We went with the black. I thought our front door was original but on closer inspection its a veneer over particleboard. I really like the 3 windows over 2 or 3 panel windows, maybe in a black finish on exterior. I'd like to strip the paint on the front stairs, maybe. Or yes, paint them something else. The blue must go. Thanks for your thoughts, all. They were very helpful. I think we always kinda liked the idea of black even though we traditionally liked white. We were afraid it'd look bad or be too risky. Obviously some think so, and I guess it could, but we decided to go for it! I think it's the right choice. Hopefully by making things right bit by bit we can eventually get back to something of its former self. Adam

I have been following Susanka's work for more than a decade. She uses very light wood in her house because she practices out of Minnesota, which is far north lattitude. I live in Seattle, WA and we are at 48th parallel. We have about 5 to 6 hours of grey daylight during Dec and Jan. It is terrible. We have to really pay attention to how we use natural light and materials around us, and houses with lighter wood feel better in this climate and location. Think Scandinavian furniture and colors and why they work in that environment. Having said that, Scandinavian sentiment of everything painted white/grey/light brey blue will work really well in that house. I would make sure that the cabinet style and trim style you pick is not too traditional with too many rounded or fluted ornamentation. The house really calls for crisp corners on all the wood work. You really need to pick finishing materials with modern esthetic in this house. If you end up picking white modern feeling kitchen, it will not work with black painted wood work. It will look too much like yo-yo, where you could not make up your mind. If you use light blue greys, then they will not work too well with orange/red/green colors as you already know. However, if you paint the woodwork in creamy yellowish/tan/brownish color, then you can keep the orange, red colors for accent. Black kitchen without too much uppers and light counter top would work quite well with your black woodwork. If you eliminate much of upper cabinets, then it will not feel too dark even with larger over hangs. I would paint the walls very light/bright. One of my architect friend designed her house that has that similar sentiment with Susanka's house with peaked high pitched roof. She used black slab doors and marble counter top with minimal uppers. it does not feel dark at all. Do you like painted white kitchens that have modern esthetic? You need to ask yourself if you are attracted to more traditional feel of white kitchens or if is the color of white in the kitchens you see. If you prefer the traditional look of white kitchens, you will not be very happy in this modern feeling "house". You need to accept that you want more traditional type of finished in your house. This will be difficult to pull off in this house because the rooflines are so non-traditional. You don't want that feeling that the kitchen looks out of place in the house.... Modern houses have a very different feel to the entire house. I live in a home with three walls are mostly windows and with no walls between LR/DR/kitchen. The wood cabinets do not feel "cheap" in these homes if you make sure the cabinets go with the house. If you put in the wrong type of cabinets, then they feel like builder grade cheap wood cabinets that do not belong in the house. Some of the ways to get less cheap looking wood cabinets it to look at custom made veneer cabinets. I would explore (look at lots of images) more modern looking kitchens using either dark or light wood and see how you like them. Even if you paint the kitchen a light color, the kitchen has to feel modern in that house. Are you okay with that? If you still are attracted to more traditional feel of "white" kitchens, then I think you need to really ask yourself if you want this house. Go look at some books that publish Susanka's work. They all have very similar vernacular in what she uses; maple or other light wood (beech is very commonly used Scandinavian wood) cabinets with shaker style or slab doors and simple mouldings/trim. I am asking a very obvious question but you have to really accept the architectural scheme and the decorating scheme of the house that you are committing to. Not everyone wants a modern house. You may be much happier in a traditional type of home. This is not too late to get what you really want! Often, people here see kitchens as a stand alone from the house. Your house is not like that. The entire house is viewed from one perspective as most modern houses are since there are no walls separating the rooms. The entire decorating scheme has to fit together in one quick "look". The more you steer away from that one quick look fitting in, the less pulled together your house will feel. Even if you don't love the light wood kitchen, if it works in the house and you LOVE the house, I would bite the bullet and go with it. I disagree with the comment that the painted walls last less than the kitchens. You will spend easily $5000 to $10,000 to have the living area repainted, if it is as big as you say it is. My living area costs about $3000 to $5000 to have it painted everytime. I don't change colors on a whim. I also pick paint color based on what is already there. Often, there are not many possible choices because I am limited by the wood tone, colors of furniture, flooring etc. Painting is NOT a cheap investment, unless you do it yourself. Even then, you are committing many many weekends to doing nothing but painting. Look at how many walls you have to paint. Each wall takes primer plus two coats of paint, minimum. I doubt that you will paint walls yourself since you have 5 kids.... When you put the entire house together, you will end up loving the entire house or not. If you love the house, even if there are elements that were not your first pick, you end up appreciating why you have to make those choices and accept them and will learn to love how the entire house pulled together. Good luck.

Thank you all for your responses! I think maybe I wasn't clear above. I LOVE my curtains, rug and accents. :) Including the baskets. I use them regularly and I like the look of them. So that would leave as options painting the walls, trim and cabinets. I was really looking for dark drapes and light walls when I found those inspiration pics. I do see that the trim is light too. I guess I did not have much luck finding dark trim and dark drapes. :( I will look some more. I have actually been moving to stainless appliances as they break down. I guess that is an old picture! It doesnt change things too much on its own Chispa! It is a good idea though. If there is very little painted wood in a house, would it look odd to have painted cabinets? Auntjen I was thinking of you when I was posting and as I have been thinking of painting. I love how your house transformed with your new colors. I loved it before too, but now it seems more, I dont know, serene? Your artwork and accessories are more the focus maybe. I think Pal did a post on that awhile back. Maybe it was someone else, but either the paint or the accessories standing out. Both maybe is jarring. madeyna - I am more worried about painting the trim and lower cabinets with the young kids. I know it will show dings and dents way more that way. I wonder if I can paint just the uppers or if that will look half done? olychick! you are so smart. I hadnt even thought about the old picture. It has a much darker rug in it. but you are right, the DR before painting had whitish yucky wallpaper, b ut it gives you and idea. I have to say, I didn't really like it like that at all. but I think it was because the paper is white. I am thinking of more a cream/light beige color which is warmer. I think I have to try a color visualizer or something. that might help. teacats I think you are right - start with the walls. then see how it evolves. lavender lass I like the idea of a warmer color. White I think would be too harsh. I am going to look at that matte color when I get home. I think that might be a good starting point. I would love to see pictures Kimberly, cindyloo and southerngal. :) LOL pattycakes. DH has a cousin that is a painter so luckily we usually get him to paint for us. I dont think I could do it myself at this point! :) I for sure need a new light fixture lascatx. well, actually two in the kitchen they are both terrible. Any other paint suggestions for the walls? Thoughts on painting the upper half of the cabinets?

Thanks Patricia Colwell. I'd actually love some trees and tall shrubs there as well. I'm starting with a couple of rose climbers, a passion flower (I know they're monsters), and another hummingbird flower whose name I don't remember. I'll have a look after a few months and see what wants to go in next. In general I'm going for creepers to create a green wall and block the gaps in the wood fence for privacy. If I had more space and a greater tolerance for maintenance I'd actually have gone for a hedge. Objective is to mask the mishmash fences, create the green wall and a sense of privacy and retreat. My neighbor's garage is exactly on our property line. She can't get to the wall in question or see it unless she's in my yard - it's part of my fence perimeter. Quirk from when these houses were built 90+ years ago. I've already offered to repair the wood siding on it since it's my view. I imagine she'll care only that the work is done well and keeps the wood in good shape. It's peeling paint right now. Neighbors on my block have really nice relationships. We work together, talk, listen, help each other. I'm blessed with immediate neighbors who tell me what they want, listen to what I'd like, and we all have healthy and friendly boundaries. Lovely people and I'm super lucky.