I'm tending to agree, pal....right now everything looks somewhat 'washed out' and while this is a basement with almost exclusively artificial lighting...i lean toward doing something with more colour saturation it is EXTREMELY DARK down there without all the lights on, even during the day, so I don't think any high rated light value rating (thank you funcolors for that VERY informative piece) would do much to increase the 'lightness' of the room the other interesting tidbit here is the HUGE difference between LED and Halogen....i used an LED (2700 i believe) in the hallway leading to the finished basement and i think it brings out the 'pink' even though in photographs it's the exact opposite! the halogen tends to bring out the 'sandy' colors in the tile... i was hoping to switch out all of the lighting to LED but i'm not sure that would enhance the tile i've included a close up of the tile and the wall unit but i don't think it is much better than the original pic of the tile i posted...that pic is the closest rendering of the tile as it appears in 3D

I chose a slate looking tile that has dark grey, terra cotta red, and touches of gold in it. There were a lot of more golden tiles but I opted for more contrast. In my back entry I have a brown tile. I think as long as you stay in the warm tones of browns, reds, golds, etc. it will blend well with gold walls. Think warm colors/tones rather than cool. I've posted my entry a million times but here it is again for an example of tile color with gold walls. (Mine are Plantation Beige)

Carbinekid, Congrat's on having the most rare understanding wife in the entire world (if she ends up happy with this)! Since I have wanted a kitchen for so long and have had many idea's stuck in my head...if I came home and found a new kitchen that did not include my mental images...well lets just say there would either be bags packed or a rampage with a sledge hammer (or both). I hope this works out for you but if your wife had no say in any picks you may want to contact a friend with an extra bedroom as a back-up plan and maybe contact a lawyer. If you are using most of wifes ideas and there was lots of talks on a future kitchen...you maybe somewhat safe.

warmer browns, yes (call me crazy-I still like what you have now, more. But then I'm not from here, and I don't have associations many people here have, because they lived with it for a long time, got bored, etc and I also like the contrast with your gold. Deeper shade supports gold better. Even though you can always play with it all of course-accessories, a rug, you name it. You repeat a color, add darker touches-it balances itself. It can be neutral-you can make it work. You just need to make sure it's the right shade of a color. If gold goes-then blue(or rather emerald green) might become out of place. Or might not) Another reason to picture the whole room and its mood in your mind first, then narrow down from there