Thank you! Those are great ideas! Now if only I could find a piece of artwork that I love that would fit! Maybe I'm too picky?? NHB--I love the dogs, as well as the sofa and it's color. forhgtv-I like the shelves with photos very much, esp b/c we have kids and I love to get black and whites of them. I've saved that one and will have to see if I can make it work. Thanks!

Linda, your home is lovely as is. IMO, if you darken the cabinets in a room without much natural light, it may get claustrophobic. I like the airiness you currently have and if you absolutely must redo the cabinets, could you consider lightening them or going off-white to work with your appliances? But leaving them as is works well since they blend with the lighter toned woods throughout. Try new hardware before stain or paint. It's a relatively inexpensive way to provide fun and oomph! Consider changing the dark valance to either a valance or roman shade in the colors you love -- watery aqua & chocolate wide stripe or print -- but only if you slip-cover the sofa and chairs. A flat, non-shirred valance in aqua banded in chocolate might look fresh. You can then slip-cover the sofa in a less imposing tone and reupholster the chairs in a complementary print. If you stay with the current upholstery, then pull your valance colors from the chairs, rug & marble. I'd opt for the simpler style my3dogs used in her office/sewing room. Stick with a solid and contrasting band so they don't compete with the chairs. Your wall color can then flow from the valance colors. Just remember, one change usually leads to many others as each component impacts the whole. I'd reposition some of the furniture to make the most of what you have. Try putting the lamp and table on the other side of sofa so that the area opens up a bit. Or you could place the table between the chairs and exchange with the smaller lamp, but in any event you still need to get the sofa as far away from the tv wall as it will go so it doesn't seem so squished. The area on the tv wall to the left of the fireplace is calling for a large airy palm or another tall plant. And the TIVO storage is too close to the lovely buffet. A mantle might be nice but you definitely need a large beautiful print over the fireplace in colors and theme that makes YOU feel peaceful and happy. The storage box under the window in the breakfast area is disproportionally small. Can you find or make a console (even a shelf ledge that will fit) even if you need to keep the storage under it? On my monitor your neutral paint looks good from the hall. If you change colors, I wouldn't go darker than the 2nd color on any of the strips. My preference would be #2 on the last strip or #2 on the 2nd photo. Let your upholstery decision and marble tones guide. Please buy a $5 SW sample and put a large swatch up for several days so you can live with it in all light conditions before you decide. Most of all, enjoy the process of finding what brings you and your husband joy in this phase.

We had this exact same problem with our Cafe gas double oven range. When I googled the issue, I found a GE forum where several people discussed having this issue, so I don't think it's a fluke. Our contractor discovered that there is some metal on the back of the range that sticks out about an inch. He was able to gain about half an inch by creating a groove or dent in the drywall to accommodate the protruding part, and we concealed the remaining half-inch gap by running the backsplash a couple of inches below the range. I think he may have disabled the anti-tip device too, but I can't remember. It's still not fully flush, but the gap is much less noticeable now and I have made peace with it. I've put a picture of our range below so that you can see how it looks. Good luck!

BrendA- You could have an unlevel floor or an out-of-plumb wall, but I agree that shimming the front edge of the vanity is probably the best choice. If the countertop doesn't overhang the back, I would move the back of the vanity up against the wall. It looks like it could go back another 1/4" at the bottom, and then, by shimming the front edge, the crack would be small and could be handled with a small bead of caulk to make it disappear. Once that's done, a little molding applied all around the base of the vanity will hide the shims. If there is something preventing the vanity base from being moved closer to the wall, then I'd shim the front edge so the the crack is uniform, and caulk it if it's not too big, or put a small piece of 1/2" X 1/2" molding along the side to hide the gap.