Something about your house strikes me as being more important than just a box to live in. Maybe its my intense passion for a historically correct shingle house (that I can't afford), or maybe its the color similarity to Mark Twain's house. Maybe its the rarity of four story homes along with the perfect Queen Anne transitional colonial revival interior. It would break my heart to see the walls of that perfect setting painted white, or, god forbid, with painted woodwork. Here's a thought, since your initial question was about woodwork and wall color. Call in a woodworker who can identify (without a doubt) the wood in your home. What we see as, maybe, insignificant today, was a severely high-end wood of the 19th century (because, for some reason, oak has soared to the top of the wooden trim heap - its not better - just trendy). Once you have your woods correctly ID'd, you may seek out furniture restoration techniques from a woodworker who works in old techniques, like shellac and varnish who can point out how to properly clean or repair the finish. Finish techniques varied baed on the wood type - for instance, mahogany nees its pores filled to gleam while walnut (my personal favorite) takes a finish like no other. Oily or tropical woods like rosewood or teak need very different care than oak or maple. And, please remember, the worst thing you can do - yeah, worse than painting the wood - is to polyurethane it. You cant ever strip that plastic stuff off of wood). For the wall colors, choosing pleasing medium tone neutrals is probably always safe and will look both historical and modern, without being "slavishly" historical (though, if done properly, slavishly historical is ASTOUNDING. Think of colors like saddle tans, soft gold, nearly any shade of "dirty" green-like sage. With natural wood, avoid blues and purples, heavily saturated colors, brights and white (white or very pale colors will make your AMAZING wood look faded, dull and lifeless). If you have the Sherwin Williams color sample book, use the first section of colors after the grays. Those colors almost always look perfect with wood. I have done my whole house in them, so far (got more to do, yet). Check my blog for SW color in use: http://thejoshuashivelyhouse.blogspot.com/ Here is a link that might be useful: Joshua Shively House

Ah, yes. Pictures would help. If we could see exactly what you mean by "medium" stained crown molding, the recommendations you seek will be more meaningful. What kid of wood is it? Oak? Pine? How 'medium' is the medium stain tone?

I know this sounds odd, but I would remove the final pointy ends from the posts on the bed, as on your first inspiration photo. To me it looks very odd. I would definitely do simple curtain panels reaching to the floor and also a rug to give some softness to this room with so much wood. Perhaps very light blue walls with a green and cream bedspread and cream curtains.

My post wasn't about rules; it's just my two cents about how to get a vibe similar to the room you posted, if you like that vibe. So, since you are wedded to the fabric, I think the rug should be solid-ish or else veer modern to echo the feel of the room in the photo (but your windows, ceilings and beams really carry the day IMHO). These are D&A, some of which are on sale. They may still not be want you want for pets, but I think most of them would have close duplicates out there.