Please help. I'm putting wood floors all through my 4,500 sf three level home. (Two floors above a walk-out basement.) The home has dark wood ceilings so I need something light. Contractor recommends Teragren Craftsman II vertical bamboo in natural. I have a crazy 2-year old daughter and a dog. The floor will run throughout the kitchen and playroom, because all the floors merge into each other. The house is in Indiana. The lower level is much colder than the rest of the house. Does anyone have direct experience with the Teragren Craftsman product? I'm concerned about durability. I prefer the look of sanded-in-place flooring but understand that prefinished is harder. Should I go with the Craftsman II prefinished, a version of strand bamboo, or just go to maple? Maple is not quite as good a tone for the house, but seems, at least in the sample, to be more durable. I'm pretty lost as to what to use downstairs on the basement level. Any thoughts are welcome. Thanks!

Well, yes. You can shine a light on the ceiling and, because it's such a dark color, most of the light is absorbed rather than bouncing off of it. With such large, dark surfaces, these rooms will never be so full of light as they would if they were all whites and beiges. On the other hand, an all-beige room is never going to have the depth and intimacy and charm that your rooms have. I'd be inclined to make the best of what they are rather than trying to make them into something they're not. I'd try lighting wall surfaces with sconces or track lighting, to provide indirect ambient light and keep it from feeling like a cave, and use pendants, table and floor lamps to light other areas as needed.

All good suggestions. Thank you everyone. So we have had many discussions and have made some progress and now we are leaning towards the following. We are going to "cap" the ceiling at the triangle, just above the second beams. So we eliminate the high triangle, thus regulating the room temp better and allowing for lighting install. We will drop the fan lower, keep it centered, and add recessed lights on either side of the fan (front and back) on the flat/new ceiling. Add sconces above the mantle (wiring behind the new drywall). Rather than paint the brick and while we have scaffolding here anyway, we think we will box in the brick from new flat ceiling to the mantle (not with shiplap) and run trim down either side. We will then frame out a new mantle down each side and across the brick. We will keep the brick as is around the fireplace and on the hearth (I don't like the idea of floor to ceiling painted white brick and felt that since we use the fireplace we are better keeping natural brick so it won't show soot and dirt), but put a new piece of stone in for the hearth. Smooth the outdated plaster walls (since plasterer has to come for the new ceiling). Paint the ceiling, the trim and fireplace walls/mantle white, and the walls a soft gray (Edgecomb BM). Cap the track lighting unless we decide down the road we need it. I'd also love to consider refacing the brick with stone veneer but maybe not this time around. So yes, our budget is blown but it seems to be a situation of go all in or don't half spend. Trying to resemble something like this but not with shiplap and with our brick not whitewashed: Thoughts/feedback? Good news is that my contractor knows us and works slowly so I can modify as we go if something doesn't look right. I toyed with keeping beams but they really aren't nice beams. We've also done away with the wood beam mantle but I think if we keep the look more robust and less delicate that we might be okay -- more thick/shaker than formal crown. Also adding trim to the supporting beams that connect wall to ceiling to make them look more "finished" - they look like planks or 2x4s now and I never realized they were actually beams until we just put the window in and broke into the wall. They are just above the windows and you probably can't tell from the previous photos. Any thoughts - would love to hear them. You've really turned me around on the shiplap - thank you!

Gray floors, off white sofa and walls, haint blue ceiling with gold and navy accents? It will be beautiful! Don't forget that the honey wood tones can substitute for gold. They'll also add an "organic" touch which is nice for a sun room. You could even add a dash of green as a nod towards your beautiful garden. Take a look at Palladian blue and Woodlawn Blue by BM for the ceiling. Here's a little haint blue eye candy for you.