I know you will hate me for this, but please understand my view point. I am an old house LOVER! I also spent twenty years as a banker trying to talk people into understanding that their future home purchase had to be about love....and practicality. When you are in love with a house you think that the fact that it slapped around the last owners was likely because they were bad owners...they probably deserved it because they didn't do the maintenance you would do to keep it in check. You justify the little issues like the third eye as something minor instead of realizing that a third eye is not actually a normal thing and will require some seriously expensive custom lenses. You turn a wet basement into a couple puddles.... Ten years,..no lets make it five if you get the house....if you find that my pessimistic attitude was totally incorrect and your home turned out to be perfect beyond compare...please tell me I am wrong so I can learn a lesson. But if on the other hand my gazillion years of trying to make people understand that they should buy a home they love....but should equally involve their brains and heart in the equation turns out to make some sense in your potential chris brown like situation.....well be sure to share that valuable experience as well so that others can learn from you...and make light of your experience because "that will never happen to them". I tried to buy the egg and I farm as a young wife ohhhhh so many years ago thinking that a house with walls falling down and a tree growing in the living room just needed our tender and inexperienced care to bring it back.....the bank laughed...thank god!

Thank you so much for the feedback (and picture) everyone! I really do appreciate it. Replacing the bedroom doors have been on "The List" of things I'd like to do some day. They were pretty low on the list so I hadn't considered changing them out this soon until I saw some glass doors that I liked. I'm pretty sure it was the girl kitten who was marking on the bed. After trial & error I think it was because she didn't like having to share a kitty box with her brother, even though there were two boxes. There's now kitty boxes in every room and I'd been spraying my bed with Feliway, which all seemed to be working for a few weeks. Then the puppy seemed to notice for the first time that kittens were allowed on the bed and that looked like a lot of fun, so she jumped on the bed as well. She's not allowed on the bed, so I suspect her marking was either to spite me or to warn the kitten that the bed was hers. The girl kitten and girl puppy don't really like each other all that well, so I think they're in a power struggle to see who gets to be the Queen B. I'm impressing on them now that I am, but I don't want to wash my bedding every day until they get that completely through their thick little skulls. The "puppy" is actually about 1 1/2 years old. She's been a complete wild child, but she's matured a lot the last few months. She's right on the cusp of becoming a really good dog, but she has her knucklehead teenage moments where she loses her mind. The mattress is less than two years old and has a really good waterproof mattress cover that seems to be working. I've been washing and spraying everything with enzyme cleaners so I don't think it needs replaced at this point. I'm thinking if the girls can figure out their hierarchy, the bed won't be a problem anymore. Thanks for the suggestions about screen doors, that's an option I hadn't considered. The vinyl tablecloth is a good idea also. The only outlet in the hallway is where the old big dog lays so he can see the entire house. It's kinda silly, but the outlets have covers on them since he lays right up against it, and the poor old guy has been through enough with the adoption of the others. That's his special spot, and I don't really want to make that area uncomfortable for him by putting a light there. Plus I like the natural light and as much as I miss cuddling the kittens at night and giving the final evening ear scratches to the dogs, it's been really nice to have a fur and kitty toy free bed. So I'm thinking of seeing if I can find some relatively inexpensive glass doors to give it a try, and if my living situation changes where privacy or noise transfer becomes more of an issue, I can always swap out the old doors.

I would suggest that your bed have a headboard, but no footboard, as that will really shrink the room. Perhaps with storage drawers beneath. Maybe you could post some furniture that you've considered but rejected?

Well...of course you can do anything you want. But...since you came here for advice, here's some ideas: Generally speaking, mixing painted walls with stained trim and/or doors is not always a good design idea. Why? Because there's simply too much contrast and competition between the two distinctly different materials and finishes. Each (stain vs. paint) fights the other for visual dominance and importance. It's always a battle to find a design solution for stain AND paint wall surfaces which harmonizes and isn't an eye-magnet. It can be done, but it takes a great deal of talent and experience to bring it off. What to do? You cannot go wrong by matching materials and finishes. Painted walls with painted trim and doors. Stained walls with stained trim and doors. This design approach unifies and ensures harmony on your walls (unless you're into the "Color of the Month" syndrom, for which there is simply no possible help). Hope this helps. Good luck!