Sorry, ORB = oil-rubbed bronze! :) Our backdoor hardware is oil-rubbed bronze, which I hated at the start of our remodel, but which actually looks more at home now that it's done--it plays off of the black fixtures, I think. (We also replaced the door with a stained rather than painted door, which helped a lot too--so rather than "random finishes," we have the nickel on the cabinets, the ORB on the stained door, the brass on the painted doors/windows, and the black on the lights and accents (stove grates are black here too). Plus I totally forgot about the stainless hood, so yeah, we are not sticklers for matching finishes! (We do also have an older house, though, which I think gives us a little more freedom for finishes to vary than a newer house where everything was matchy-matchy to start with--even our windows and doors with original hardware vary in that some of the hardware and hinges have been painted over and are now "white" and some of the hardware is still brass.) Our kitchen is not open to any room except our breakfast nook, so we did match the fixture finishes there. But I don't think we needed to do that, necessarily. I would wait on your dining room fixture till the kitchen is done and see how you feel about matching versus not at that point.

GW: I researched that question awhile back when the ORB lighting I found that I loved, didn't match my nickel cabinet hardware. The vote seemed swayed to the "no, it doesn't have to match". I tried like heck to find nickel looking lighting, but most of it was too cool and modern looking, and I found myself drawn to less modern looking lighting selections. I ran with it, and heck, I didn't even stick with the 'style' of lighting that would've been more in keeping with my other kitchen selections. Most of my kitchen choices are 'mission' style, and my lighting selection is, well I don't know what it is... it's MY style. How 'bout that? I found what I liked and went with it. I've often wondered about the mixing to styles, but I love my lights, so I just call my style "eclectic". Yeah, that's it, eclectic. :)

So you have an answer in Rocky Mountain. I understand the O.C. D. thing, but honestly an adult would have to hang around the front door all day, touching and theen perhaps licking those fingers to be remotely affected. Even children have to have fairly constant exposure or ingest lead dust, or chew at sills or moldings.......or toys containing lead. Virtually everything made on this planet, has a prop warning for California, and if everyone who ever grew up with lead in the house were compromised, I'd have to question the number of 99 year old folks living in luxury senior facilities...........some lucky residents still golfing or playing bridge. : ) Buy what makes you feel good. Just know that lead does not pass through skin. I assume you wash your hands before you eat, and in this day and age, I can't imagine who would not

The photos are really blurry so it's difficult to see what's going on exactly with the cabinets and countertops. It looks like a very spacious kitchen with interesting floors and lots of light. So that's great! I think your ideas to change out light fixtures is excellent. You can really add some of your personality that way without a huge expense or effort. If you have things to display on shelves in the eating area, some wood shelves could be nice. Otherwise you might consider some art to bring in color and personality. I would highly recommend just buying new hardware and not trying to paint "bronze" over the existing hardware. Hardware is not that expensive and is very easy to change (as long as you get the same size). A real metal finish will look so much better than paint. However, the idea in general to replace hardware to add more of your style is great. Usually with a farmhouse sink you need a base cabinet that's ready to accommodate that style of sink. So I'm not sure how successful you will be at cutting into an existing cabinet and quartz countertop to retrofit a farmhouse sink. Maybe someone else here has experience doing that, but it seems like you risk ruining your nice countertops if it's not done properly. Bringing in some more warmth and rustic with a wood farmhouse table sounds great too. I would be a bit hesitant to paint white cabinets just another shade of white unless you strongly dislike the one that is in there and can't work with it. Right now the white cabinets seem to work well with the countertops and doing a proper job of painting cabinets takes a lot of sanding and prep so I don't expect it to be an inexpensive endeavor. I personally would stick to painting the walls for now.