Thanks everyone. @aktillery & @grandmaof3, you hit the nail on the head - it's all too cluttered. Most of the money for our kitchen reno basically went to buy an extra 12" of width for that room, now I realize just how big an improvement it is to have more space and less stuff. We don't do shoes in the house mostly, and we've experimented with various schemes over the years to corral them. Stuffing the shoes in bins has worked okay until recently but my kids are crazy tall - the 10yo now wears men's sized shoes - and they're getting harder to jam in the bins. I don't love the look of the Ikea shoe cabinets but I'd be tempted to get one simply for the function, except it just doesn't work with the descending staircase wall. The step chests that @Annie posted are an interesting option to explore, hmm... I've been hunting for some shallow sideboard/console/buffet/hutch for that space between the door and the banquette. Then I'd probably dump the bench/shelves at the entry entirely. But I feel like it might look a little weird to have nothing there at all. @Annie, I don't need desk space - both kids have desks in their rooms that still go unused (early elementary, homework tends to be done at the kitchen table.) But I would like some kind of screen; sometimes it's the best way to lure them out of the living room where most of the TV watching goes on. And when we have friends over we tend to put the kids at the banquette and have adults in the dining room. Rationalization, but we have not managed screen-free parenting unfortunately! @Tibbrix, I've been stalking CL but I'm also sort of gunshy about the whole thing. And I can't decide whether I want something painted (and if so, what color) or stained. And of course I've been hunting around all the usual suspect stores/sites from PB onward. @daisychain, I've seen a few old chests used as sideboards, I need to explore this option more. Thanks for all your help. I'm going to keep hunting and maybe post some possibilities here...

Thank you!1 She was so proud today when she saw it hanging in the doorway this afternoon.. sivyaleah- I hope you find yours.. when we were first married, relatives from Israel sent us a beautiful outdoor jerusalem stone mezuzah. When we sold it I couldn't remove it (the next owners were not jewish) w/o breaking it so I left it there (if they wanted to break it i would feel awful, but not as bad as If i did).. I have been looking for a new to replace it my new home, but can't seem to find any that compare. My mother went to Israel in June and brought one home for me, but it broke on the flight home so I am back to square one.. I don't have the heart to ask our relatives to pick me up a new one.. Anyone know of a good site?

Unless you are flipping a property... get what you want. In my experience, the LVP debate becomes a bit less important in upper price ranges. When paying 3+ million for a home you have the money to get a new floor. So, as long as the existing floor is attractive buyers are not going to care as much. We sold a property on Longboat Key not long ago and I would not have wanted engineered wood flooring (it was beachfront and had a regular helping of wet without flooding). We actually had terrazzo floors but if I still owned and used the property I would cover them with LVP... I know that is a sin, but I like going barefoot in my house and no one likes hopping out of bed onto cold floors.

After looking at Greytint, I would pick Metro Gray. I agree with your husband that Greytint is very pale, and also it looks like it could go blue; Metro looks more neutral. Another thing to keep in mind is that there is not one perfect color for a space, but several options that could work. The wall color is but one aspect of the room, and it's the background. Once you start adding furnishings, window and floor coverings, they will become the dominant features.