approximate with the banister (thats what I thought at first. The wall color seems a good match right now for the banister hardware but if you need something easier on the eyes to transit the stairs, you could change the tone to the white of the lower wall. That large banana tree offers a chance to change white hue to something more white-green tint, or a very subtle aquamarine. Its a very blocky suggestion. I did this mod on ms paint so , just heads up. The black line indicates the high contrast change of paint tone. I made a gap for the plant but it should all be filled in behind it. I think the blue looks better with the plant and the wall than the green and then could be continued to the wall below it.

Hi Everyone! Well my kitchen is done! And we went with BM White Dove! I love it! I pulled away from the darker creams and I’m glad I did. White Dove is still warm but I think it has a fresh, modern feel. In certain northern light it can read blue-gray but I actually love that - even though that’s what I feared. My art pops on it and everything feels more crisp. Surprisingly, I don’t miss the yellow-gold at all. I do have to tell you about a crazy moment: I first chose SW Creamy. The painter put one coat on and I freaked out. It read light country yellow! I HATED it! Luckily, my painter was very gracious about running to the store and buying new paint. He had recommended White Dove all along and he was right. Now I’m working on swapping out the lights for something more contemporary. Amazing how a coat of paint can change the whole feel! Thanks for all your advice!