Oh goodie! I'm glad you saw them. I was afraid maybe you'd figured you'd gotten your answers and left. I hope you have a lot of fun hunting down the perfect piece. Michaels Crafts has some stuff at good prices, but I'm not sure if they have anything two doors wide. You might also find some cool stuff at Tuesday Mornings or your favorite accessories store. Of course you can paint or stencil anything and stencling looks super good on faux painted walls like yours. I hope you get a chance to check out the plaster stencils on eBay or you can google for the site. Speaking of thinking out of the box, I dunno if you have a musical family or not but old musical instruments can be really cool hung on a wall. Quilts can be great too, or tapestries, and sconces or wall pockets filled with real flowers can be fun. Even a wee shelf with a living plant on it can be very pretty. I'm just not so sure I like the idea of pictures on that wall at all. Have you looked at the picture threads in our Gallery for ideas? The Living Room thread and the STaircase threads come to mind as maybe having some ideas for you. Of course, you could hire an artist to mural that whole wall, or do it yourself. You might want to google "murals" and snoop around. That's a really cool space and your chance to make that important first impression on your guests. It's a good place to spend a little money if you have any, or to get super creative if you don't and it's THE place to think out of the box. I hope you'll keep us posted!

love2weed - Your gardens in the back are gorgeous! i'm glad you didn't trim the crepe myrtle. While I agree it has outgrown the space, this is the wrong time of year to trim it. I don't know where you live, but late winter, very early spring is the time here. Goggle trimming crepe myrtle so you trim it correctly, and reduce its size and height and maintain its shape and flowers. Don't top it (whack off the top). Pretty house. The shrubs look way better trimmed. Keep them watered if you are in a hot area to help reduce the shock from the severe pruning. You may consider moving the crepe myrtle ( not now). I've had good luck relocating them.

ingrid, thank you for your thoughts and compliment. I never thought of my decorating style as contemporary always traditional or eclectic, so I guess I dont know as much as I thought I did...LOL I have always wanted a red room but never felt I had the right situation in my previous homes to have one. I am one of those that likes the same or very similar paint colors to flow from room to room, as I have always had an open concept home. My feeling is that differentt paint colors in an open concept makes it look very choppy, this is my opinion only. In this home, the entrance is a closed in one with double french doors upper and lower level. I guess you would call it a vestible. There is a lot of light and alot of white trim and mouldings including wainscotting. I understand what you are saying about getting tired of a bold color, but this is not a room where anyone would spend a lot of time in as it is an entrance. I really think it would create a wow factor when you step into the house. I am so happy DH is on board, well most days he is, so I am going to forge ahead and try and pick the best red I can but thanks again for your thoughts :>)

That stone alcove over the stove would bug me from a cleaning perspective. But major bucks to tear out. How likely are you to do that? You can paint the cabinets by yourself, but you need to use nasty oil based paint and a sprayer. My friend had hers done, the people took them down and sprayed them out in her barn (so it could be done with proper equipment and ventilation) and then they were put back up. You could do that yourself but only if you were very handy as far as taking them down and putting them back up. If you don't prep them properly, the paint will just peel off. My landlady paints her kitchens with very little prep. every couple of years, the paint does not stick. I'm lazy. I'd live with it and save up for the redo. Meanwhile I'd paint the shelving units next to the fireplace the same color as the wall and call it good. I wouldn't paint one stone wall and not the other. I painted a cheapo fireplace wall once for that same friend who did her cabinets. It's a lot of work but in her case it was a fake stone backwall behind a wood stove. Stone is stone-colored. If you want white, cover the stone with white tiles. Painted stone looks weird. But that's just my opinion, YMMV so if you love the look of painted stone, go for it. But I wouldn't do it in the vain hopes it's going to look like something else, other than painted stone.