Don't miss Crocosmia 'Lucifer' for your bed. After a few years it makes a magnificent arching clump which blooms for 3-4 weeks in July, and is a plant that holds its form and looks attractive long before and after bloom. I loved it so much have been experimenting with other Crocosmias too, Babylon has overwintered here in a similar zone though not increased nearly as fast as Lucifer. Heleniums are great hot color bed anchors, there are many, Moorheim Beauty is a classic but take your pick, many in a broad hot color range. Helianthis Lemon Queen and Rudbeckia Herbstonne are outstanding tall long blooming clump formers for height and mass. And I have come to love Dahlia 'Bishop of LLandaff'. I always shied away from Dahlias but they are SO easy to overwinter and bloom for such a long time. I love the acid yellow flowers and beautiful blue foliage of Thalictrum (glaucum? flavum? blanking on the exact name) and it would be great in any hot color bed. I think you have to be careful about mixing orangey reds with bluish reds (I don't like them if they are too close), but I find that the paler and golden yellows can be jumbled more easily and still look good, especially if a really pale yellow isn't right next to a deep golden one. And intervening purple and green works anyway. Spirea Ogon, various barberries and Sambucus Sutherland Gold would be good shrubs to add too.

The problem with a really brown shade is that it will dull down the appearance of your wood countertops. The counters read as red-gold. The highest contrast to that would be a blue green. A more yellow green would pick up the gold and be a softer contrast. A more blue tone, like a spruce or a deep blue-gray, could be very soothing. If you want to stay with warmer colors, try going for a good value contrast (i.e., light vs. dark). A reddish beige tone, for instance. All of these tones are in your backsplash tiles (I'm assuming you were showing us the mosaic, not the hidden subway tiles). The best way to choose paint is to get samples of all the different colors you think you could like, paint large patches of each on different walls, and see how they look in different lights. Daylight, shaddow, rainy light, electric light, etc. Some which look fabulous in one light look dreary in another. One, at least, should look good whenever you catch sight of it.

You might have systemic communication and control issues (wiring, control, etc.) or you might have motor issues (bearings, rotors, etc.).. or both. Has that been determined? A regular electrician with a multimeter could probably tell that. Either may be fixable, but will require patience and unususal expertise to do so. The motor, in particular may need to be removed and sent to a specialized shop. Do you have any idea if the system, in perfect working order, would satisfy your powerful but quiet requirements? Do you like the exterior styling of the vent hood? These are all questions to answer before tracking down repairs. Or they may demand that you track down repairs as nothing else will do. Your call. L.

Frankly your home is gorgeous and fits into the landscape nicely already, so no need to "guild the lily" and right now what you have is relatively low maintenance. The low fence is a little primitive, but could be replaced by something similar only nicer. I imagine that is to guide cars into the driveway? Otherwise not really needed. And I will add my voice to "no" on the white stones. Why call attention to gravel with such a high contrast color? If you want white, a gorgeous white flowering dogwood that you put a deer fence around until it is grown up enough to take it, or spray religiously with "Deer Off" as Marymd suggested.