music-yay that you are in and that they turned a cheek for you while you were homeless. Stressful! It looks fantastic. So do you play the piano? j-it started after babies. It was my only 'me' time - my sanity. And it had to occur at 5 a.m. so I could be back home before dh went to work. That was about all I had. Now I use it to also exercise the dog (multi-task) and center myself for the day. Reflect on what has transpired, what lies ahead. And I have seen some gorgeous sky's that most people sleep through. ;) I hear the birds wake and see the weather before I have to drive in it. I walk/jog outside year round. That and my shower are priceless. Don't touch mama's shower or her exercise time or else...lol. jet-congrats! What a cutie! You can always hope she likes football? ;) robyn-can you believe it? Wow and at first you weren't going to finish the basement immediately right? Awesome! Barn windows are framed in and the sheeting has started. :)

Good point Alexia. Makes a lot of sense.- I was going to suggest to the OP it might be worth hiring a professional designer (old house specialist), someone who has the esthetic sense + the ability to translate that into solid advice about paint colors, etc. I certainly cannot do that I know what I like, but have to experiment w/ trial and error to get there. And to give advice from a photograph  impossible! Re: old house preservation, I like to use the vintage car analogy  the one with the most value has original features intact and in pristine condition. Sure, you could modernize it and put in a sun roof and air conditioning and modern computerized engine parts and such  but why would you? Better just to get a car that suites your needs. Its not "living in a museum," itÂs understanding that the original design made, and still makes, sense and not trying to impose some modernistic mindset on it for no reason other than to make it more "modern". As others have said - its the dingy paint colors and décor that is all wrong in the photos  not the wood! Greens work well w/ orangey or red-brown wood but on the other hand if you really donÂt like orangey wood, you donÂt have to go that route at all! There are clear shellacs, and (Im not a total purist here) some acrylics that are clear and donÂt yellow and take on that sickly heavy dark dingy yellow tinge that polyurethane gets as it ages (actually, I wonder if thatÂs what might be on that wood & not shellac  it kinda has that look.) A clear finish over oak would read as a much more neutral shade of brown (and browns of course are quite hip these days). Or do a slightly grayed out stain. For something like oak an oil finish might be a good choice as the grain and texture of the wood. Definitely live in the house before doing anything irreversible like removing fireplaces, windows, or any other feature, or painting over anything. Especially if your coming with a more modern esthetic/mindset  that may very well change. You may find like I did that you actually PREFER a small kitchen dedicated completing to cooking. And the more closed off rooms for dedicated purposes VS. the big cavernous noisy hard to decorate spaces. Renovators oath: first do no harm! Alternatively  there are SOOO many houses that have already been remuddled, why not get one of those and have at it? Sure weÂre an opinionated bunch, and of course itÂs your house  all IÂm saying really is know and understand all the ramifications before proceding. IÂve been on various old house forums for 10+ years and every now and then encounter someone whoÂs absolutely heartsick as it begins to dawn on them that they really didnÂt have to (for instance) spend $15,000+ to replace all their original windows or that theyÂve spent mucho money on a kitchen gut & remodel which in the end really wasnÂt what they wanted afterall.

An update. The whole thing came down. After removing everything from the room and laying down drop cloths to protect the floor, we removed the screws we had put up and about 1/4 of the ceiling pretty much fell. Testing the whole ceiling showed very little if any fully intact keys, it pushed back into place everywhere, meaning it was failing everywhere. I think we could have saved it using the adhesive, jack and plywood method I have read about online, but we don't have those tools, and were worried drilling any holes in would cause it to come down on us. I am going to try it on some walls once we get to them (about 1 out of 4 walls has detached at some point, and I have no intention of ripping those out, but rather saving them). The wallpaper was really acting like a structural element on the ceiling, in some cases just pulling on the wallpaper brought the whole thing down. Which actually scares the crap out of me, since this is our bedroom, and the kids are always in there jumping on the bed (just under DISASTER!). From the other ceilings in the house I have pushed on this was the only one with this problem. Another has a crack down it, but feels solid. I know the house had water damage at some or many points, likely the roof, we also get lots of snow and I know houses here have to watch out for ice dams, but this spot was not in a corner near any roof joins so I don't know how it got so damaged, but it seems like the damage had been there for a while and the wallpaper was holding it up, and just all that weight slowly took it's toll on it. That and probably the kids jumping from the bed to the floor in there all the time. I have been shocked at how many things have fallen apart so quickly with us moving in, the house has never really been un-lived in, though the PO was not living here full time for the past 2 years, but the house has not had kids in it full time since it was built and maybe the kids (and us) are just harder on it that older couples? We also discovered a bathroom leak that has been slowly dissolving the drywall ceiling in the downstairs bathroom... found that the same day we took down the ceiling in our bedroom. We have been in the house less than 6 months it's a bit worrisome. The house looks so nice, the PO had really focused on the aesthetics more than the real mechanical details I think. sigh. Thanks for the advice, esp. the warning about hard hats!! :)

I like your new ideas. I will also tell you from our experience that even small drawers can be very helpful -- if they are frameless so you don't lose a lot of space. My breakfast room has a hutch where we put 15"W x 15"D shallow drawers between the upper cabinets and the counter level and similar size 3 drawer base cabinets. People questioned how we would use the drawers, but we've had no problem using them and they hold more than I thought they might. I encourage you to explore the idea for your pantry.